Reuters reports that tin ore shipped from Myanmar across the border for processing in Yunnan, China’s key tin producing province, more than tripled in July to 8,392 tonnes, quoting official Chinese customs statistics. Imports for the first seven months of the year are already more than the total for the whole of 2012.
The import figures are gross weights of tin ore and concentrate and it is likely that most material imported is low grade. Traders contacted by Reuters put Myanmar’s total production at the “low single-digit thousands” of tonnes and noted that most production was coming from artisanal miners who sold their ore for cash payment.
