A spokesman for Indonesia’s state tin company PT Timah told Metal Bulletin today that its production in 2009 will now fall well short of its original production targets and will not even cover existing long-term contract sales commitments of 42,000 tonnes. It is now negotiating with its contract buyers, corporate secretary Abrun Abubakar told MB. "We haven’t declared force majeure yet. But our customers are mostly understanding that there has been difficulty this year due to the weather," he said.
Timah’s tin stocks are low and would not help it meet its contracts, he said. "We will continue to try to produce as much as possible till the end of the year, while the weather permits. But we think that output will be 40,000 tonnes maximum this year," he added. The original 2010 target was 50,000 tonnes, compared to 45,086 tonnes last year. Timah’s refined tin production increased only marginally to 19,501 tonnes in H1 compared to 19,378 tonnes in the first half of last year. Its refined tin stocks were last reported at 2,722 tonnes at end-June.
