Malaysian tin fell $30 on Friday as sellers came out to overwhelm the market ahead of the weekend after holding back for days in the hope of better prices.
The spot price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market fell to $8,965 a tonne from Thursday's $8,995, on a transaction of 60 tonnes. Volume on Thursday was just 23 tonnes. "There were many sellers today.
I guess people just got tired of waiting for the market to turn around," said a trader. Sellers offered 60 tonnes right at the market's, against bids for 29 tonnes from Japanese and Malaysian buyers.
Dealers said the market largely ignored the higher tin price on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday. LME tin rose $50 to at $8,825 a tonne a day ago.
The drop on the KLTM versus the rise on the LME narrowed the premium for shipping a tonne of Malaysian tin to Europe, including freight and other costs, to $365 from $445 previously.