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New Opportunities for Tin Use (cont’d)
This new technology needs to be fully assessed before clear
conclusions can be drawn about timescales and probabilities
that might lie behind such projections.
Japan’s share of the stainless steel market is small compared
to major producer China, for example. There are also other
competitive technologies for nickel-free stainless steel.
Nevertheless this has to be seen as a positive opportunity for
tin, likely to have a significant impact of future markets.
FUel catalYStS
Tin can save up to 10% of fuel consumption in vehicles,
ships and generators. Invented in Russia in World War II fuel
catalysts are just a simple tin alloy put inside a fuel tank or fuel
line. Research is underway around the world to find out how
this remarkable product actually works.
At least 10 manufacturers currently operate globally and
sales have mainly been in the automotive and marine sectors.
However, widespread scepticism of the claims made for the
technology has severely hampered market penetration.
Tin industry organisation ITRI is actively working in this field,
both with regard to substantiating performance benefits and
finding the mechanism of action of the catalyst on the fuel.
Although current tin usage is only a few tens of tonnes
per annum, a successful outcome to global
research and further improvement of catalytic
efficiency could realistically lead to
annual tin consumption in the
5,000-10,000 tonne range.
FIRe RetaRDantS
Tin is replacing antimony fire retardants used in most plastics.
Stopping fire and smoke saves lives and tin has been shown
to work well. Until now antimony trioxide has been widely
used but more sustainable alternatives are needed and zinc
stannate use is growing fast.
Tin-based fire retardants, primarily zinc hydroxystannate (ZHS)
and zinc stannate (ZS), have been commercially available
since the early 1990s. Originally developed as non-toxic
replacements for antimony trioxide (ATO), global sales have
grown slowly but steadily over the past 15 years or so.
However, widespread usage has been hampered mainly
because of the high cost compared with ATO. Substitution
of ATO by safer alternatives has become a priority issue for
many end users because of its classification as a Category
3 carcinogen and a skin irritant, and the search for viable
replacements has intensified recently because of the all-time
high antimony price.
Global ATO consumption is estimated at over
90,000 tonnes per annum and it is widely
expected that alternative fire retardants,
including ZHS/ZS, could replace at
least 10-20% of this market
in the next 3-5 years.
MALAYSIA SMELTING CORPORATION BERHAD (43072-A) • ANNUAL REPORT 2011 41