A new regulation limiting refined tin exports from Indonesia should help create fairer competition globally and support the world price of tin, Thobrani Alwi, president of PT Timah, said in a report by the Antara news agency.
The regulation, issued by the Trade Ministry on January 23, stipulates that only exporters which have registered at the ministry will be allowed to export refined tin. It added that applicants must be companies with legal contracts, or rights to mine and refine tin, and that refined tin for export must meet a tin metal content, or purity level, of at least 99.85 pct.
The conditions mirror those stipulated by the Governor of Bangka January 11 when he invited independent tin smelters, closed down since last October, to re-apply for operating licences.
Alwi noted that many smelters have bought tin ore at high prices from people who have illegally mined it in Timah’s working areas. "I welcome the regulation as it will create a level playing field. It shows that the government is doing its best for the country," Alwi said.
In a separate development Malaysia Smelting Corporation, which owns 75% of Indonesia’s second largest tin producer, PT Koba Tin, announced today that it had stopped purchasing ore from small mines as a result of a police investigation of its supply sources.
