Supply being lost in China and Indonesia not only due to low...

Supply being lost in China and Indonesia not only due to low prices but depletion of resources.

http://www.itri.co.uk/pooled/articles/BF_NEWSART/view.asp?Q=BF_NEWSART_312237

Indonesian exports, production down
Release date: 12 May 2009

Latest data released by Indonesia’s trade ministry showed that the tonnage of tin checked prior to export declined sharply in April, while there have been several reports of production problems due to wet weather and other factors.

In April surveyors working for the trade ministry checked 6,082 tonnes of refined tin for shipment, 45% down on the previous month and 23% lower than in April last year. The cumulative total for the first four months of the year was 32,041 tonnes, 5.2% lower than in January-April 2008. The drop over the last two months partly reflects a rush of shipments made in March ahead of the introduction of new rules requiring letters of credit for all tin export sales over US$1 million from the start of April.

Meanwhile independent smelters have reported continuing problems in obtaining sufficient supplies of tin ore. "It's getting more difficult now to mine tin because reserves are depleting," Patris Lumumba, director of PT Bangka-Belitung Timah Sejahtera, a consortium of 7 private smelters, told Reuters. "We are keen to increase production as prices are recovering...but we don't have enough raw material," he added. He said miners now had to dig down to 20 metres to find tin ores, compared with 5-8 metres in previous years. PT Bangka-Belitung Timah Sejahtera is now operating 30 to 40 percent below its capacity of 5,000-6,000 tonnes of refined tin per month. Wet weather has also crippled operations of many small miners in the islands, particularly in remote areas, as they could not collect raw material, a tin ore merchant said.

PT Koba Tin has also had to shut two gravel pump units after they were flooded following heavy rains in early May. A spokesman told Metal Bulletin that they were likely to remain out of operation until July. As a result of the weather problems and lower than expected supplies from contract miners, Koba may fall short of its 9,000 tonnes production target this year. Koba sales in January-April amounted to 2,039 tonnes according to MB.