Tin
The solder metal of electronics, small in tonnage and prone to squeezes.
Overview
Some 350,000 tonnes a year come from Indonesia, China, Myanmar, Peru, and Bolivia, with Indonesian independent smelters and the politics of Myanmar Wa region mines swinging supply. Half of demand is solder for circuit boards, so tin reads the semiconductor cycle, with tinplate and chemicals taking the rest. The LME is the pricing hub, and low liquidity invites drama, as the 2021 22 squeeze that doubled prices to records showed before demand slipped. Recycling is low because solder dissipates into scrap streams, and a market this small moves hard on modest flow changes. Conflict mineral rules cover the central African supply chain.
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