Refined tin was not among a long list of steel and base metal products on which export taxes were introduced yesterday, although tin scrap will be subject to a 10% duty from June 1.
China’s Ministry of Finance announced 5% or 10% taxes on a wide range of metal exports on Monday, as the latest in a series of moves to stem excessive growth and limit energy consumption. Products covered included many finished steel products as well as refined lead and high grade zinc metal.
China is now a small scale net exporter of tin metal, but is a net importer of raw materials such as concentrates and scrap. Tin metal exports rose to 8,079 tonnes in January-March this year.
Platts today quoted an analyst at the Beijing Antaike metals research organisation as saying that there had been talk of the imposition of a 5% tax on tin metal since the start of the year. "So far, we don’t see it on this Ministry of Finance statement. Nothing is confirmed yet. We will have to wait and see," the analyst added.
