International Tin Council facts for kids
The International Tin Council (ITC) was a group that helped manage the world's tin supply. It brought together countries that produced tin and countries that bought it. Their main goal was to keep the tin market stable and fair for everyone involved.
Contents
Why the ITC Was Formed
The International Tin Council had important goals:
- To help prevent job losses and problems when there was too much or too little tin available.
- To keep the price of tin steady. They wanted to avoid big ups and downs in price.
- To make sure there was always enough tin for everyone at a fair cost.
- To encourage smart ways of mining tin. They also wanted to protect tin deposits from being wasted.
Who Were the Members?
The ITC had two main types of members: countries that used a lot of tin (consumers) and countries that mined a lot of tin (producers).
Original Consumer Members
When the ITC first started, these countries were the main consumers:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- France
- Federal Republic of Germany
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- Lebanon
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Spain
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
Original Producer Members
These countries were the main tin producers at the beginning:
A Brief History of the ITC
The idea for the ITC began in 1947 with a group called the International Tin Study Group. This group looked at how much tin was available and how much was needed around the world.
Starting the International Tin Agreement
Their work led to an important agreement called the International Tin Agreement. This agreement was signed in 1954. The ITC itself was officially formed two years later, in 1956.
After the first agreement in 1954, new agreements were signed every five years. This happened in 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, and 1980.
Growing Membership
By the time the sixth agreement was made in 1980, more countries had joined. New consumer countries included:
New producer countries were:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Zaire
Over the years, many other countries also joined the ITC at different times. 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.
The End of the ITC
In the early 1980s, the demand for tin started to drop a lot. This happened for a few reasons. New types of containers, like aluminium cans, became popular. Also, plastic coatings were used inside cans, reducing the need for tin. More industries also started recycling tin.
Because of this lower demand, the ITC found it harder to keep tin prices stable. In October 1985, the ITC could no longer control the price. It ran out of money trying to buy up tin to support its price. Efforts to get more money for the ITC failed. Since then, the price of tin has generally gone down as other materials became more popular.
Association of Tin Producing Countries
In 1984, a separate group was created called the Association of Tin Producing Countries. Its members were Australia, Bolivia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, and Zaire. This association continued until 2001, when it also stopped operating.
