The new President Director of Indonesia’s state-controlled tin company PT Timah today announced plans to spend Rupiah 410 billion (US$ 45 million) this year to expand smelting capacity and repair some of its dredge fleet.
Timah’s capital spending will include the addition of two 7,000 tpy furnaces – one each at its Mentok and Kundur smelters.
This will increase nominal smelting capacity to some 62,000 tpy, although the amount of metal that can be produced depends on the mix and grades of concentrates and slag treated in the furnaces.
Wachid Usman, elected by shareholders today to replace previous director Thobrani Alwi, told reporters: “We have seen a global shortage in the past three months. We don’t want to lose the momentum and every chance we have to boost sales, we will”.
Usman said that Timah’s production in 2007 would be at least 45,000 tonnes (compared to 44,689 tonnes of refined tin produced last year).
The company also announced a 50% dividend payment from 2006 profits, which were boosted sharply in the fourth quarter by the closure of competing small-scale smelters by the authorities in early October.
