China raised the resources tax on six minerals, including iron ore, tin and molybdenum, to help conserve reserves in the world’s second-biggest economy, Bloomberg reported, citing the official China Taxation News service. The increase was effective from February 1. The tax rate increases are the first for iron ore and molybdenum since 2006, and maybe longer for tin.
The tax on tin ore now stands at between 12 and 20 yuan ($1.90-3.20) per tonne of ore depending on grade, up from the previous range of 0.6 to 1 yuan per tonne. The cost of tin-in-concentrate will probably increase by a few thousand yuan, given that ore grades are typically less than 1% tin. Yunnan Tin Company, China and the world’s largest tin producer, said that the tax increase would add 50 million yuan (US$7.9 million) to its costs this year. The changes should not impact the production of tin mines under the current high price of refined tin and concentrate. However, the small mining companies will become more sensitive to any fall in prices. ITRI estimates that China’s total tin mine production in 2011 was some 102,000 tonnes, about 50,000 tonnes less than the country’s refined tin consumption.
