Tin
The International Tin Research Institute (ITRI) has forecast that there is likely to be a global shortfall of tin commencing in 2018. Future supply is uncertain as tin inventories are running low and economically viable tin reserves are being depleted. There are a limited number of active industrial scale tin mines outside of China and Indonesia and the majority of other new projects face significant technical, financing and other challenges, while obtaining the required permits to build a mine remain complex. As a result, tin mining companies should become of increasing interest to the owners of consumer brands and their manufacturers, which use tin in their products (laptops, mobile phones and cars). Consumer companies will need to secure supply.
ITRI’s twelfth annual survey of tin users gathered data from tin users worldwide between June and August 2016. 129 companies took part in the survey, accounting for some 45% of estimated global refined tin use in 2015.
Key findings of the survey are: