Tin falls to three-week low as supply may restart from Myanmar's Wa state

By Amy Lv, Violet Li and Lewis Jackson Feb 27 (Reuters) - Tin futures prices fell to their lowest in more than three weeks on Thursday, which analysts attributed to expectations shipments could resume from major supplier Myanmar's Wa state. The most-active April contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SSNcv1 closed daytime trading 3.69% lower at 254,010 yuan ($34,940) a metric ton, after touching the lowest since February 5 at 253,220 yuan a ton earlier in the session. Prices of the metal, used to make semiconductors, had climbed by 9.5% from the beginning of the year to a year-to-date high of 267,900 yuan a ton on February 24 on declining stocks and tight supply. The risk of intensifying conflict in Myanmar also added uncertainty about whether supply would resume. A notice circulating on Chinese social media on Wednesday purporting to be from the Wa State Industrial Minerals Management Bureau outlined the procedure for securing permits for mining, beneficiation and exploration. Mines in Wa produce 70% of the tin from Myanmar, the world's third-largest producer and a dominant supplier to China. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the document. Myanmar's Wa militia did not respond to a Reuters' request for comment. "That indicates that tin ore production in Myanmar is expected to resume, which will greatly ease the supply tightness," analysts at GF Futures said in a note, referring to the notice. Analysts at First Futures expect tin ore supply to gradually pick up by the end of the second quarter, adding 10,000 tons of supply in 2025 if resumption process goes smoothly. The militia associated with Myanmar's ethnic Wa minority suspended all work at mines in areas it controls in August 2023 to protect the remaining mining resources. China's imports of tin ore from Myanmar more than halved last year, customs data showed. Shares of Yunnan Tin 000960.SZ , the world's biggest refined tin producer, fell by 2.8%. ($1 = 7.2698 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Amy Lv, Violet Li and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) ((Amy.Lv@thomsonreuters.com;))