None of this should come as much surprise. We've been following the metals situation for a couple years, going so far as to publish the LME (London Metals Exchange) pricing for tin, silver, gold and copper. All one need do is look at the sky-high pricing to conclude that the metals markets are under an extreme supply crunch. Further, Cookson Electronics CEO Steve Corbett last month called the tin market situation "scary," noting the shutdowns in Indonesia and market uncertainty in Bolivia.
Now, some folks think that the major international tin lobbies were secretly behind the lead-free ban in Europe. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist myself. But there's no doubt the tin suppliers (not the solder guys, mind you, who have to buy and sell on the open market) have benefited tremendously.
Mike
Mike Buetow
Editor in Chief
Circuits Assembly
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>>> [log in to unmask] 3/27/2007 7:31:22 PM >>>
Below is the most recent commentary of Global SMT & Packaging editor-in-chief, Trevor Galbraith
Wishing all in our industry the best of luck in the future,
Joe
"Is tin heading for a crisis? Recent figures on the global output of tin shows a huge increase in the volume of tin being mined. 2004 figures from ITRI (International Tin Research Institute) suggest that 50% of all tin mined is used in the production of solder. This amounts to a staggering 150,000 tonnes, 50% of which is consumed within Asia, mostly China. Assuming an approximate growth of total electronics manufacturing of 6% per annum and a stronger move towards lead free (SAC alloys typically contain around 96.5% tin) over the past two years, the global resources of this metal are being sorely tested.
Indonesia produces around one third of the global output of tin and they have recently come under increasing government pressure for all tin ore to meet the 99.85% purity standards demanded by the London Metals Exchange. New legislation was introduced on February 23rd, but only 2 of the country's 39 mining companies are expected to be able to meet the standard. On the eve of this legislation coming into force, the price for tin rose to a 20 year high of $14,000 per tonne. This can only result in higher solder costs in our products."
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