With the continuous surge of the global artificial intelligence wave, the demand for large model computing power has shown explosive growth. Behind this technological frenzy, a seemingly ordinary metal—tin—is becoming an essential basic material in advanced semiconductor packaging processes. Due to the stringent requirements of high-density chip stacking in AI servers, the price of tin has soared from 300,000 yuan per ton to around 420,000 yuan within half a year, with an increase of as much as 40%.
Surging Computing Power Demand Sparks Supply-Demand Imbalance
In the semiconductor industry, stronger computing power means denser chip stacking, and tin, as the core medium for welding and conductivity, is also seeing its consumption skyrocket. Industry research data shows that the amount of tin used in a single AI server is more than three times that of a traditional server, which has earned tin the new nickname "computing power metal." In sharp contrast to the surge in demand, major producing countries such as Myanmar and Indonesia have recently tightened exports or suffered geological disasters, leading to a long-term shortage of refined tin supply worldwide.
Global Inventory Crisis Drives Full Shift to Recycling and Reuse
More seriously, due to long-term intensive mining, primary tin ore resources are facing the danger of depletion. According to a recent forecast by an authoritative industry institution, at the current rate of consumption, the world's existing tin reserves will only last for 15 years, while China's domestic tin reserves are estimated to last only about 12 years. Faced with the high uncertainty of supply, major leading companies have started to urgently build a green circular industry chain covering "mining, processing, and waste recycling," aiming to alleviate the pressure on the supply of recycled tin by significantly improving the recycling rate of old circuit boards.
