The price of tin rose to a year-to-date high of US$35,575 per metric ton in April on a series of supply and demand factors from the top tin-producing countries.
Despite declining in the second half of the year, prices appear to have found a bottom around the US$28,000 per metric ton level.
Improved semiconductor sales and growing investments in electric vehicles and solar panels are expected to fuel demand. Supply constraints in Myanmar and Indonesia, two major producers, led analysts at BMI Research to revise their 2024 tin price forecast upward to US$30,000 per metric ton.
Tin remains essential for renewable energy generation and electronics, with nearly half of its use in soldering applications critical for semiconductors, mobile phones, and electric cars.
Overall, analysts project a bullish long-term outlook, with tin prices potentially reaching US$45,000 by 2033 as global demand continues to rise.
To give investors a better idea of the tin supply landscape, we’ve put together a list of 2023’s top tin producers by country, based on data from the US Geological Survey.
Read on to learn more about those countries and their contributions to the tin industry.
1. China
Tin production: 68,000 metric tons
Tin reserves: 1.1 million metric tons
China was the world’s top tin-producing country in 2023, with output totaling 68,000 metric tons. It continues its streak as the world’s largest tin-producing country despite a gradual year-on-year decline, down from 2022’s 71,000 MT.
China also holds the largest tin reserves in the world, with more than 1.1 million metric tons.
Currently, China is embroiled in a trade war with the US as political tensions continue to mount. In December 2024, the trade giant China set new US export restrictions on essential minerals, including gallium, germanium and antimony. Analysts speculate that the export curb list will soon include tin, as both countries are determined to cut off each other’s dominance in specific production sectors.
2. Myanmar
Tin production: 54,000 metric tons
Tin reserves: 700,000 metric tons
Myanmar, also known as Burma, produced 54,000 metric tons of tin in 2023, leapfrogging over Indonesia to become the world’s second-largest tin-producing country last year. The Asian country garnered the largest increase in tin production, up significantly from 47,000 MT in 2022.
Myanmar’s self-administered Wa state is home to the majority of the country’s tin output, including the Man Maw tin mine, which is one of the world’s top-producing tin mines.
In April 2023, the Wa state declared that mining operations within its jurisdiction would be suspended starting in August to conserve mineral resources while awaiting an audit of the tin industry and the implementation of new mining regulations.
By August, all activities related to mining, processing and the transport of raw ore had been halted in the state. The Man Maw’s failure to restart operations in August 2023 due to the ban instituted by the Wa militia has impacted industry prices throughout the year. As of September 2024, mining at Man Maw was still suspended, although many smaller tin mines The tin audit has greatly limited tin imports to China and Indonesia, driving prices upward due to lower metal concentrates.
3. Indonesia
Tin production: 52,000 metric tons
Tin reserves: Not available
Indonesia’s tin production came in at 52,000 metric tons in 2023. After coming within touching distance of first place the year before with tin production of 70,000 MT to China’s 71,000 MT, in 2023 Indonesia conceded its runner-up spot to Burma. Contrary to Burma’s production surge, the country recorded the steepest production dip in 2023.
Last year, Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources designated tin as a critical mineral, recognizing its supply importance, economic value and role in high-tech applications.
4. Peru
Tin production: 23,000 metric tons
Tin reserves: 130,000 metric tons
Peru also saw its tin output decline last year, when the country’s total tin production was 23,000 metric tons, a drop from 2022’s 28,200 MT. The South American country was the primary supplier of tin to the US last year.
Peru-based miner Minsur operates the San Rafael tin mine in the country. San Rafael is one of the world’s largest tin mines.
5. Democratic Republic of Congo
Tin production: 19,000 metric tons
Tin reserves: 120,000 metric tons
The Democratic Republic of Congo produced 19,000 metric tons of tin in 2023, a slight increase in its production compared to 2022’s 18,600 MT.
Alphamin Resources (TSXV:AFM,OTC Pink:AFMJF) operates the Bisie tin complex, which hosts the world’s two highest-grade tin mines, Mpama North and the recently constructed Mpama South. The company is ramping up production at the operation following an expansion that will raise annual output to 20,000 MT.
6. Brazil
Tin production: 18,000 metric tons
Tin reserves: 420,000 metric tons
Brazil’s tin production totaled 18,000 metric tons in 2023, registering a slight year-over-year increase from 17,000 MT. Since its production uptick in recent years, Brazil remains as a mainstay among the world’s top tin producers.
This year, Peruvian miner Minsur agreed to sell its Brazilian subsidiary Mineração Taboca, which operates the Pitinga tin mine and Pirapora smelter in Brazil, to China Nonferrous Trade (OTC Pink:CNFMF,HKEX:1258) for US$340 million.
Taboca, the largest tin producer in Brazil, contributed over a third of the country’s refined tin production in 2023 and is Brazil’s only fully integrated tin producer. The Pitinga mine in the Amazon holds the world’s largest tin resource by tin content, with reserves of 279,000 MT expected to sustain production for at least 30 years.
6. Bolivia
Tin production: 18,000 metric tons
Tin reserves: 400,000 metric tons
Bolivia makes the list tied with Brazil at 18,000 metric tons of tin production in 2023.
Bolivia’s state-owned Vinto smelter declared force majeure in March 2023 due to coal shortages from Peru, resulting in weekly production losses of up to 200 MT of tin.
Further compounding the issue, Vinto did not receive concentrate from the country’s Huanuni and Calquiri mines for over two months due to US$90 million in outstanding debts, leading to protests by miners in La Paz who wanted the debt cancelled.
8. Australia
Tin production: 9,100 metric tons
Tin reserves: 620,000 metric tons
Australia’s tin output for 2023 remained relatively untouched at 9,100 metric tons, just a slight increase from 2022’s 9,000 MT.
Australian tin producer Metals X (ASX:MLX) has invested AU$4.64 million in First Tin (LSE:1SN) this year, acquiring a 23 percent stake to support tin development projects in Australia and Germany.
Metals X, co-owner of the Renison mine in Tasmania, aims to leverage its operational expertise to accelerate First Tin’s Taronga project in New South Wales, which targets production by 2027 following a strong feasibility study.
9. Nigeria
Tin production: 8,100 metric tons
Tin reserves: Not available
Nigeria follows the trend of incremental production increases year by year, increasing by 15.71 percent or 8,100 MT from 2022’s 7,000 MT mark. Nigeria’s Plateau State, home to the country’s largest tin reserves, has witnessed a resurgence in mining activities as global tin prices rose above US$30,000 per metric ton in 2024, up from US$5,000 in the early 2000s.
Despite this boom, the sector remains largely unregulated, with artisanal and illegal mining dominating production and contributing little to government revenue. Between 2018 and 2022, Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, which includes tin, contributed a mere 0.17 percent to the nation’s GDP, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
10. Malaysia
Tin production: 6,100 metric tons
Tin reserves: Not available
Rounding out the list of the world’s top tin-producing countries for 2023 is Malaysia, which produced 6,100 metric tons last year, up from 2022’s 5,000 MT.
Malaysia Smelting (KLSE:MSC), the second top tin-producing company in the world, is poised to benefit from bullish tin forecasts, as the century-old company has posted above-expected margins in the second and third quarter of 2024.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.