Indonesian Government to Forbid Crude Tin Export

Indonesian government made an announcement to set regulation on its tin export, which allows tin ingot of above 99.85% purity to be exported. The export will be practically forbidden for crude tin of less than 99.85% purity. Tin prices hit record high at London Metal Exchange (LME) and Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) on Tuesday with concerns tin export would decrease significantly from Indonesia, the world largest tin producer.Senior official of Department of Trade, Indonesia explained at press conference on Tuesday the government permits domestic refineries to export tin ingot who hold legal tin ore concession or who refine tin metal with ores supplied by licensed ore producers.Indonesian government carried out total control on domestic illegal tin refineries in October 2006 and ordered 37 of them to stop operations, 8 of which restarted production this month. Tin ingot production by illegal refineries had accounted for 60,000 tonnes per year, about one third of Indonesian total tin output.The government targets consolidated management of its tin materials under the national tin producers, including the export regulation. Tin metal producing countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore might have to reduce their tin production significantly due to less import of crude tin from Indonesia.LME tin settlement price surged up by US$ 450 to record US$ 12,350 per tonne on Tuesday from Monday and KLTM price rose by US$ 290 to record US$ 12,100 per tonne. Both exceeded latest record marked at the end of 2006.