China imported 1,145t refined tin in February, down by 51% compared to January and 69% year-on-year. Although it is the lowest monthly imports in the recent past, it is still a higher level compared with imports before 2012. There has been no profitable space for general imports in February because of the sustained fall in the LME tin price and the lower domestic price. Total refined tin imports in January-February were 3,495t, down by 35% y-o-y.
Tin concentrate imports returned to a more normal level in February after a big increase in January. The gross weight of concentrate imports in February was 3,195t, after an improbable surge to 17,661t in January. The big concentrate imports in January mainly flowed from Myanmar/Burma into Yunnan province.
China’s refined tin production in January-February was 21,430t, down by 2% compared to the same period of 2012, but mine production increased by 18% to 13,329t according to the latest data from China Nonferrous Industry Association. The rise in mine production is partly due to a revival in Guangxi, where many small mines and processors were forced to stop operations last year due to pollution issues, and Inner Mongolia.
