Refined tin production in China fell by 15.7% year-on year to 19,237 tonnes in the first two months of 2008. The provisional data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was reported by Reuters yesterday. January production was down 18.0% to 9,890 tonnes and February output fell 13.4% to 9,347 tonnes. The drop mainly reflects the adverse effects of extremely bad weather in the period, especially in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. The two provinces account for over 20% of national production.
NBS previously reported China’s 2007 production at 149,102 tonnes, averaging some 12,400 tonnes per month. December production was 12,682 tonnes. ITRI believes that NBS figures slightly overstate production due to some double-counting.
