Indonesia has released most of a tin shipment of more than 2,600 tonnes that had been held up for several weeks because of quality issues, trade and customs officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The customs office at Pangkal Balam port, on Indonesia’s tin-producing island of Bangka, had stopped the shipment in the middle of January, mainly because it did not meet the minimum purity standard of 99.85 percent. The quality standard is one of several criteria required to meet trade ministry export licensing rules which came into force in February 2007.
But a senior trade official said that the tin did meet the required standard. "Refined tin in the shipment has met the minimum purity standard. The quality issue has been resolved," said Diah Maulida, director general of foreign trade at the trade ministry. About 119 out of 167 containers have been cleared and shipped, an official at Pangkal Balam port said. "They have been thoroughly checked and resumed shipments on February 6," said the official, who declined to be quoted by name. Another 42 containers have also been cleared but are awaiting shipment while the remaining six containers are checked for quality, the official said.
