Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC) has revealed a 32% fall in profits to RM68.43 million for the 2014 financial year in its recently published 2014 annual report. The group’s revenue increased 21% to RM1.9 billion in 2014, helped by higher refined tin sales, but profit was affected by the divesting of interests in its Indonesian operations, increased cost pressures and adverse currency exchange rate movements.
In 2014, the MSC Group remained the second largest refined tin producer worldwide, as refined tin production rose to 34,971 tonnes, up 7% from 2013 in 2014. This was achieved due to an increase in smelting throughput and an intake of feed material that exceeded 50,000 tonnes and is expected to increase in the coming years.
The company’s core tin operations remain profitable: At the group’s Butterworth smelting plant, a new furnace was commissioned that will increase smelting capacity by 15%, and a new automated casting line was installed. In 2014 the Rahman Hydraulic Mine, wholly owned by MSC through its subsidiary, Rahman Hydraulic Tin (RHT), produced 2,238 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate. This was broadly similar to the 2,223 tonnes produced in 2013 as a 5% increase in the volume of ore processed was offset by a 4% fall in grade. An exploration programme intended to expand the mine’s resource base is ongoing.
