Indonesian tin miners have had a very short peak season for production this year, as a late-ending monsoon in Q2 has been followed by the early onset of a new rainy season from late August. Adverse weather has mainly affected small mines and independent smelters, with the operations of the large integrated companies PT Timah and PT Koba Tin continuing more normally.
"The weather has been weird these days. The anomaly in weather has seen very short hot and dry season this year in Bangka," private smelter consortium Bangka Belitung Timah Sejahera (BBTS) director Johan Murod told Metal Bulletin. BBTS expects tin metal production to fall to 900 tonnes in September from its normal production capacity of 1,500-2,000 tpm, and from its full capacity of 2,800-3,500 tonnes per month. “This year, the rainy season only ended in end April, and started again in end August," said Murod. "Consequently in some of the lower mining areas we need to pump out water before we can mine." Two of the seven smelters in the groups closed permanently in June/July.
Rains have also disrupted mining activity in neighbouring Belitung island, a local source told MB. "Tin production may fall to 700 tonnes in September from the full capacity 1,500 tpm of three independent smelters in Belitung," said the source. One-month long Hari Raya celebrations have also now commenced, when many mine workers return to their homes elsewhere in Indonesia.
