Indonesia’s tin producers to review export halt

Tin producers in Indonesia, the largest exporter, will meet tomorrow to review a decision to halt overseas shipments until the end of the year to boost prices, an industry group said.

The review follows complaints from users about metal scarcity at a weekend meeting between the Indonesia Tin Association with at least ten buyers from Germany, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Johan Murod, general secretary at the group, said by phone today. Tomorrow’s meeting will be held in Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung province, he said.

“The buyers were complaining that the halt has caused difficulties in securing supplies,” Murod said from Pangkalpinang. “We will hear the aspirations of all our members, and see what can we do to address these complaints.”

Twenty-eight tin producers from Indonesia, which accounts for about 40% of global exports, agreed earlier this month to extend a ban on export started on Oct 1 until the end of the year to boost the price to US$25,000/t in London. PT Timah, the largest tin-exporting company, is allowed to meet contractual orders while halting spot sales, Eko Maulana Ali, provincial governor of Bangka Belitung, said Nov 2.

“We may ask Timah to totally stop exports so we can quickly reach the rational price of US$23,000 to US$25,000/t,” said Mr Murod, who is also a director at PT Bangka Belitung Timah Sejahtera, a group of six smelters. “Many smelters feel that sales by Timah have hindered gains.”

The producers will also discuss the creation of a spot market locally, the Babel Tin Market, Rudy Irawan, executive chairman of the association, said today.

Tin fell 22% during the third quarter on concern that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis may hurt the global economy, prompting the Indonesian producers to halt exports.

Nov 22 (Bloomberg)