Provisional data from Indonesia’s trade ministry released today shows a big jump in exports in June. Data compiled by surveyors under the country’s export licensing system shows that 10,875 tonnes of tin was checked prior to shipment, 35% higher than in June 2010. This was the highest monthly total since March 2009 and the fifth highest ever since the licensing scheme came into effect in February 2007. Cumulative tonnage in the first half of 2011 amounted to 50,165 tonnes, up 16% on the first half of 2010, when production and trade was hampered by abnormally bad weather conditions.
“Reduced rains in Bangka helped increase supplies of tin ore to smelters,” boosting refined-metal production, Toto Rusbianto, head of mining exports at the ministry, told Bloomberg, adding that the “higher price also helped raise output.” The surge in shipments follows a quiet May, when checked tonnage fell to only 7,013 tonnes, as smelters halted sales in response to the sudden drop in prices at that time. The higher June number partly reflects the delayed release of stocks held back the previous month, while the underlying growth this year is also due to the stimulus to small-scale mining activity provided by recent record tin prices.
