Benchmark tin on the London Metal Exchange, the best performer among the metals complex this year, touched a high of $33,590 a tonne, within striking distance of a April 2011 high of $33,600.
Brazil's real erased early losses to trade up 0.2%, as central bank minutes showed a 100 basis point hike could be coming at the next meeting to keep inflation in check.
Copper struggled to hold gains, weighing on top producer Chile's peso, while Mexico's peso looked to give back Monday's strong gains, down 0.4%.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) reached a record high of $10,747.50 a tonne in May but fell 8.6% last week and touched a low of $9,011 a tonne on Monday.
"The next leg of the rally will be led by the physical market around the third quarter when the whole supply chain has used up its stocks."
Aluminium was down 1.8% at $2,449.50 a tonne, zinc fell 1.4% to $3,002, lead slipped 1.2% to $2,185, tin dropped 1.4% to $31,217 and nickel ceded 2.9% to $17,938.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) shed 2.6% to $10,136 a tonne.
The metal, widely used in the power and construction industries, was on track for its biggest daily fall since February. Last week, copper hit a record of $10,747.50 a tonne and has jumped 32% so far this year.