What factors impact tin supply and demand?

The tin market has been in deficit for the past decade, and supply is expected to remain constrained as demand rises.

Due to its many positive characteristics, there are a slew of important uses for tin. For example, the metal is malleable, ductile and not easily oxidized in air; it’s also lightweight, durable and fairly resistant to corrosion. Those qualities make tin, which is obtained from the mineral cassiterite, a good candidate for use in solder, as well as tinplate, chemicals, brass and bronze and other niche areas.

In terms of where tin is produced, China was the world’s top tin producer in 2022; the country put out 95,000 metric tons (MT) of the metal. Indonesia is close on China’s heels at 74,000 MT, and third on the list is Burma at 31,000 MT. Total world output for the year was 310,000 MT, up by only 5,000 MT from the previous year, and world tin reserves sit at 4.6 million MT.

The world’s top tin-producing companies include China’s Yunnan Tin (SZSE:000960), Indonesia’s PT Timah (IDX:TINS) and Malaysia's Malaysia Smelting (SGX:NPW).

Like tungsten, tantalum and gold, tin is a conflict mineral. Armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by trading these minerals.

Currently, the Dodd-Frank Act in the US requires public companies that source minerals from the DRC to produce independently audited reports about the ownership and origin of these mined commodities; these documents must be provided to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

What are the ways to invest in tin?

As mentioned, investing in tin is becoming more and more appealing as demand for the metal grows.

Those wishing to begin tin investing may want to consider exchange-traded products, such as the iPath Series B Bloomberg Tin Subindex Total Return ETN (ARCA:JJT).

There are also tin futures, which are traded on the London Metal Exchange under the code SN, with contract pricing in US dollars per MT. Clearable currencies include the US dollar, yen, pound and euro.

Of course, tin investing can also be done by buying shares of tin-focused companies, such as the aforementioned top tin-producing companies Yunnan Tin, PT Timah and Malaysia Smelting — click here for the full list. Smaller-scale tin miners include Alphamin Resources (TSXV:AFM,OTC Pink:AFMJF) and Metals X (ASX:MLX,OTC Pink:MLXEF).

Exploration- and development-stage tin projects are relatively rare, but investors may want to consider companies such as Cornish Metals (TSXV:CUSN,LSE:CUSN), Elementos (ASX:ELT), Stellar Resources (ASX:SRZ), TinOne Resources (TSXV:TORC), Tincorp Metals (TSXV:TIN,OTCQX:TINFF) and Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS,OTC Pink:VTMLF).