Tin

Resource Nationalism: A Challenge to the Modern Mining Industry – Part One

by Stuart Burns on January 24, 2012

Style:    Category: Commodities, Public Policy

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A keynote speech made by Brian Menell (chief executive of Kemet Group and CEO of Tinco, a vertically integrated tin miner) at the Mines and Money Conference in London, addresses a growing issue in the mining industry — namely, resource nationalism. Brian Menell defines resource nationalism as growing assertiveness by host governments and regimes in [...]

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Falling Tin Prices Hide Potential for Strong Rises in 2012

by Stuart Burns on January 19, 2012

Style:    Category: Commodities, Non-ferrous Metals, Supply & Demand

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Taking a first pass over the World Bureau of Metal Statistics’ monthly bulletin report on 2011 production, consumption and inventory up to the end of November, one could be excused for thinking the tin market was operating in a comfortable surplus and the sell-off seen in 2011 is a reflection of a market in oversupply. [...]

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Best Of MetalMiner 2011 – Who Knew the Minors Would Be So Major?

by Taras Berezowsky on December 28, 2011

Style:    Category: Best of MetalMiner, Minor Metals

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Source: watoday.com.au Arguably, tantalum should have been included in our Best Of Conflict Minerals post, as it is one of the officially classified conflict minerals; and tin is a key non-ferrous metal that is not all that minor, especially as it also fits into the conflict minerals rubric. Nonetheless, we figured this tripartite of most-read [...]

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How the World’s 7 Billion People Affect Commodities Prices and Metals Demand

by Taras Berezowsky on October 31, 2011

Style:    Category: Commodities, Non-ferrous Metals, Supply & Demand

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Well, today — give or take — the world is 7 billion people big. That, at least, is what the UN has been saying. The fact that the world’s population hit 7 billion is almost less astounding than the fact that it was 6 billion only 12 years ago! That means, of course, that each [...]

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Tin Prices Can’t Decide Which Way To Go

by Stuart Burns on October 25, 2011

Style:    Category: Commodities, Non-ferrous Metals, Supply & Demand

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It must have been a nightmare trying to manage price risk at tinplate and solder producers these last two years. The bull narrative for tin seemed to be set fair at the end of last year; on the back of supply tightness, three-month prices charged to an all-time high of $33,600 per ton in April [...]

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Tin Price and Stocks Have Both Been on a Roller Coaster

by Stuart Burns on October 5, 2011

Style:    Category: Commodities, Non-ferrous Metals

Keywords: ,

It must have been a nightmare trying to manage price risk at tinplate and solder producers these last two years. The bull narrative for tin seemed to be set fair at the end of last year. On the back of supply tightness, prices charged to an all-time high of $33,600 per ton 3 months in [...]

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New Tantalum Supply Sources to Ease Some of the Shortages

by Lisa Reisman on October 4, 2011

Style:    Category: Green, Minor Metals, Public Policy, Sourcing Strategies

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Last week we speculated as to whether the conflict minerals legislation within the Frank-Dodd financial reform bill would impact the supply market for tantalum. Certainly supply shortages ensued following the financial crisis in 2008 when three of nine tantalum producers shuttered production. So how can one describe the global tantalum supply market? As a 6 [...]

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Will The Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals Law Ever Do What It’s Supposed To?

by Taras Berezowsky on August 10, 2011

Style:    Category: Minor Metals, Public Policy, Sourcing Strategies

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It seems workers, companies — essentially all parties except the warlords — are getting screwed over by the conflict minerals law in the US Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The latest lament on behalf of Congolese mine workers comes from “ where else? “ The New York Times. We’ll get to this [...]

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