Tin prices could rise due to supply deficit

The price of gold added $7 to $644.60/$645.60 per troy ounce on Tuesday. It was the first time in six sessions that gold prices advanced.

Base metals prices were also higher. Three-month copper remained over $300 lower than its peak for the year, reached last week, even though it added $80 to $5,970 per tonne on the LME on Tuesday. Nickel, meanwhile, added $1,200 to $40,500 per tonne.

Tin traded at $13,400 per tonne on the London Metals Exchange after inventories of the metal in LME warehouses declined by 225 tonnes during the day. The International Tin Research Institute said that the price of tin could go as high as $20,000 per tonne this year because the supply deficit is growing and there are no substitutes available. This could happen, the Institute said, even though prices could fall in the short-term due to weakness in the sector. Prices have been higher recently due to production interruptions in Indonesia.