Tin Price Today: LME Spot, Market & Forecast

Tin price today: the SMM 1# Tin Ingot benchmark stands at $62,956.95 per tonne (3 August 2026), while the Trading Economics CFD benchmark tracking the international market trades at $55,268.00/t — a gap of roughly 13.9% between the Chinese domestic and international benchmarks, continuing to widen from the roughly 12.9% spread seen in July. The divergence follows a year in which AI-driven electronics demand has collided with tightening supply from Indonesia and Myanmar, though the persistence of the gap across two consecutive cycles now suggests a more durable China-specific dynamic rather than a one-month anomaly.

Current Tin Price

The table below shows the principal tin price benchmarks as of 3 August 2026. SMM prices reflect the Chinese domestic market and are the primary reference for Asian trade flows. The international benchmark reflects Trading Economics’ CFD instrument tracking the LME-referenced global market.

The LME tin contract is a standard 5-tonne lot. Physical tin traded FOB Singapore and FOB Indonesia carries location premiums above the international benchmark, reflecting logistics, purity, and local availability. This cycle, all three location/import premium lines have fallen sharply — Singapore -19.5%, Indonesia -33.9%, and the CIF China import premium (now $462.50/t, down from $602.50/t) -23.2% — a materially larger move than the ingot benchmarks themselves and worth independent verification before treating as a settled market signal. CIF China import premiums running lower than last cycle would, on its face, suggest softening Chinese import urgency even as the core domestic ingot price has risen, an apparent tension worth resolving with a second source.

Tin Price in USD, EUR, GBP and Other Currencies

Exchange rates: Google Finance/XE, August 2026. Conversions calculated from the SMM 1# Tin Ingot benchmark. CNY figures reflect the USD/CNY mid-market rate and do not represent the SMM domestic Chinese price, which incorporates VAT and may differ materially.

Tin Price Per Gram, Per Ounce and Per Pound

Tin Price History

The tin price reached an all-time high of approximately $100,000 per tonne in 2011 during the commodity supercycle, then declined sharply through 2015 as electronics demand growth slowed and Indonesian supply recovered. The market traded in the $15,000–$25,000 range for most of the following decade before the current bull run began in late 2024.

The gap between SMM domestic and international pricing has now widened for a second consecutive month, moving further from the near-parity seen through most of the 2025–2026 rally rather than reverting. Unlike the 2021 spike — which reversed within 18 months — the underlying demand shift (AI hardware) alongside supply constraints remains structurally intact; two consecutive months of a widening domestic premium makes a persistent China-specific demand or logistics factor a more credible explanation than a one-off dislocation, though this still warrants direct confirmation rather than inference from price data alone.

What Is Driving Tin Prices

The dominant near-term driver is electronics demand from AI infrastructure build-out. Tin is the primary metal in electronic solder, used in virtually every printed circuit board. Data centre construction programmes from hyperscalers including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon — accelerating through 2025–2026 — have materially increased PCB demand above what broader consumer electronics trends would predict. The tin price response has been faster and sharper than most analyst forecasts anticipated at the start of 2025.

On the supply side, Indonesia — the world’s largest tin exporter — has intensified enforcement against illegal mining operations. Indonesian authorities seized approximately 500 tonnes of illicitly mined tin in early 2026 and arrested associated suspects. Illegal production had previously provided a meaningful buffer above official quota production; its removal has tightened the global market.

Myanmar, the second-largest source of mined tin, has seen production disruption linked to civil conflict affecting the Wa State mining region. Output from Wa State fell sharply in 2024 and has not recovered to prior levels. Combined with Indonesian enforcement action, the supply shortfall is estimated by analysts at several thousand tonnes annually — a significant figure in a market where global refined tin production runs at approximately 380,000–400,000 tonnes per year, according to USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries.

China remains both the world’s largest tin producer and consumer. Chinese domestic tin smelters — primarily in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces — process both domestic ore and imported concentrate from Myanmar and elsewhere. The SMM Yunnan 40% tin concentrate price of $60,298.35/metal tonne (3 August 2026) and Guangxi 60% concentrate at $60,889.15/metal tonne — both up roughly 8.6–8.7% on the month — reflect the strong pull-through from ingot prices. China’s role as swing processor means concentrate tightness flows rapidly into ingot pricing globally.

Tin Supply Chain: Indonesia and Myanmar

Indonesia produces approximately 70,000–80,000 tonnes of refined tin annually, accounting for around 20% of global supply. PT Timah is the dominant state-linked producer, with smaller licensed smelters operating alongside it. The Indonesian government has periodically intervened in the tin market through export licensing and production quota systems; the current enforcement campaign against illegal mining is the most aggressive since 2015. This cycle’s sharp fall in the FOB Indonesia premium specifically is worth reading against that enforcement backdrop — a softer premium could suggest easing near-term physical tightness at the Indonesian end even as broader ingot pricing continues to climb, though this needs confirmation rather than assumption.

Myanmar’s Wa State region had grown to account for an estimated 10–15% of global mined tin supply before 2024 disruptions. The region’s output feeds Chinese smelters via cross-border concentrate trade. Any normalisation in Myanmar supply would represent a meaningful bearish catalyst for prices — though the conflict timeline remains unpredictable.

Western tin production is limited. Bolivia (Empresa Metalúrgica Vinto) and Peru contribute roughly 8–10% of global supply combined. Australia and the UK have historical tin districts with limited current production. The International Tin Association tracks supply-side developments and publishes quarterly market balances used as the reference for Western trading desks.

Tin Applications and Demand

Solder accounts for approximately 50% of total tin demand globally. Tinplate (food and beverage packaging) accounts for a further 15–18%. The remainder is distributed across chemicals (tin compounds), float glass production, and specialist alloys. The AI infrastructure demand surge is relevant specifically to the solder segment — the fastest-growing demand category since 2023.

Battery applications represent a smaller but growing use case. Tin is being evaluated as an anode material in next-generation lithium-ion cells, where it offers higher theoretical capacity than graphite. Commercial deployment remains limited as of mid-2026, but successful scale-up would represent a new structural demand source. For context on battery materials supply dynamics, see the top 10 battery materials companies shaping the sector’s supply chain.

Photovoltaic (PV) applications — primarily tin-based soldering paste in solar panel manufacturing — have grown significantly as China’s solar installation capacity expanded. SMM’s PV Ribbon Index, currently at $20.90/kg (3 August 2026), up from $19.85/kg in July, reflects PV-specific tin demand alongside the broader ingot market.

Tin vs Copper: Technology Metal Comparison

Both tin and copper are essential to electronics and electrification. Copper dominates by volume — the global copper market is roughly 10 times the size of the tin market — but the tin price has outperformed copper on a percentage basis since 2024. The divergence reflects tin’s more concentrated supply base and its more direct exposure to AI hardware demand via solder. For copper market context, see the copper price tracker.

Tin Price Outlook

Near-term direction depends on whether Indonesian supply enforcement sustains, whether Myanmar production stabilises, whether AI data centre build schedules are maintained, and whether the domestic/international gap — now widening for a second straight month — narrows back toward parity or represents a more durable structural split. Analysts cited by the International Tin Association expect the market to remain in deficit through 2026 if Indonesian production enforcement holds at current levels. A structural deficit of 10,000–20,000 tonnes annually — in a 400,000-tonne market — is sufficient to sustain price pressure.

The primary downside risk is a macroeconomic slowdown reducing electronics capital expenditure, or a relaxation of Indonesian enforcement that brings previously suppressed illegal supply back into the market — this cycle’s sharp premium declines could be an early signal of the latter, though it is too soon to draw that conclusion from one month of data. Forecast ranges vary widely: Wood Mackenzie and Fastmarkets have published 2026 average price scenarios from $45,000/t to $65,000/t, reflecting genuine uncertainty on both supply and demand trajectory. August’s SMM reading sits above the top of that range, a divergence worth reconciling against forecaster commentary. All forecasts are subject to revision.

The China export controls framework — while currently focused on antimony, gallium, and germanium — remains a background risk for tin markets given China’s dominant processing role. Any formal restriction on tin concentrate processing or ingot exports would immediately tighten the global market further.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Prices are subject to change without notice.