For the first month this year production of refined tin by Chinese smelters was above year-ago levels in June. According to preliminary data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today, June production was 12,778 tonnes, up 4.4% on June 2007. China’s production of all the main non-ferrous metals rose strongly last month.
Year-to-date tin production still trails production in the first half of last year. January-June output was 65,548 tonnes according to NBS, down 10%. The July total is also likely to be adversely affected by a maintenance shutdown of YTC’s Gejiu smelter and the power outage at Liuzhou China Tin’s Laibin plant.
