Yunnan Tin Company reported an almost four-fold increase in profits in the first nine months of 2007. Net income rose to 454 million yuan ($60 million), or 0.85 yuan a share, compared with 120 million yuan, or 0.22 yuan, a year ago, the Yunnan-based company said on 12 October in a preliminary earnings statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
YTC, the only listed tin producer in China, has been one of the top performing shares on the country’s booming stock market this year, increasing tenfold in price since the start of the year versus a 181% increase in the benchmark CSI 300 index, according to Bloomberg.
Chinese spot tin prices have recently surged to 150,000 yuan ($20,000) per tonne as a result of strong demand from the solder sector and constraints on metal production caused by concentrate shortages. CNIA data shows that Chinese refined tin production in January-August was 97,223 tonnes, up 7.1% on the same period of 2006, but output has fallen below year-ago levels in every month since May.
