China’s refined tin imports in March amounted to 889 tonnes, down by 45% on March 2013. However, the volume is up by 323% comparing to February and this is a rebound from lower volumes over the last seven months. The rise was attributed to a general industry recovery after Spring Festival holidays.
Tin concentrate imports in March also had a big increase. The gross weight of imports was 16,415 tonnes, up by 466% compared to February and 39% versus March 2013. Myanmar still has its leading place in concentrate imports, accounting for 16,270 tonnes, a 50% rise YOY. With some small smelters reporting raw material shortages, the concentrate imports increase in March is convincing and the inflow will probably keep growing.
March refined tin exports rose to 200 tonnes, accounting for 69% of the quarterly export volume in January-March. As reported previously, the China domestic price was lower than the LME price most of the time in March, stimulating export sales.
