An official report prepared by Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources projected a sharp rise in tin production to 105,000 tonnes this year, up from 71,610 tonnes in 2008, according to Reuters. However the projection is simply the sum of production targets submitted to the ministry by provincial governments and is likely to greatly overstate actual output in 2009.
"These are production proposals from tin-producing regions. But we will see the progress. If production falls, we will review the target after the first quarter," Bambang Gatot Ariyono, director of mineral and coal enterprises at the energy ministry, told reporters, referring to the document from the energy and mining ministry that was presented to a parliamentary committee. The government would issue a decree that would limit tin production soon, Ariyono said, but declined to give any timing.
Various proposals to restrict national production to totals ranging between 65,000 tonnes and 115,000 tonnes have been under discussion in recent months, with the Ministry of Trade arguing for a larger number and the Ministry of Energy and Bangka-Belitung provincial government in favour of a lower cap. ITRI believes that Indonesia’s tin metal output last year was a little over 90,000 tonnes and is likely to fall in 2009.
