The Chinese government issued a first batch of 2011 export quotas for non-ferrous metals at the end of December. According to the Ministry of Commerce website the initial quota allocation for tin and tin products is 11,340 tonnes, up from 7,812 tonnes issued at the same time last year. Quotas were also announced for other rare/strategic metals, including antimony, indium, molybdenum, silver and tungsten and were generally higher than for 2010.
Reported exports of refined tin in the first eleven months of 2010 were only 508 tonnes, although exports of tin semis and other products rose sharply to 7,426 tonnes. Meanwhile in the same period China imported 15,152 tonnes of refined tin, 17,246 tonnes of tin concentrate (gross weight) and substantial volumes of solder, alloys and tin semis. Export rose and imports fell in October when the Chinese domestic price was at a substantial discount to the LME price, but trade flows returned to more normal patterns in November as the price differential narrowed.
