# Tin

The solder that holds electronics together: a small, volatile market where a few mines and smelters can move the world price.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/

Base metals · No. 11

- US critical 2025
- India critical 2023
- HHI 1,349 · unconcentrated
 Base metals · Foundation · Matter

On Indonesia's Bangka island, divers breathing through air hoses dredge the seabed for tin that ends up as solder in electronics.

Chart: Illustration: Tin

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Tin comes almost entirely from cassiterite, found in granite lodes in Bolivia, Peru and southern China and in sands washed from them, which Indonesia dredges offshore.

##### Three things to know

1. Indonesia banned raw tin exports in 2003, years before it applied the same policy to other minerals.
2. Myanmar's tin output fell from about 20,000 tonnes in 2024 to an estimated 12,000 in 2025.
3. The United States has not mined tin since 1993 or smelted it since 1989.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Cassiterite**Tin oxide in placers or hard-rock lodes
2. 2 **Concentration**Heavy grains separated by gravity
3. 3 **Smelting**Reduced with carbon
4. 4 **Tin ingot**Refined metal for exchange delivery
5. 5 **End uses**Solder, tinplate and tin chemicals

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tin/links/index.md)