Indonesia has approved an export licence for another company, bringing the total number issued to 30, a trade ministry official told Reuters on Monday. The ministry approved a permit for CV Nurjanah, which is based in Bangka-Belitung province, earlier this month, said the official who declined to be named. The ministry has issued six new licences since April this year
Subsequently a Metal Bulletin report has suggested that CV Nurjanah does not have tin smelting facilities and that licences have also been granted to other companies that are not smelters. A trade ministry official told MB that less than half of the 30 companies with permits are exporting due to difficulties with procuring raw materials or securing funds. They may ask for the permits first so they can export whenever they are ready, he said.
He could not confirm if Nurjanah was in production, saying that the ministry merely ensures the application documents are in order. The ministry depends on application documents and a recommendation from Bangka-Belitung provincial government in issuing the export permit, said the ministry’s export director Albert Yusuf Tobogu. It has conducted "several" sampling checks by visiting Bangka-Belitung with no problems so far, he said. However, he would "look into the problem and consult the Bangka-Belitung provincial government".
There are few signs that total volumes of tin being shipped from Indonesia are increasing significantly. Data collected by surveying companies working for the ministry show that the volume of tin checked for export in the five months to May rose by 2.3% year-on-year to 41,913 tonnes, this total including some stocks held over from the final quarter of 2008. June data is likely to be available shortly.
