Editing Tin (section)

==Price and exchanges==
[[File:SnPrice.png|thumb|World production and price (US exchange) of tin]]
Tin is unique among mineral commodities because of the complex agreements between producer countries and consumer countries dating back to 1921. Earlier agreements tended to be somewhat informal and led to the "First International Tin Agreement" in 1956, the first of a series that effectively collapsed in 1985. Through these agreements, the [[International Tin Council]] (ITC) had a considerable effect on tin prices. ITC supported the price of tin during periods of low prices by buying tin for its buffer stockpile and was able to restrain the price during periods of high prices by selling from the stockpile. This was an anti-free-market approach, designed to assure a sufficient flow of tin to consumer countries and a profit for producer countries. However, the buffer stockpile was not sufficiently large, and during most of those 29 years tin prices rose, sometimes sharply, especially from 1973 through 1980 when rampant inflation plagued many world economies.<ref name="price" />

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. reduced its strategic tin stockpile, partly to take advantage of historically high tin prices. The [[Early 1980s recession|1981–82 recession]] damaged the tin industry. Tin consumption declined dramatically. ITC was able to avoid truly steep declines through accelerated buying for its buffer stockpile; this activity required extensive borrowing. ITC continued to borrow until late 1985 when it reached its credit limit. Immediately, a major "tin crisis" ensued—tin was delisted from trading on the [[London Metal Exchange]] for about three years.  ITC dissolved soon afterward, and the price of tin, now in a free-market environment, fell to $4 per pound and remained around that level through the 1990s.<ref name="price">{{cite web| last=Carlin | first=James F. Jr. |year=1998|url=http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/tin/660798.pdf |title=Significant events affecting tin prices since 1958 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028165126/http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/tin/660798.pdf |publisher=USGS|archive-date=2011-10-28}}</ref> The price increased again by 2010 with a rebound in consumption following the [[2008 financial crisis]] and the [[Great Recession]], accompanying restocking and continued growth in consumption.<ref name="USGS200YB" />

[[File:Tin Prices.webp|thumb|300px|right|Tin Prices 2008–2022 <br> {{see also|2020s commodities boom}}]]
London Metal Exchange (LME) is tin's principal trading site.<ref name="USGS200YB" /> Other tin contract markets are Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) and [[INATIN|Indonesia Tin Exchange]] (INATIN).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bangka.tribunnews.com/2011/12/15/12-januari-pemasaran-perdana-inatin |title=12 Januari Pemasaran Perdana INATIN |date=December 15, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426052131/http://bangka.tribunnews.com/2011/12/15/12-januari-pemasaran-perdana-inatin |archive-date=April 26, 2012}}</ref>

Due to factors involved in the [[2021 global supply chain crisis]], tin prices almost doubled during 2020–21 and have had their largest annual rise in over 30 years. Global refined tin consumption dropped 1.6 percent in 2020 as the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] disrupted global manufacturing industries.<ref>{{cite news |last=Daly |first=Tom |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/tin-surge-worsens-supply-chain-woes-electronics-solar-auto-firms-2021-12-03/ |title=Tin surge worsens supply chain woes for electronics, solar and auto firms |work=[[Reuters]] |date=2021-12-05 |access-date=2021-12-07 }}</ref>