Tin Metal Chain™
· ₹4,373.89/kg today
From mine to market: how Tin moves through the global economy.
Data year: 2025 · Chain data last reviewed: 9 September 2026 · not a live feed — see methodology.
How Tin Moves Through the Economy
Each stage below is a real, cited figure — click any stage for its full description and source.
Mining Mining / Extraction
Tin is mined from cassiterite ore (hard-rock or alluvial deposits) and concentrated before smelting.
China is the single largest tin-mining country, accounting for an estimated 24.5% of world mine production. Concentration: Low
High confidenceSource: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (via MetalsCost Metal Reserves) (2025)
Smelting & Refining Processing / Refining
Tin concentrate is smelted into refined tin metal, typically 99.85%+ purity.
China refines an estimated 31% of the world's tin — the largest single share, though notably less concentrated than gold refining or gallium/rare-earth processing. Concentration: Moderate
High confidenceSource: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 (Tin) — view (2023)
Electronics Solder Manufacturing / End Use
Refined tin is alloyed into solder used to join electronic components, plus tinplate for food packaging and various chemical uses.
Solder accounts for an estimated 51% of global refined tin use (182,121 tonnes in 2023); batteries, alloys and other uses make up roughly 22% of the remainder. Concentration: High
Medium confidenceSource: International Tin Association, 2023 Tin Use Survey — view (2023)
Secondary Supply (Recycling) Secondary Supply (Recycling)
Tin is recovered from electronic scrap, used tinplate and other post-consumer and manufacturing waste.
Recycled material supplied an estimated 29% of tin's "recycling input rate" in 2022, up slightly from 28% in 2021. Concentration: Moderate
Medium confidenceSource: International Tin Association annual survey, cross-cited in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries — view (2022)
Supply Chain at a Glance
Current Bottleneck
Smelting & Refining is more concentrated than Mining: China accounts for 31%, versus China's 24.5% of Mining.
This is a plain comparison of two real, cited concentration figures — not a synthetic weighted risk score. See how this is determined.
The Solder Metal
Since regulations phased lead out of electronics solder, tin-based alloys became the standard replacement — making electronics manufacturing the single largest source of tin demand today, a very different role from the tin cans and bronze the metal is historically associated with.
A Market Thinner Than It Looks
Tin trades in far smaller volumes than copper or aluminium on the LME, which means supply disruptions at even a handful of major mines or smelters can move the price more sharply than a similarly-sized disruption would for a bigger, deeper metals market.
One of the Four 'Conflict Minerals'
Tin is one of the four minerals — tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, often shortened to "3TG" — that US and EU regulations specifically require companies to trace back through their supply chains, because artisanal mining in parts of Central Africa has historically been linked to funding armed conflict. That compliance burden genuinely shapes which mines global electronics buyers are willing to source tin from, not just what they pay for it.
Did You Know?
Tin is one of the original six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange since the 1870s, yet remains one of the lowest-volume contracts of the group.
Frequently Asked Questions
China is the single largest tin-producing country, accounting for an estimated 24.5% of world mine production. See the full country-by-country breakdown.
Smelting & Refining is more concentrated than Mining: China accounts for 31%, versus China's 24.5% of Mining.
An estimated 29% — Recycled material supplied an estimated 29% of tin's "recycling input rate" in 2022, up slightly from 28% in 2021.
The Tin price in India today is ₹4,373.89 per kilogram as of October 16, 2026. See the live price and chart.
Metal Chain™ is an analytical framework developed by MetalsCost. Concentration figures and the current-bottleneck comparison are estimates derived from available public data and a documented methodology — they are not investment advice or a guaranteed forecast. See the methodology page for data sources and calculation details.
