Preliminary statistics released by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics yesterday show a slight increase in world tin consumption in the first five months of 2008. Global refined tin consumption is estimated to have increased by 1.1% to 147, 900 tonnes in January-May compared to the same period of 2007.
The WBMS data shows that growth in Asia has been partly offset by declines in apparent consumption in the USA and Europe. Chinese demand rose by 11.2% and Japanese consumption rose by 5.8% compared with the depressed 2007 total. However US consumption is estimated to have fallen by 24.1%, while EU27 demand declined by 8.1%.
