Provisional data published by the National Bureau of Statistics today showed that China’s refined tin production fell by 27.6% year-on-year to 8,853 tonnes in December 2008. Production in the full year is reported to have declined by 11.1% to 129,544 tonnes from a revised total of 145,672 tonnes for 2007. China’s production of all other LME metals increased last year, while tin output was adversely affected by raw materials shortages and other problems. All the main smelters cut production in response to falling prices and demand in the fourth quarter, with the largest producer, Yunnan Tin, halting production at its Gejiu smelter from 8 December.
Official trade figures for December and full year 2008 were also released today. China continued to be a net importer in December, importing 623 tonnes of refined tin and exporting only 70 tonnes of metal and alloy. Exports of metal and alloy in the whole year fell by 98% to 559 tonnes. However a significant tonnage of tin has been exported in the form of products such as anodes in 2008, avoiding the 10% export duty on refined tin introduced at the start of the year. Tin ore and concentrate imports fell by 65% to 7,154 tonnes last year, with much of the total accounted for by low grade material from Vietnam and Myanmar.
