Why Invest In Tin?
Tin Demand
Tin demand has been growing strongly as a result of:
- Tin demand forecast to grow 40% (3-4% CAGR) over the next decade (ITA, 2022).
- Strong tin demand growth is driven by decarbonisation and electrification and new technology.
- Tin solder is the ‘glue’ connecting everything electronic (e.g. circuit boards, semi-conductors) ~50% of all tin use.
- Very few available substitutes for tin solder and a low sensitivity to component price in electronic devices.
- Solar industry (PV Ribbon) used over 22,000t of tin in 2022 representing ~5% of all tin use.
- Continued demand for tin in traditional uses including tinplate, chemicals, lead-acid batteries, alloys and other.
Tin – The Number 1 New Technology Metal
Tin ranked as the No. 1 metal best placed to benefit from new technology according to a survey undertaken by Boston’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for Rio Tinto in 2018.
Tin Supply
Global tin supply has fallen for each of the last 3 years to 2020 as a result of:
- Nearly 80% of global tin production came from non-tier-one, non-OECD countries in 2022.
- Myanmar Wa State suspended all tin mining, processing and transport from 1 August 2023 (10% of global supply).
- Indonesia banned all unrefined tin exports from June 2023 to encourage downstream processing in-country.
- Tin production is falling from most existing mines due to diminishing reserves and lower grades.
- Limited exploration or investment in new tin projects.
Tin Market Supply Deficit
- Tin demand forecast to grow 40% by 2030.
- Years of deficit forecasted, with a 70kt refine tin deficit expected by 2030.
- Limited investment in exploration and development has resulted in a lack of new projects.
- Very few low risk ESG projects pipeline.
- Baseline demand growth form traditional tin uses such as solder (electronics driven).
- New technology demand growth including tin use in; Solar PV Ribbon, EV,5G / AI.
