You're what? Tin roof……Rusted!

 

We enter into 2022 with tin prices continuing to surge to all-time highs. As demand increases, corona virus variants continue to disrupt supply chains and as nations and even corporations weaponize trade against their rivals who will be successful in securing the resources that they need?

To put the urgency into perspective there is no significant amount of tin mined or smelted in North or Central America. China is the world’s largest producer of tin with Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Rwanda also being major producers.

One of the fears of non-Chinese producers is that the Chinese will flood the market with cheap tin like they have with cooper, rare earths and other products in the past and that is a valid concern.

 So as the world weaponizes trade against its geopolitical and commercial rivals how will your firm secure the resources required to thrive into the next decade?

 You're what? Tin roof……Rusted!

South Korea dependent on China for rare earths

South Korea dependent on China for rare earths

South Korea purchased a total of 282 tons of rare earths from China last year, which accounted for 78% of the South Korea's total imports of 360 tons of rare earth according to the South Korean Customs Service. South Korea's dependence on China for rare earths in 2011 rose by 13% from 2010.

 Rare earth materials are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earth elements since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties. 

 They are key components of many modern-day technologies, including hybrid electric vehicles, liquid crystal displays and other high-tech equipment.

 

China, the world’s 2nd largest economy, continues to be the most important market for companies looking for growth and Chinese companies continue to globalize by investing and selling their products in new markets; what is your company’s strategy for engaging China?

 

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