Preliminary data released by Indonesia’s trade ministry today indicated a surge in tin shipments in June, ahead of new purity regulations that came into place on 1 July. The tonnage of tin surveyed in pre-shipment checks rose to 11,111 tonnes last month, 15.2% higher than in June last year and the fourth highest on record since the ministry’s export licencing system started in February 2007. The cumulative volume checked in the first half of this year is 55,011 tonnes, a 16.3% year-on-year increase.

From this month all ingots exported must be 99.9% tin, with a maximum 100 ppm lead and 50 ppm iron. “Exporters released stockpiles before the implementation of the new purity rule,” Muhammad Buntar Gunawan, president director at Bangka Belitung-based smelter PT Stanindo Inti Perkasa, told Bloomberg. Shipments may be halved this month because of the rule, he said.