Japanese Import of Chinese Tin Sharply Decreases in August

Japanese tin meal import from China decreased by 53% to 216 tonnes in August from a year ago, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance, which widely downed from monthly average of 676 tonnes during January-July 2007. Japanese importers seem to avoid Chinese tin metal with relatively high price after Indonesian tin metal import recovered from temporary supply trouble. In addition, Japanese users recently prefer Indonesian tin metal after the excessive lead-free trend settled down in domestic market.Chinese tin metal is refined by a hydrometallurgical method and contains less lead than Indonesian tin whose demand is strong from chemical industries. Japanese solder makers had preferred Chinese tin in recent years to meet severe demand for lead-free solder products.However, material shift recently almost completed from lead containing solder to lead-free solder in required fields and an excessive lead-free trend settled down among the solder users. Japanese solder makers now prefer Indonesian tin which contains more lead than Chinese but the content rate is sufficient for Restriction of Hazardous Substances of European Union.Indonesian tin export temporarily stopped after October 2006 when Indonesian government regulated domestic illegal tin smelters. The export restarted in March 2007 and Japanese import volume recovered to above 1,000 tonnes per month.