Peru’s only tin producer Minsur SA reported a 27% fall in net profits and a 16% drop in refined tin production last year, with a particularly sharp drop in profits in Q4. Net profit plunged 90% year-on-year in October-December to 24.8 million soles (US$9.24 million) from 259 million soles, BNAmericas reported, quoting local bank BCP.
The main reasons for the change were lower sales revenues and extraordinary items relating to investments and exchange rate fluctuations. The average tin price on the London Metal Exchange in Q4 was US$20,855/tonne compared with US$25,910/tonne in the same period of 2010. For full year 2011, Minsur posted a net profit of 795 million soles (US$297 million), a drop of 27% from 1.09 billion soles in 2010. Annual revenue was down to 2.26 billion soles from 2.35 billion soles in the prior year.
Minsur produced 30,205 tonnes of refined tin at its Funsur smelter near Ica last year, down 16% compared to last year’s production of 36,052 tonnes. The company’s mine production of tin-in-concentrate declined by 14% to 29,022 tonnes.
