LONDON—Recession worries and consumer belt-tightening have hit demand for electronic goods, which is feeding through to weaker consumption of soldering metal tin, but output cuts mean the market is likely to be balanced this year.
Expectations of large deficits had pushed tin up to a record $51,000 a ton in March, but since then COVID-19 lockdowns in China, soaring inflation and higher interest rates have seen prices roughly halve to 15-month lows.
Part of the problem was funds cutting their bets on higher prices into an illiquid LME market, exaggerating losses, as seen in open interest on the London Metal Exchange (LME) at 61,205 tons down from 75,885 tons on March 3….