International Tin Agreement Research Articles

International tin agreements & the rise of Brazilian tin mining industry

Abstract Brazil's share of the world tin cas-siterite production increased from 3 per cent in 1980 to almost 22 per cent in 1989. Pitinga and Bom Fu-turo, two deposits discovered in 1979 and 1987 respectively, together increased the production capacity of Brazil by over 700 per cent. The superior geological conditions and the favorable economics of these deposits have been the dominant and necessary factors behind the soar in Brazilian tin cassiterite mining. However, the International Tin Council's market interventions from 1976 and onwards as well as domestic governmental support have also been crucial for the development described.

Tin in the World Economy.

Tin is unusual among primary commodities in that a small number of less developed countries have been responsible for the bulk of world production aimed mainly at the Western market. This book traces the political economy of the tin industry from the mid-19th century to the present day. Placing the commodity within its historical context, it discusses attempts to cartelize the industry in the inter-war years and to control the price of tin by international agreement in the post-war period. It also includes an analysis of the development effects of tin exporting and an account of the great structural changes in the industry since the collapse of the International Tin Agreement in 1985. The book includes discussion of the industry in England (Cornwall), Bolivia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil and elsewhere. This guide is intended for businessmen in the mining sector and students of commodity economics and development economics, from higher undergraduate level upwards. John T. Thorburn is also the author of Primary Commodity Exports and Economic Development (Wiley) and Multinationals, Mining and Development (Gower).

The tin industry since the collapse of the International Tin Agreement

After the sharp fall in the price of tin in the 1980s, intensified by the collapse of the International Tin Agreement, the world tin mining industry has been restructuring. The long established tin exporting industries of South-east Asia, used to earning high mineral rents, have been struggling for survival, while Brazil has emerged as a dominant low cost producer. Sales from Brazil and from China have done much to make ineffective the supply rationalization efforts of the Association of Tin Producing Countries, and a recovery of tin consumption in industrialized and developing countries has been partially counteracted by falls in import demand by Eastern Europe. Most mining multinationals have left the industry, and the state owned mining enterprises in Indonesia and Bolivia are being reorganized.

The Tin Crisis (1985‐86) and Futures Trading

A succession of six international tin agreements operated from 1956 to 1985. Futures trading in tin continued in London until the buffer stock scheme, without cash or the support of its sponsoring governments, collapsed in October 1985. The implications of the tin experience for futures trading and for so‐called commodity stabilization schemes are examined

A CYBERNETIC MODEL FOR THE INTERNATIONAL TIN MARKET

ABSTRACT A cybernetic model for the international tin market is developed to judge the usefulness of methods for stabilizing prices on international raw commodity markets. Both the supply and demand sides are characterized by large time delays. The buffer stock mechanism of the International Tin Agreement may be seen as a kind of controller for the tin market. This controller can smooth price fluctuations but never guarantee high prices. Since this fact was at least partially ignored, long-time feedback effects led to the collapse of the International Tin Agreement in 1985.

Maclaine Watson & Co Ltd v. Department of Trade and Industry

39International organizations — Personality — Legal personality of international organizations in English law — Organization granted the legal capacities of a body corporate — Whether organization thus created a body corporate — Whether capacities of a body corporate include capacity to incur contractual liabilities on own account — Whether members liable for contracts concluded in the name of the organization — International Tin Council — Sixth International Tin Agreement, 1982 — International Tin Council-United Kingdom Headquarters Agreement, 1972 — International Tin Council (Immunities and Privileges) Order 1972 — The law of England

Maclaine Watson & Co. Ltd. v. International Tin Council

International organizations — Personality — Concept of international legal personality — Rights of organization against members — Whether justiciable in a municipal court — Whether creditor entitled to the appointment of a receiver by way of equitable execution over assets of organization — Assets of organization said to include right of organization to be indemnified by its members — Sixth International Tin Agreement, 1982 — International Tin Council-United Kingdom Headquarters Agreement, 1972 — International Tin Council (Immunities and Privileges) Order 1972Relationship between international law and municipal law — Treaties — Application — By municipal courts — Whether rights and duties of parties to treaty establishing international organization justiciable in the courts of a State party to the treaty — The law of England

Study Groups Versus Commodity Agreements: An Appraisal*

Since World War II there have been several attempts to establish intergovernmental mineral commodity arrangements involving both the producing and consuming countries. Two different forms have been used, the consultative forum and the commodity agreement (with binding economic provisions). The two different approaches are compared using as examples the six post‐World War II International Tin Agreements and the International Lead and Zinc Study Group. The study group or consultative forum appears to work better.

The collapse of the international tin agreement

(1987). The collapse of the international tin agreement. The Round Table: Vol. 76, No. 302, pp. 167-174.

The Collapse of Tin: Restructuring a Failed Commodity Agreement

The International Tin Agreement (ITA), one of the world’s oldest commodity pacts, ran out of money and discontinued its market support operations on October 24, 1985. Subsequent disclosures revealed that the organization not only had exhausted its cash reserves but also had borrowed over £900 million in an unsuccessful effort to support the price of tin. Member governments of the ITA failed to approve additional contributions to repay these loans, leaving banks and commodity brokers to absorb massive losses. The market price of tin plummeted to half its previous level. The collapse came as an unexpected shock, for the ITA had been widely viewed as the world’s most successful commodity pact. International agreements operating almost continuously during the past 50 years, including the ITA and its precursors, have been credited with successfully reducing fluctuations in the naturally volatile price of tin. The collapse now makes the whole future of tin regulation uncertain. In addition, the failure of tin sounds a warning for other commodity pacts, which are equally susceptible to the underlying weaknesses to which tin fell prey.

The Collapse of the International Tin Agreement

SUMMARY On 24 October 1985 the International Tin Council announced that it could not pay its debts to banks and metal brokers. The crisis ended with the ITC facing legal actions after defaulting on almost £900 mn. Its problems have cast a shadow over other commodity agreements and the chances of UNCTAD's Integrated Programme. The collapse shows that commodity agreements must price realistically and control a high proportion of production if they are to survive. The conclusion is that the volatility of modern capital flows and diversification of developing economies make commodity agreements more difficult to maintain and perhaps less important. RESUME L'Effondrement de l'Accord international sur le Fer Le 24 Octobre 1985, le Conseil International du Fer annonca qu'il ne pouvait pas payer sa dette aux banques et aux agents de change. La crise se termina par le ITC (Conseil International du Fer) se trouvant a faire face a une action en justice pour le non-paiement d'une dette de £900mn. Ces problemes ont assombri les accords passes sur d'autres produits et les chances du Programme Integre de l'UNCTAD. L'effondrement montre que les accords sur la production doivent etablir des prix de maniere realistique et controler une grande proportion de la production s'ils veulent survivre. En conclusion, l'inconstance du flux du capital moderne et la diversification des economies en voie de developpement rend les accords sur la production difficiles a maintenir et peut-etre diminue leur importance. RESUMEN El colapso del convenio internacional del estano El 24 de octubre de 1985 el Consejo Internacional del Estano (CIE), anuncio que no podia pagar sus deudas a los corredores bancarios y metaleros. La crisis termino con el CIE enfrentando acciones judiciales despues de no pagar casi 900 millones de libras esterlinas. Sus problemas han creado una sombra sobre otros convenios de mercancias y sobre el futuro del Programa Integrado de la UNCTAD. El colapso demuestra que para sobrevivir, los convenios de mercancias deben ser realistas en los precios y controlar una alta proporcion de la produccion. Se concluye que la volatilidad de los flujos del capital moderno y la diversificacion de las economias en desarrollo hacen que los convenios de mercancias sean mas dificiles de mantener y que quizas se tornen menos importantes.

Tin Availability in Market Economy Countries

The U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Mines determined costs associated with the production of tin from 18 market economy countries (MECs). The resource and relative economic positions of 146 tin deposits were evaluated. Demonstrated resources of recoverable tin metal are estimated to be 2.8 million metric tons. Over 70% of this material is recoverable from three south‐east Asian countries ‐ Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia; all are members of the International Tin Agreement (ITA).In the last five years, Brazil has become a major, low‐cost tin producer. In light of their large resources Brazil has become a dominant MEC tin producer and one of the world's few tin producers that can prosper during a protracted period of low tin prices.

A new International Tin Agreement?

The International Tin Council (ITC) has, by setting up a “Preparatory Committee”, once more given the starting signal for the preparation of a new International Tin Agreement (ITA). The intention is that the new agreement should take over from the current 6th ITA when it expires on 30th June, 1987. Presently the Agreement is facing a difficult situation. The apparent equilibrium between demand and supply since the beginning of 1985 remains unstable and some producer countries are urging their governments to leave the ITA. How could this situation come about? How can the problems be solved? *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A02GP040 00007

International Commodity Agreements

Since the adoption in 1976 of the Integrated Programme for Commodities, only four international commodity agreements have been concluded, of which only one, the International Natural Rubber Agreement (1979), was new. The others are the International Sugar Agreement (1978), the International Cocoa Agreement (1980) and the International Tin Agreement (1981). In view of the broad political support for international commodity agreements, the progress towards concluding such agreements is slow. Moreover, in some of them universality is lacking. Several countries which account for a substantial proportion of world production and consumption of, and trade in, the commodity subject to an international agreement, have not ratified or acceded to the relevant agreements. The duration of the negotiations has been exceedingly long in comparison with experience on negotiations of the previous agreements. This outcome, several years after the adoption of the Integrated Programme for Commodities, is disappointing and unexpected, especially since the basic purpose of that Programme and the setting up of the Common Fund in accordance with it was “to act as a catalyst for international commodity agreements”. The purpose of this article is to examine the reasons for this outcome.

International commodity agreements in the mineral sector

Abstract In this paper the author examines the possibilities of developing countries by establishing international commodity agreements and governmental producer associations. He specifically analyses the tin industry and the International Tin Agreement (ITA), and compares it to the bauxite and copper industries. His main conclusion is that political co-operation between producing countries is a necessary precondition for establishing successful commodity agreements.

UNCTAD: Sixth International Tin Agreement

UNCTAD: Sixth International Tin Agreement

The profitability of the buffer stocks operated under the International Tin Agreements,1956–77

In this paper estimates are made of the profitability of the tin buffer stocks operated under the International Tin Agreements. The issue of buffer stock profitability is important because under UNCTAD's Common Fund proposals some funds will be raised from money or capital markets and commercially competitive rates of interest must be paid. If a buffer stock fails to be commercially profitable, these interest payments will have to be subsidized from governmental contributions or elsewhere. Although it does seem that the International Tin Agreements have been broadly self- financing, the limited influence that they have had on market price fluctuations still leaves open the question of their usefulness.

The international tin agreement, 1976: An assessment of its regulatory machinery as an instrument of international policy

The author examines the provisions of the New International Economic Order (NIEO), and maintains that with or without a Common Fund, International Commodity Agreements are, and will remain, a recognized instrument for achieving the objectives of the NIEO. Because of various factors conducive to effective organization — including the convergence of interests among producing and consuming countries — the International Tin Agreement (ITA) has made some useful contributions. But wider objectives can only be achieved by appropriate structural reforms in commodity organization.

THE WORLD TIN ECONOMY: AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS

An econometric model of the world tin economy using a disaggregated supply/demand approach with a market clearing equation for prices is described. Six developing countries, Malaysia, Bolivia, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, and Zaire, produce approximately 70 percent of the world tin output. Consumption of tin is concentrated in developed countries. The United States is the single most important tin consuming country with a 25 percent share of total world consumption. Wide fluctuations in tin prices are caused largely by differences in the lag structure of tin consumption and tin mining. While tin consumption usually responds quickly to changes in income or economic activity, adjustments of mine output are costly and time consuming. Most of the behavior of the world tin economy is captured in the econometric model consisting of 23 behavioral equations. The model incorporates the two major institutional factors that influence the tin economy, the strategic tin stockpile in the United States and the International Tin Agreement. The model indicates that the cyclical behavior of tin prices is likely to continue in the future while tin producers can expect a period of slow but steady growth in import demand and a continued increase in tin prices.

The International Tin Agreement: A Reassessment

The International Tin Agreement: A Reassessment