Malaysian tin closed another $15 up, continuing for the 12th day a winning streak that has made the metal costlier in Kuala Lumpur than London and turned European buyers away.
The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market's (KLTM's) spot price rose to $8,045 a tonne on Wednesday on a volume of 60 tonnes, from Tuesday's close of $8,030, done on a trade of 70 tonnes.
The market has jumped $995 or 14 percent since a Bull Run that began on March 9. In comparison, tin on the London Metal Exchange stood only at $7,900 a tonne at Tuesday's close, up $10 from a day ago.
Dealers said the sharper gains on the KLTM versus the LME have widened the premium for shipping a tonne of local tin to Europe to $350 from last week's close of $275.
"Malaysian tin has become too expensive for the Europeans and that's why they're staying away from the KLTM," said a trader, adding that the affordable premium was within $150-$200 a tonne.
Tight supplies have caused tin prices on both the London and Malaysian markets to rally since last year.
Tin stocks on the LME stood at 11,180 tonnes, down from the 11,415 tonnes at Tuesday's close and less than a third of the record 39,475 tonnes seen in August 2002.
With the Europeans away from the KLTM, the Japanese, who use tin extensively for soldering purposes in their electronics industries, remained the market's biggest player. On Wednesday, Japanese buyers joined local interests to bid for a total of 70 tonnes on the KLTM against the 50 tonnes initially put out for sale.
Bidders eventually cut their request by 10 tonnes while sellers added 10 tonnes to their first offer to strike a match.