Tin price may keep flying above last-year level
----Interview with Jinlu Liu
General Manager
Chifeng Dajingzi Tin Industry Co., Ltd.
- Chifeng Dajingzi Tin Industry Co., Ltd. is a key project conducted by Chifeng and Linxi government after the reorganization of Chifeng Dajingzi Mining Company by China Nonferrous Mining Group. It is the only processing enterprise of refined tin in the north of the Yangtze River. Dajingzi Tin industry always regards product quality and corporate reputation as the cornerstone of development, whether it is the process control of semi-finished products or the product inspection and testing, it is strictly operated according to the relevant national requirements. The high purity of the product has been praised by users since the product was put into the market. The company is listed by the Chifeng Municipal government as "Pilot Base for Comprehensive Utilization of mineral resources in Chifeng", "Key Protection Enterprise in Linxi", and "Municipal key trustworthiness and credibility" company.
- Asian Metal：Welcome to accept the interview of Asian Metal. Please introduce your company.
- Mr. Liu: Dajingzi Tin Industry Co., Ltd. belongs to China Nonferrous Mining Group with construction in two phases. The first phase of the design annual production capacity of 5,000 tons broke ground in June 2011,and began trial production in March 2013. The first phase of the project has reached production, and the second phase of the design annual capacity of 10,000 tons. The registered trademark of tin ingot is "Huanggang" brand, implementing the standard GB/T 728-2020, grade 99.90AA, and the average tin grade can reach 99.95%min. Obtained ISO9001 quality management system certification in 2015; received the approval of designated delivery products from Shanghai Futures Exchange in 2020, which can be used for futures performance delivery; Obtained the energy management system certification in 2022, ISO14001 environmental management system certification, and ISO28001 China Occupational Health and Safety Management System certification, and complete the work of "three-standard integrated management system". Product sales cover central China, East China, South China, North China, northeast regions, covering tin chemical, tin plate, tin solder, float glass and other industries, in South and East China set up storage outlets.
- Asian Metal：The price of tin ingot has been in the upward range since the Q2, what are the main reasons?
- Mr. Liu: Domestic inventory has continued to accumulate since Q2, and downstream consumption is not very optimistic. But the price of tin ingot has continued to rise to the highest price of nearly RMB290,000 /t (USD39.975/t), I think there are two main reasons. Firstly, the correlation between tin and copper prices in the past six months is very high, and with the copper price soaring to a high of RMB88,900/t(USD12,254/t), the prices of tin and other nonferrous metals have also been affected to a certain extent. Secondly, Myanmar Wa State has been delayed in resuming production, and it is expected that the supply gap of raw materials for the whole year should be between 30,000-40,000 tons. In addition, most of Indonesia's smelters have not yet received export quotas, so the market has a certain concern about the long-term supply of raw materials and refined tin, which is also driving the price continued to rise.
- Asian Metal：The current tin ingot inventory is at a record high level. How do you view the impact of high inventory on prices?
- Mr. Liu: Large inventories have a dampening effect on prices. The current warehouse inventory is close to 17,000 tons, and if the market continues to maintain this inventory, then the price may go down. However, from June to August every year, most of smelters will be overhauled, and the inventory is expected to reduce to about 12,000 tons in the second half of the year, which will support the price.
- Asian Metal：Please predict the price range for the whole year.
- Mr. Liu: As I said just now, large inventories will have a depressing effect on prices. But even if the inventory remains high level in the second half of the year, I think the average price of tin ingot will remain above RMB240,000/t (USD33,083/t). Firstly, because the price of tin ingot rose sharply in the first half of this year, the higher base will make the overall price of this year about RMB30,000-40,000/t (USD4,135-5.514/t) higher than last year. Secondly, the prices of tin ingot supported by the global non-ferrous metals macro strength.
- Asian Metal：Based on the current price expectation, what is the company's production target of this year and will you consider extending your production chain?
- Mr. Liu: We aim to produce 5,400 tons of tin ingot for the whole year. In addition to this, we strengthen the recovery of silver, copper, lead, bismuth, antimony and other metals, and directly produce related products from vacuum furnaces. It is expected that a total of 300 tons of lead, bismuth and antimony will be recovered throughout the year, about 2 tons of silver and about 60 tons of copper. As for the extension of the industrial chain, we have no relevant plans at present.
- Asian Metal：How to improve the recovery rate and properly deal with environmental problems in the process of smelting?
- Mr. Liu: Increasing recycling rates has been the goal of our company for many years. In terms of refining, we used a vacuum furnace produced by Kunming Dingbang Company in 2022, which increased our comprehensive recovery rate from 96.5% to 96.8%. Secondly, we are also currently undergoing technical transformation to improve the recycling standard containing sulfur and arsenic content within 3% to increase corporate profits. At present, the project has been applied to the head office, and the transformation is expected to be completed in October this year. Regarding environmental protection, we are also working on reducing the emission of heavy metals. Mainly from the dust collection aspect of the transformation, will capture the dust bag into a film bag. According to our design, the transformation is expected to reduce the emission of heavy metals into the atmosphere by 50-80kg a year.
- Asian Metal：How do you view the impact of increased demand in the photovoltaic market on the development of the tin industry this year? Which downstream industries are you optimistic about this year?
- Mr. Liu: Tin is mainly used in the photovoltaic field in the production of photovoltaic welding tape, which is a connecting part for the series and parallel of photovoltaic cells, and plays an important role in conducting and gathering electricity. Our autonomous region government has held a number of relevant meetings this year, which also shows the importance of the state to the industry. Therefore, with the development of the photovoltaic industry, it will certainly increase the consumption of tin. Moreover, we hold an optimistic view to the development of the new energy vehicle industry this year. The welding of the display circuit board in the new energy tram and the terminals in the battery will also have a tin oxide layer. With the strong support of the state, there will be further development.
- Asian Metal：Thanks for accepting the interview, and I wish your company a prosperous business.
- Mr. Liu: Thanks to Asian Metal.
