Tin featured prominently in the debate at the London Metal Exchange (LME) Week Seminar 2026, where International Tin Association Senior Market Analyst Tom Langston said the LME tin price had more than doubled since 2024 and was up about 20% year-to-date, according to Fastmarkets. The debate included a customary audience poll on which metal has the most potential upside for the coming year. Before the panel spoke, copper gained almost three-quarters of the vote.
After the debate, the poll was repeated: copper took half of the audience vote, ahead of tin at 26.5%. The source does not report tin's pre-debate share. Langston described tin's demand base in terms of electronics. 'On demand, tin is the glue which holds together all of the world's electronics as solder, making it essential for the AI build out and also the energy transition,' he said.
He also pointed to record semiconductor sales, stating that 'this rapid growth, along with the exceptional performance of semiconductor equities, is undoubtedly supporting sentiment towards tin.' On supply, Langston cited constraints in Indonesia and Myanmar and said that 'significant investment in new supply will be needed to avoid structural deficits in the next decade.' The source does not quantify the investment required or provide further detail on the nature of the supply constraints in either country. The LME Week debate also covered copper, aluminium, zinc, lead and nickel, with panellists from Harbor Aluminium, Trafigura, StoneX, Morgan Stanley and S&P Global Energy. This article focuses on the tin-related remarks.
Source: Fastmarkets, report on the LME Week Seminar 2026 Debate and Outlook (fastmarkets.com/insights/tin-copper-shine-in-lme-week-2026-debate).
Source: fastmarkets.com