Sales of refined tin on the ICDX exchange dropped to the second lowest monthly total on record in September, as sellers held out for higher prices.
Monthly turnover in September was 2,550 tonnes, down by 47% compared to August. In interviews with Bloomberg and Reuters at the end of last week ICDX Commissioner Fenny Widjaja predicted that total exports from Indonesia would average 4,000 – 5,000 tonnes per month from September to December and also said that the exchange had introduced a rule that all its members must ship their cargo on a ship that doesn’t have tin other than ICDX tin. This follows two incidents in March and September in which shipments of mixed ICDX-traded ingots and other tin products have been halted for investigation by the authorities. “The tin price has dropped drastically and smelters are not ready to sell, unless they really need money,” Widjaja told Bloomberg.
ITRI View: It is possible that little or no non-ingot tin will have been shipped in September, following the police raid of 9 September. Furthermore the window of opportunity for smelters to export non-ingot tin is closing, with stricter regulations on quality and other issues due to come into force on 1 November.
