The Indonesian Customs and Excise Office, in cooperation with the Trade Ministry, is investigating an attempt to export tin ingots illegally worth up to Rp500 billion (US$44.5 million), Director General of Customs and Excise Anwar Suprijadi told the Antara news agency yesterday. “We are now conducting a lab test to find any indication of an offence,” the director general said here on Wednesday, referring to the detention of 120 containers of tin ingots which were about to be exported from Bangka island.
The containers, containing an estimated 1,800 tonnes of tin, are owned by a number of independent smelters and were unloaded from a vessel in Pangkal Balam harbour, according to Metal Bulletin. Other reports suggest that a larger volume of metal is being held up. Under the export licensing system introduced by the Trade Ministry in February 2007, all tin exported must have a minimum tin content of 99.85%, be sourced from legal mining operations and have paid an export royalty of 3%.
Most independent smelters have been closed or operating at very low rates since last October and have shipped very little metal for three months. The total tonnage checked for export in December was only 3,806 tonnes, the third lowest monthly total since the scheme began.
