Myanmar’s Ministry of Mines has invited expressions of interest from private sector firms to jointly set up tin smelting and refining plants, the Myanmar Business Today website reported. The No.2 Mining Enterprise under the ministry will go into a Private Public Partnership (PPP) for the plants, it said. The deadline for submitting letters of notification is November 28.
ITRI view: The country’s existing state-owned tin smelter near Rangoon has operated intermittently on a very small scale in recent years, but Myanmar has been exporting very large quantities of tin concentrate to China, especially in 2012 – 2014. Indonesia’s PT Timah has already announced plans to become involved in mining and smelting in Myanmar, and other foreign companies have also made preliminary investigations. However changes in the country’s mining law and production-sharing requirements may be needed before foreign companies make any big investment commitments.
