International Tin Council facts for kids
The International Tin Council (ITC) was a group that helped manage the global market for tin. Tin is a metal used in many products, like cans. The ITC brought together countries that produced tin and countries that bought it. Their main goal was to keep the price of tin stable.
Before the ITC, an International Tin Study Group was formed in 1947. This group looked at how much tin was available and how much people needed. Their work led to an agreement called the International Tin Agreement, signed in 1954. The ITC itself officially started in 1956.
Contents
Why the ITC Was Formed
The International Tin Council had several important goals:
- To prevent big problems like job losses if there was too much or too little tin.
- To stop the price of tin from changing too much. They wanted a steady price that was fair for everyone.
- To make sure there was always enough tin available at good prices.
- To help countries produce tin more efficiently. They also wanted to protect tin deposits from being wasted.
Who Were the Members?
The ITC had two main types of members: countries that produced tin and countries that used a lot of tin.
Original Members (1954 Agreement)
The first countries to join as consumers (buyers) were:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- France
- Federal Republic of Germany
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- Lebanon
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Spain
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
The first countries to join as producers (sellers) were:
Later Members and Agreements
After the first agreement in 1954, new agreements were signed every five years. These happened in 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, and 1980.
By the sixth agreement in 1980, more countries had joined. New consumer members included:
New producer members were:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Zaire
Over time, many other countries also became members. These included Guinea, Mexico, Republic of Korea, the United Arab Republic, Israel, Liberia, Panama, Yugoslavia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Poland, the Philippines, Czechoslovakia, Taiwan, Romania, Nicaragua, German Democratic Republic, and Austria.
Why the ITC Stopped Working
In the early 1980s, the demand for tin started to drop a lot. This happened for a few reasons:
- New materials like aluminium became popular for making containers.
- Companies started using special plastic coatings inside cans.
- More industries began recycling tin.
Because of this lower demand, the ITC found it harder to keep tin prices stable. They tried to buy up extra tin to support the price, but they eventually ran out of money in October 1985. Attempts to get more funding failed, and the ITC stopped operating. Since then, the price of tin has generally gone down as other materials became more appealing.
Association of Tin Producing Countries
In 1984, a new group was formed called the Association of Tin Producing Countries. Its members were Australia, Bolivia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, and Zaire. This association worked to support tin producers but eventually closed down in 2001.
