The refined tin market, worth around $7.5 billion per year, could be in a position to benefit from a glut of technological applications over the next decade.
But if it hopes to become a competitive commodity of choice, market participants have indicated that there is a need for price stability and steadiness in supply flows.According to leading industry specialists who attended the 7th annual International Tin Association (ITA) investor day in London on November 23, energy and technology are set to drive tin demand in the years beyond 2025.Yet the metal's volatile price action and supply flows have cast a shadow over investment opportunities in recent months, since exports from Indonesia, the world's second-largest tin producer, came to a halt in mid-October.Research published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and commissioned by Rio Tinto, however, indicates that tin's primary application in soldering has propelled it...