Preliminary data on the tonnage of tin checked by trade ministry surveyors prior to shipment from Indonesia last month indicated that a very low volume was shipped in the month. 2,202 tonnes of tin was recorded, 75% lower than in November 2010 and 60% down on the previous month. This was the lowest total reported since the first few months of ministry’s export licencing scheme in early 2007. The cumulative January-November total was 80,917 tonnes, down 4.5% on the first eleven months of last year.
“November tin exports dropped because of the export moratorium,” Toto Rusbiantoro, head of the trade ministry’s mining products export section, told Reuters. Five companies exported tin last month: PT Timah’s two units in Bangka and Kundur, PT Koba Tin and two firms from the Riau region, Rusbiantoro added. The official said they were exporting to fulfil their contract with buyers, adding that Singapore accounted for 2,151 tonnes of the shipments and the Netherlands the rest.
The export moratorium from 1 October began to break down at the end of November, so much larger exports (probably well in excess of 10,000 tonnes) are likely in December.
