Entering the second half of 2021 trading, tin prices on the Indonesia Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (ICDX) managed to record a record high of USD35,600 per metric ton. The catalyst that influenced the increase in tin prices was the issue of tight tin supply as a result of the outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in Asia which triggered disruptions to mining and smelting activities in several major tin producing countries such as China, Myanmar, and Malaysia, where 70 % of global tin supply comes from Asia. In addition, the increasing shift in the trend of working from home has also triggered an increase in demand for electronic products that use a lot of tin as a raw material.

During the first semester of 2021, ICDX recorded a total tin export of 12,867 metric tons, with a total value of more than Rp5.3 trillion, which indicates that demand from the global market is quite high even amid a pandemic. This shows the importance of Indonesia as the world's largest tin exporter, and how this could impact the global tin industry if tin is traded in a structured manner at the source. ICDX sees this year's tin market will continue to be strong, with Indonesia becoming the backbone of the world tin market and is expected to contribute more to the Indonesian economy.

This tin price was also recorded as the highest price compared to the price recorded in the first semester of 2021 tin trading on the ICDX exchange. The Indonesian tin industry also showed a significant increase in terms of prices and total exports in 2021, after in the first half it also managed to record the highest price since trading through ICDX. This shows the direct influence and central role of Indonesia for tin commodities globally.

“Seeing this growth, ICDX is optimistic that although the implementation of the Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) will not affect the Indonesian tin market, because tin export and logistics activities are still running normally. In addition, considering the conditions of other tin-producing countries in Asia which are constrained by the increasing Covid-19, and high demand from the global market, especially the electronic equipment sector, it has the potential to support tin prices to remain strong. Therefore, ICDX projects that total tin exports in the second half of 2021 will continue to grow and stabilize," said Head of Logistics for ICDX, Bambang Setioso.

Tin as an irreplaceable and non-renewable commodity has a high utilization power and becomes very vital for future industries that focus on renewable energy and also robotic computing which is the main feature and focus of technology development. The wider human needs will accelerate the need for supporting technology and sustainable technology products. One of the most widely used uses of tin is for soldering which is applied to the electronics and manufacturing industries. The wide range of industrial products that use tin as a raw material describes the potential utilization and high demand for tin in the future.