Tin: Stocks

Plenty of tin in the ground; the issue is governance

What this tab covers How much is left and how much is held. For minerals and energy: reserves, current output, years of supply and recycling for the top five countries. For farm commodities: production, ending stocks and stocks-to-use for the top five producers (USDA, October 2026). It also covers inventories and stockpiles.

Top five countries: reserves, output and years of supply

Country	Reserves kt Sn content	Current output kt Sn content (mine, 2025e)	Years of supply	Recycling
China	1,200	71	17	n/a
Indonesia	1,400	61	23	n/a
Peru	150	33	4.5	n/a
Brazil	700	28	25	n/a
Congo (Kinshasa)	91	27	3.4	n/a

USGS MCS 2026, Tin (world mine production and reserves table). World reserves are more than 6,000 kt, about 21 years of 2025 output.. Years of supply = reserves ÷ current output; reserves grow as prices and technology change, so this is not a countdown.

Recycling

World: the EU end-of-life recycling input rate for tin is 31% (EU CRM 2023), and ITA reported record secondary supply in 2024, up 6.8%. US: about 17,000 t recycled in 2025, with old scrap giving 22% of apparent consumption (USGS). No published figures for China, Japan or India were found.

USGS puts reserves at more than 6 million tonnes, at least 21 years of 2025 output. It describes world resources as extensive enough to sustain current output well into the future. The binding constraint is investment and governance, not geology. In-use stocks are hard to recover because solder and chemicals are dispersed. The EU end-of-life recycling input rate is 31%. In the US, old scrap supplied about 10,000 tonnes in 2025, 22% of apparent consumption. US consumer and dealer stocks ended 2025 at about 8,100 tonnes.

Reserves

World reserves 6,000,000 metric tons, tin content (USGS world total is 'more than 6,000,000') Reserve life 21 years at 2025 production Indonesia 23% China 20% Brazil 12% Myanmar (Burma) 12% Australia 10% Largest reserve holders, share of world reserves (USGS MCS 2026). Reserves are what is economic to extract today, not what exists.

Recycling

End-of-life recycling input rate in the EU: 31% of demand met from post-consumer scrap (EU CRM study 2023).

About 17,000 tons of US tin was recycled from old and new scrap in 2025, of which about 10,000 tons came from old scrap, equal to 22% of apparent consumption.