The site of an old tin mine in Cornwall
Letter from the US: Oil’s tin problem
The history of tin production and prices offers a preview of the future oil market. If correct, $35/bl could become the new normal for crude for several years without further OPEC+ intervention
Tin producers were cosseted for decades through the International Tin Agreement (ITA) between them and consumers. The ITA was one of the commodity price stabilisation programmes that grew out of the 1944 Bretton Woods pact that established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The agreement included the creation of the International Tin Council to oversee the stabilisation effort. Funds were provided to the council to build buffer stocks that could then be added to or sold off to keep prices stable. The ITA failed spectacularly in 1985 when the ITC did not meet margin calls to cover its positions on the London Metal Exchange as tin prices plummeted by 60%. The oil industr
Also in this section
24 June 2025
The country’s latest licensing round attracted bids from IOCs and NOCs in a better showing than its last outreach to bidders
24 June 2025
Africa’s second-largest oil producer is creating the right conditions for the sector to try to boost output, explains Ian Cloke, COO of UK-based Afentra
24 June 2025
The takeover, if it gets the all-clear from regulators and other government authorities, would propel XRG and its parent firm ADNOC into the top tier of global LNG players
23 June 2025
Jet fuel will play crucial role in oil consumption growth even with efficiency gains and environmental curbs, with geopolitical risks highlighting importance of plentiful stocks
