Tin Market Update (November 22, 2012)

Tin prices have moved lower in the past month, with spot tin falling to $20,925 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange from $21,250 on October 15, according to data from Metal-Pages.

The decline comes in the wake of a rally that saw tin rise 17 percent from where it stood at the beginning of the year. The metal has recently been held back by ongoing concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis, as well as sluggish global economic growth.

The fall in tin prices also comes in the wake of news that Indonesia, the world’s second-largest tin producer and leading exporter of the metal, saw its shipments jump 12 percent, from 9,875 metric tons (MT) in September to 11,048 MT in October. That is tin’s highest level since December 2011. Indonesia’s export increase came after the country slowed production in August in response to a decline in tin prices in July.