ABSTRACT
Like other metals, a certain proportion of tin consumed consists of tin which has previously been recorded as primary or virgin tin. Secondary tin metal comes from tin recovered from the tinplate mills and the can-making plants which have large amounts of clean scrap in the form of unused tinplate and cans. The recovery of tin metal from clean scrap is a long-established economic operation, but the total amount of metal recovered in this way is now much less per tonne of scrap treated than it was when the only tinplate was hot-dipped. With the primary tin which goes into alloys such as solder, brass and bronze, the position is very different. The Japanese view was that the movement in the price of primary tin had hardly any influence on the consumption of secondary tin.
