Interesting article around Indonesian Tin supply in Mineweb Tin...

Interesting article around Indonesian Tin supply in Mineweb

Tin exports from Indonesia, the top supplier, will probably plunge this quarter to the lowest in more than a year after prices declined and as the government moves to impose stricter rules on exports. Futures rose.
Overseas sales may drop 30 percent to 16,000 metric tons from 22,825 tons a year earlier, the median of estimates from one analyst and six smelters compiled by Bloomberg showed. That’s the biggest fall since the three months to March and the smallest amount since the quarter ended Sept. 30 last year, Trade Ministry data show.
Tin futures have slumped 15 percent from a six-month high in April on concern that slowing economic growth may curb demand in China, the biggest consumer of industrial metals. Prices dropped even as exports from Indonesia declined about 15 percent through September from a year earlier. The government tightened rules on trade in August last year to boost exports of higher- value products and smelters have restrained sales in an attempt to counter declining prices.
“Shipments may slow this quarter as prices have dropped to near the cost of production,” said Jabin Sufianto, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tin Exporters in Jakarta. “Prices of about $21,000 are unattractive to some smelters,” he said in a text message on Oct. 9.



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