This increase could reflect a revival of demand from the main applications requiring tin, including solder (electronics and engineering) and for electroplating. Tin is also used in the manufacture of alloys such as phosphor bronze.
The data, reported by the ITRI, suggests that Indonesia was again the main supplier, accounting for 46% of imports. However, although the volume of tin received from Indonesia rose by 20% to 16,281 tonnes, its market share was eroded as a result of a more than doubling of imports from both Thailand and Malaysia. Imports from Thailand, at 11,597 tonnes, accounted for a third of the market, while Malaysia's tonnage rose to 5,109 tonnes, or 14% of the market.
