Provisional base metals production figures released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics put refined tin output in November at 11,408 tonnes. This was 11.2 % lower than a year earlier and 29.7 % down from the previous month. Output will fall further in December, given that Yunnan Tin , the top producer, shut down its main smelting facility last week. The facility may not resume production until February, a company official said last week.
Cumulative production in January-November was reported by NBS as 122,962 tonnes, down 10.6% on the same period of 2007. However this includes a very large October figure of 16,239 tonnes, which most experts believe is incorrect. There have also been questions about recent reported refined lead production data. The Beijing research company Antaike last week suggested that the October tin production figures reported by both NBS and the non-ferrous metals industry association CNIA were overstated by more than 6,000 tonnes due to the inclusion of stocks figures in the data reported as output by some producers. Antaike estimates that national production this year will be around 120,000 tonnes, down 17% on last year.
