LONDON, May 24 Reuters Copper may have grabbed the headlines this week by making a record nominal high, but tin remains the strongest yeartodate base metals performer.

London Metal Exchange LME threemonth tin is currently trading around 33,500 per metric ton, up by 32 on the start of January, compared with copper39;s 21 price gain.

Tin is a much smaller market but it has attracted its fair share of fund money as investors chase the combination of strong demand profile and structurally challenged supply.

Tin ticks both boxes, particularly the latter. One of the world39;s largest mines in Myanmar has been closed since August and shipments from Indonesia, the world39;s largest refined metal exporter, have dropped sharply this year.

Supply disruption has already seen London tin rally to a near twoyear high of 36,050 per ton in April and it almost matched that this week with a Monday high of 35,355.

However, there is one element missing from the bull picture.

While the price has been rising, global exchange inventory has been rising too. The conflicting signals highlight the disconnect between longerterm bull narrative and current demand reality.

SHANGHAI SURGE

Stocks registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange ShFE have grown from 6,346 to 17,818 tons since the start of January.

Exchange inventory is the highest it39;s been since the launch of the Shanghai tin contract in 2015 and by some margin. The previous record in 2017 was just 10,964 tons.

There was an…