Preliminary figures released by the Indonesian trade ministry to news agencies today showed that 6,391.74 tonnes of tin was checked by surveyor companies prior to export in September. While this was up by 17.5% compared to September 2014, it follows a zero export month in August, when producers were unable to obtain export permits quickly enough under the new export regulation system. Last month’s total included 6,384.53 tonnes of tin ingot, which compares with the 9,230 tonnes traded through ICDX in August and September. This suggests that there was still a backlog of several thousand tonnes of tin yet to be cleared by the surveyors for departure this month.
The cumulative tonnage of tin ingot cleared for shipment by the surveyors in the 12 months to end-September is some 69,000 tonnes. It looks as though sales and shipments will be maintained at a similar rate this month, but the implementation of “Clean and Clear” rules covering mining leases from 1 November could then result in a second hiatus in supply while exporters await the granting of full export licences.
