Malaysian tin rebounded on Thursday, helped by overnight gains on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and continued demand from Japan.
Spot tin on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) ended up $30 at $6,450 a tonne on volume of 62 tonnes.
It has fallen nearly three percent in the past two weeks as a high local premium to the LME discouraged interest from Europeans, regular buyers of Malaysian tin.
Japanese buyers, taking advantage of the yen's strength against the dollar, again took most of the tin offered on Thursday. Local interests bought the rest.
"We may see fresh European buying as the premium to LME is now much smaller. Prices are likely to rebound further," said a KLTM trader. KLTM's premium over the London market narrowed to $235 a tonne from $335 previously, following a $130 gain in LME tin on Wednesday.
A recent run-up on the KLTM due to tight supplies has seen the premium going even beyond $400 a tonne, making Malaysian tin expensive for European buyers.