News agencies reported today that the government of Yunnan province is to buy up to one million tones of metals, based on reports posted on its website and that of China’s Ministry of Land and Resources. Yunnan will buy 150,000 tonnes of copper, 300,000 tonnes of aluminium, 150,000 tonnes of lead, 300,000 tonnes of zinc and 100,000 tonnes of tin, the report on the Ministry site said. The reserves will be kept for one year.
The plan is in line with a strategy adopted following a summit meeting between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and top economists and entrepreneurs last week, which called for stockpiling of important commodities, among other measures. However ITRI understands that the quantities reported may be gross weights of a mixture of metal, semi-manufactures and ores. Furthermore it is not clear whether the plan has the final approval of either the Yunnan or central governments.
In the first 10 months of 2008 smelters in Yunnan produced 63,417 tonnes of refined tin, 59% of China’s national output, according to official CNIA statistics. Demand for tin and other metals in China is reported to have fallen sharply in the last month and most major smelters have announced matching cuts in production.
