Tin fell $55 a tonne in Malaysian trade on Friday as key Japanese buyers only bid for small volumes after a slide in the metal's price in London. Spot tin on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market closed on Friday's trade at $7,290 a tonne. Turnover almost halved to 26 tonnes from Thursday's 51 tonnes.
Dealers said the $75 drop guided the market in third-month tin futures on the London Metal Exchange. The London price usually determines direction for Malaysian tin.
Dealers said Japanese and Malaysian interests put in a combined bid of only 20 tonnes at the open of Friday's Kuala Lumpur market, against sellers' offers totalling 71 tonnes.
The Japanese, who use huge volumes of tin for soldering in their electronics industry, have long dominated trade in Malaysian tin.
Of the 26 tonnes transacted on Friday, the Japanese share was 17 tonnes.