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Tin Futures (SN)

Shanghai Futures Exchange Tin futures (SN) offer direct exposure to one of the world's most critical and volatile industrial metals, acting as a pure play on global electronics and solder demand. As the most liquid tin contract in Asia, SN stands out for its aggressive price swings driven by Chinese supply constraints and global tech manufacturing cycles. If you're a retail trader looking to diversify beyond standard gold or copper plays, this highly reactive market is worth your time—provided you can handle its sharp, fast-moving action.

Contract Specifications

Specifications are reference values compiled from exchange publications. Margins and price limits adjust dynamically — the exchange's latest announcements prevail.

What Moves Tin

• Solder demand from electronics. Over half of global tin consumption goes into solder for electronics manufacturing, meaning its baseline demand is tightly bound to global PCB production and consumer hardware consumption.
• Myanmar Wa State mine supply disruptions. Myanmar's Wa State is a critical source of Chinese tin ore imports, and sudden mining suspensions or regulatory crackdowns there routinely spark sharp supply-side panics in Shanghai.
• Indonesia export policy. As a major global tin exporter, Indonesia's fluctuating export quotas and verification rules directly dictate how much metal hits the global market, causing rapid price repricing when policies shift.
• LME tin linkage. Shanghai tin doesn't trade in a vacuum; arbitrage desks keep SHFE prices tightly tethered to London Metal Exchange (LME) tin, meaning overnight moves in London heavily dictate the morning open in China.
• Semiconductor inventory cycle (AI/server demand). The current AI boom and server build-out have supercharged the semiconductor inventory cycle, making tin highly sensitive to chipmakers' restocking and destocking phases.

Why Traders Watch It

Tin is a micro-cap commodity in a world of mega-cap oil and copper markets. Because the global physical market is so small, a single supply headline—like a mine suspension in Myanmar or an export delay in Indonesia—can rip the price violently in a matter of minutes. It is a market where physical scarcity can override macroeconomic trends very quickly.

Forget the rebar playbook; tin couldn't care less about Chinese property developers or construction data. It trades the global semiconductor cycle, meaning you are effectively taking a leveraged position on the tech hardware supply chain rather than traditional Chinese heavy industry.

From a practical standpoint, the contract is highly accessible for global retail. With a contract size of 1 metric ton per lot and a tick value of ¥10 (≈$1.40), a price around ¥260,000/ton (≈$36,300) requires a dynamic exchange margin of roughly ¥28,600 (≈$4,000). The 21:00–01:00 Beijing night session overlaps nicely with Western trading hours, giving you live access to react to global news alongside the LME.

What to Watch Out For

• Supply shock whipsaws: Because the market is so thin, sudden news from Wa State or Indonesia can trigger immediate limit-up or limit-down moves, trapping you in a position before you can manually manage risk.
• Overnight LME gap risk: Shanghai’s night session closes at 01:00 Beijing time. Any violent LME move that happens after the SHFE close can leave you facing a massive gap on the next morning's open.
• Liquidity rotation across 12 months: While all 12 months are listed for trading, liquidity heavily concentrates in the front few contracts. Trading further out the curve can result in terrible fills and erratic slippage.
• Dynamic margin spikes: Exchange margins hover around 10–12% during normal conditions, but clearing houses will aggressively hike these requirements during volatility spikes, potentially forcing premature liquidations if you aren't holding a buffer.

Trading SN on XS Select

All XS Select evaluations include SN and every other major Chinese commodity contract, on real Wenhua Finance market data with institutional liquidity. Commission is 2x the exchange standard (open and close) — replicating professional conditions.