Word: cartelism
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Trading was halted after the International Tin Council, a cartel made up of 22 leading tin-producing and-consuming nations, found itself short of cash to finance its operation. While most commodity markets are vulnerable to volatile price swings, tin prices have been controlled by the London-based I.T.C. The cartel attempted to fix both the world supply and the price of tin, measures once considered beneficial to consumers of the metal as well as producers. It assigned production quotas to members and then bought up surplus tin whenever international prices fell below a certain level. The surplus metal...
During the past decade, however, the cartel has found it increasingly difficult to support prices because world demand for tin dropped while non-cartel countries were expanding production. Industrial use of tin slumped when manufacturers turned to other metals and plastic. Meanwhile, Brazil, not a member of the cartel, had become the world's fifth largest producer by 1984. The combination of decreased demand and increased production created a global oversupply...
...past several years borrowed nearly $500 million from 16 international financial institutions. The creditors, though, are setting tough terms for any future loans. Last week they said that they would postpone the dates for payment on past loans and offer short-and long-term financing needed to keep the cartel afloat, but only on condition that their loans were guaranteed by the 22 governments that make up the council...
...collapse of the cartel would hurt some producers much more than others. Guillermo Bedregal Gutierrez, the Bolivian Planning Minister, says the fall in tin prices could cost his poverty-ridden country $180 million a year in lost foreign-exchange earnings. But Thailand and Malaysia have managed to cushion themselves against the recent market glut and falling prices by steadily diversifying their economies...
...matter what happens to the current loans, the chances for the long-term preservation of the tin cartel appeared dim last week. Said William O'Neill, a metals analyst with New York's Rudolf Wolff Futures: "I expect to see fundamental changes in the way the market operates. We are certainly not anticipating a return to the old system of price supports." He and others predict that tin in the future will be traded much like copper or aluminum, in a free market without the help of a cartel. --By William J. Mitchell Reported by Frank Melville/London