Tin prices go up on low inventories

Three-month tin on the London Metal Exchange CMSN3 hit a record high of USD 36,500 a tonne, having gained 78% so far in 2021, states Reuters in an article. Meanwhile, tin inventories in LME warehouses MSNSTX-TOTAL fell to 1,180 tonnes on Sept. 22, 2021 (down 79% from the same time last year). ShFE tin stockpiles SN-STX-SGH stood at 1,702 tonnes, hovering near an April 2016 low of 1,197 tonnes. China Minmetals Rare Earth Co Ltd announced a strategic restructuring of rare earth assets - together with Chinalco - and the government of the city of Ganzhou. In a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, China Minmetals Rare Earth did not specify what sort of restructuring was planned. Most often, these kind of announcements indicate a merger of sorts. Working under this premise, a merger of the rare earth operations of Minmetals, Chinalco and the Ganzhou government would create China's second-largest rare earths producer by capacity, behind only China Northern Rare Earth Group, David Merriman, manager at Roskill consultancy told Reuters. Combined, production capacity of the new entity would be around 45 000 t/y of rare earth oxides; it would also control production in the Chinese regions of Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan and Shandong (with additional business operations in Fujian and Sichuan).