Malaysian tin continued to ignore price fluctuations in London, staying at $8,900 a tonne for a second day, despite a jump in the metal's value on the LME.
After on Thursday's reluctance by players to sell, there were few buyers to prop up the price the next day, dealers on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) said.
"People were not bidding higher, probably because the weekend was around the corner," said a dealer. Despite the reduced demand, the final volume on the KLTM rose to 85 tonnes from Thursday's 51 tonnes.
LME tin closed $100 higher on Thursday at $8,875 a tonne. The London market usually lends direction to the KLTM, but local players have lately been ignoring it due to other interests at stake.
Demand for Malaysian tin has softened in recent weeks due to summer holidays in Europe and ample stocking by top buyer Japan.
The KLTM saw initial bids for 85 tonnes of tin from Malaysian and Japanese players on Thursday, against sellers' offers of 105 tonnes.
The unchanged close on the KLTM versus the rise on the LME reduced the premium for shipping a tonne of Malaysian tin to Europe, including freight and other costs, to $250 from $350 previously, dealers said.