Indonesian exports of refined tin are likely to have fallen again in June, according to preliminary data released by the trade ministry. It reported that 8,030 tonnes of tin was checked by surveying companies prior to export, 7.3% lower than in June 2009. The cumulative volume for the first half of this year was 43,263 tonnes, down 14.5% from 50,575 tonnes in the first six months of 2009.
"Exports fell because tin resources in onshore mines have been depleted, cutting production," an official at the trade ministry told Reuters. "Based on technology and financial capability, only PT Timah and PT Koba Tin are able to explore offshore mining."
"Indonesia’s exports fell in the first half of the year as there was a big drop in tin export contribution from private smelters," Johan Murod, director at private tin consortium Bangka Belitung Timah Sejahtera (BBTS), told Metal Bulletin. "The police continued to crack down on allegedly illegal miners and their collectors, and consequently, many artisan tin miners stopped mining totally. Two out of seven BBTS smelters, Donna Kembara Jaya and Duta Putra Bangka, have already closed down due to lack of tin ore for production."
Exports may pick up in the second half of the year during the dry season, but the depletion of tin reserves means that exports are still likely to be lower than in previous years, a physical trader in Singapore said. "We have come to a period where easily recoverable high-grade tin reserves have gone," the trader said.
