Indonesia’s trade ministry has granted a further licence to export refined tin, a ministry official told Reuters on Monday, bringing the total number of companies with licences to 25. The export permit was approved for PT Babel Inti Perkasa on April 24, said the official. This was the second tin export permit approved by the government so far this year, the previous one going to PT Refined Bangka Tin two weeks ago.
Trade sources have suggested that further applications are awaiting approval, but many of the existing licence holders are either not currently producing or are operating at low levels of capacity utilisation. The export licencing scheme was introduced in February 2007. In the twelve months to March 2009 the ministry’s surveyors checked 88,169 tonnes of tin prior to export.
