International Tin Council

The International Tin Council was an organisation which acted on behalf of the principal tin producers in Cornwall and Malaysia to buy up surplus tin stocks to maintain the price at a steady level.

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The organization was established in 1956, following on from the work of the International Tin Study Group, which was established in 1947 to survey the world supply and demand of tin.

However, with the advent of aluminium containers, the use of protective polymer lacquers inside cans, and increased recycling by industry, the demand for tin had decreased considerably by the early 1980s, and the ITC could no longer maintain the price. It eventually ran out of money buying up tin on the metals markets. Attempts to refinance the ITC were eventually abandoned, and since then, as with many other raw materials, the price has generally declined as alternatives become more attractive.