KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 12): Malaysia Smelting Corporation Bhd (KL:MSC) will gain from rising tin prices by just keeping its output steady as global supply tightens, said its long-time bull.

The country’s biggest tin smelter is largely insulated from production curbs in Indonesia, geopolitical risks in Congo and a slow recovery in Myanmar thanks to its rising in-house ore output and feedstock from Australia secured earlier, according to Apex Securities in a note.  

“Tighter global supply should translate into pricing and margin upside rather than volume risk” for Malaysia Smelting Corp, the research house said and kept its 'buy' call on the stock.

Shares of Malaysia Smelting Corp on Monday touched RM1.94, their highest since April 2022. Apex Securities is the only research house with 'buy' out of a total of three covering the company.

Prices of tin have surged to the highest in nearly four years amid resurgent worries over tightening supply of the metal used in everything from circuit boards to food packaging following crackdown on illegal mines in Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of tin.

Weather and infrastructure challenges have also weighed on output recovery from a key mine in Myanmar, sending prices above US$44,000 per tonne at a time when demand is rising though its use in electronics and renewable energy.

“Global tin supply tightness is expected to persist over the medium term,” Apex Securities continued, “limiting the scope for supply normalisation and keeping tin prices structurally elevated.”

The research house is now raising its target price to RM2.14 from RM1.70, after lifting earnings forecasts by as much as 27% for 2026-2027 to reflect higher realised tin prices and income from mining business, alongside margin improvement from increased in-house ore smelting.