Official Chinese customs figures released today showed that the country remained a net importer of unwrought tin last month. Exports of refined tin and alloy were only 733 tonnes (56.3% lower than in October 2006), while imports were 2,469 tonnes (59.1% higher than the same month last year). The reversal of traditional trade flows in recent months reflects the fact that Chinese domestic market prices have been at a large premium to LME values since August. This in turn has been due to a strong revival in demand for tin in combination with short supplies of tin concentrates since the middle of the year.
One big surprise in the October customs figures is that very large concentrate imports from Myanmar are reported. 15,482 tonnes of concentrate was reportedly imported from China’s neighbour last month, a massive increase from the 257 tonnes received in January-September. We believe that this most probably reflects either a mis-classification of other material (possibly zinc concentrates) or shipments of very low-grade tin ore for dressing in China.
