Malaysian tin producer Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC) has begun construction of a rotary furnace at its Rahman Hydraulic Tin (RHT) mine in Perak, Malaysia.

The mine is the largest tin mine in Malaysia, representing around half of the country’s tin mine production, and provides approximately a fifth of MSC’s feedstock. In the wake of tightness in the international concentrate market and intense competition for raw material from Africa, the company has been working to improve efficiencies at its own mining operations.

MSC will invest RM10 million (approximately US$2.5 million) to construct the rotary furnace, which will produce crude tin for refining at the company’s newly completed Pulau Indah facility near Port Klang, approximately 400 km by road from the mine.

Representatives from the Perak Minerals and Geoscience Department, Perak State Land and Mines Office, and Perak State government, attended a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction alongside RHT executive director Madzlan Zam and MSC co-CEOs Nicolas Chen Seong Lee and Lam Hoi Khong.

This process will reduce the company’s transport costs for its Malaysian operation, shorten lead times, and is expected to improve overall operational efficiency.

The furnace will have a planned processing capacity of 10 tonnes per day, roughly matching the usual daily mining output at RHT.

Our view: MSC has remained remarkably resilient while global supply disruptions squeeze its access to primary feed, and improved efficiencies at the company’s own operations will provide further cushioning.

Malaysia Smelting Corporation is a Member of the International Tin Association.

Image credit: The Star

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Leading tin producer Malaysia Smelting Corporation has announced group pre-tax profits of RM51.9 million (approximately US$12.5 million) in Q4, up 47.1% from the previous quarter.

MSC reported revenue of RM480.7 million (approximately US$116 million) in Q4 2026, down 9.2% from the previous quarter on lower tin sales, but this decline was offset by lower operating costs.

MSC’s tin smelting segment recorded a pre-tax profit of RM31.3 million (approximately US$7.5 million) following a loss in the previous quarter. The company attributed this increase to stronger sales of higher-margin, higher-profit tantalum slag and cost savings from the closure of the historic Butterworth plant.

This comes despite lower ore intake from suppliers in the quarter. ITA estimates that tin-in-concentrate imports to Malaysia fell by 2.7% to 2,468 tonnes in Q4 compared with Q3, compounding lower output from MSC’s mine.

The tin mining segment, representing the company’s Rahman Hydraulic Tin mine, recorded a pre-tax profit of RM25.4 million (approximately US$6.1 million), down 22.9% from the previous quarter due to a three-week mining suspension for an environmental investigation.

Co-CEOs Mr Lam Hoi Khong and Mr Nicolas Chen Seong Lee, appointed in December 2025, highlighted the improved operational efficiencies against a backdrop of supply disruptions and robust demand.

Our view: MSC faced a challenging 2025 with intense competition from Chinese smelters in Africa due to the continued low concentrate output from Myanmar, the production halt due to the gas pipeline explosion incident, and the temporary mining suspension. Despite this, higher commodity prices have supported the company’s revenue while the closure of the Butterworth plant and improved efficiencies at the new Pulau Indah plant have reduced the company’s costs, with MSC reporting a whole-year increase in pre-tax profits of 5% from 2024.

Protracted mine supply disruptions remain a key risk for MSC going forward, but an anticipated increase in tin entering the international concentrate market in 2026 may see the situation improve.

Malaysia Smelting Corporation is a Member of the International Tin Association.

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On 6th January, a delegation from Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC), led by Executive Chairman Madam Chew Gek Khim, visited Yunnan Tin Company Limited (YTC) for discussions and exchanges on developments in the global tin industry. 

During the visit, MSC met with YTC’s management team, led by Chairman Mr Liu Luke. YTC shared an overview of its evolution as the world’s leading tin producer, including its operational profile, production capacity, and ongoing efforts in digitalisation and use of innovative technologies. YTC welcomed the delegation and expressed willingness open to collaboration to jointly explore opportunities across the global tin value chain. 

MSC signalled an interest in learning from YTC’s experience in resource development, smelting technologies, and market strategies. The Malaysian delegation thanked YTC for sharing its valuable insights and highlighted the potential for further cooperation to promote the stable and positive development of the tin industry. 

Our view: Ongoing collaboration and cooperation in the tin industry to overcome its challenges is a positive step, and ITA is pleased to see its members working together to secure a sustainable future. 

Yunnan Tin Company and Malaysia Smelting Corporation are Members of the International Tin Association. 

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Refined tin producer Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC) announced its profit increased 46% in Q3 following a disrupted second quarter.

The group, which includes MSC’s mining and smelting operations, recorded revenue of RM529.5 million (approximately US$125.7 million), up 39.7% from the previous quarter and up 15.1% from Q3 2024. Refined tin production rose, complemented by a 2.6% increase in the average quarterly tin price.

This translated to a group pre-tax profit of RM35.3 million (approximately US$8.4 million), up 47.7% from the previous quarter which saw disruption due to lower ore intake and the gas pipeline fire incident.

The company highlighted stronger performance of the smelting business due to higher sales of tin intermediate products as well as the higher tin price. The mining segment also saw an improvement in profits due to greater output.

The company last week announced that mining had been paused at its subsidiary Rahman Hydraulic Tin (RHT). RHT—Malaysia’s largest tin mine, producing 2,500 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate in 2024—was suspended on 13 November for three weeks to allow for environmental investigations. Regulators have halted several local mining operations as they investigate recent discolouration of the Sungai Perak river.

MSC said the financial impact is expected to be manageable and not material within the context of the company’s full-year performance. If approval is given to resume within the stipulated time, the company expects operations to resume on 04 December.

In its quarterly results, the company said it remains focused on improving and increasing daily mining output at RHT through new mining methods, improved recovery from lower grade ores, and participating in potential new mining joint ventures.

Providing an update on the decommissioning of the historic Butterworth smelter, MSC said it expected cost savings as a result of the closure while improved efficiencies at the new Pulau Indah smelter will see positive financial and environmental results.

Our view: Intense competition for feedstock as the Wa mining resumption remains sluggish is a key challenge for tin concentrate importers including MSC. Until there is a material improvement in Wa’s output, the international concentrate market is expected to remain extremely tight. Nevertheless, MSC has maintained strong revenue performance through the sale of intermediates and tin-bearing slag.

Malaysia Smelting Corporation is a Member of the International Tin Association.

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Refined tin producer Malaysia Smelting Corp (MSC) has reported second quarter revenue of RM 379 million (approximately US$87 million), up 2.5% from the previous quarter, despite disruption to operations.

MSC attributed the increase in revenue to higher sales of tin-bearing slag and by-products in the second quarter, outweighing lower sales of refined tin and a lower tin price in local currency. Tin sales fell 6.0% from the previous quarter to RM 339 million (US$79 million), while sale of tin-bearing slag and by-products together rose 484.1% to RM 38 million (US$ 9 million).

At the start of April, a gas pipeline explosion in Putra Heights, near MSC’s Pulau Indah smelter, caused an interruption to the plant’s gas supply, forcing the company to temporarily halt production.

Overall, the tin smelting business recorded a loss before tax of RM 9.6 million (US$2.2 million) in the second quarter, following a profit before tax of RM 5.7 million (US$1.3 million) in the first quarter. The company listed the gas pipeline incident as a key factor impacting the business’ results.

MSC also cited lower ore intake from its suppliers as a factor weighing on their results. Intense international feedstock competition has affected many tin ore importers, with Chinese smelters forced to source concentrate from regions other than Myanmar as the Wa mining disruption drags on.

With the commissioning of the Palau Indah smelter complete, MSC will continue to decommission the historic Butterworth smelter, and the company expects to benefit from lower costs and a smaller carbon footprint as a result.

The tin mining segment, which operates Malaysia’s largest tin mine, Rahman Hydraulic, saw revenues rise 3.6% to RM 82 million (US$19 million) on higher production volume, although operating profit fell 0.9% to RM 30 million (US$7 million).

Work to expand mining output and productivity at Rahman Hydraulic is underway, with focus on adopting new cost-effective mining and modernised processing methods.

The company referenced rising trade barriers and global uncertainty, as well as inflation and higher energy costs, as factors potentially affecting the company’s performance moving forward.

Malaysia Smelting Corporation is a Member of the International Tin Association.

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International Tin Association (ITA) CEO Helen Prins, Chief Representative of ITA China Lan Gao, and Market Analyst Huanbo Qin, travelled to Thailand and Malaysia in the first week of June to visit Thailand Smelting and Refining Company (Thaisarco) in Phuket, Thailand, Malysia Smelting Corporation (MSC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and to meet other key stakeholders.

This is the second visit to these two countries by ITA staff in recent years following the trip by ITA around the International Tin Conference in Penang in May 2024.

Valuable insights were provided by Andrew Davies, Managing Director of Thaisarco, and Dato’ Dr. (Ir.) Patrick Yong Mian Thong, Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of MSC.

Mr. Andrew Davies guided an onsite tour to the operations of Thaisarco and deepened the ITA team’s understanding on the production process of tin and the additional value-added products. Thaisarco maintains a strong business position in balancing production and meeting the diversified needs of customers.

MSC has restarted operations at its Pulau Indah tin smelter after a temporary interruption to production due to a gas pipeline explosion in nearby Putra Heights in early April. The company puts significant focus on increasing their own mined tin supply through subsidiary Rahman Hydraulic Tin—Malaysia’s largest tin mine—and are progressing well with pilot testing of hydro-borehole mining. MSC lends strong support to research and development in tin at universities and institutes in Malaysia.

The team also travelled to Tongfang Technology’s solder plant near Bangkok and Redring Solder in Kuala Lumpur, seeing the production process and learning more about responsible sourcing requirements from downstream customers of each company.

The team also travelled to O. M. Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Japanese firm O. M. Company. O. M. Manufacturing is a secondary tin solder alloy producer, making solder alloys from solder production scrap.

ITA’s last visit was to the Tin Industry (R&D) Board to meet Chairman Dato’ Seri, Mohd Ajib Anuar and his team. The organisations shared information on major events taking place this year. The Tin Board highlighted the major potential for tin exploration and exploitation from hard rock deposits in Malaysia.

Stakeholders gave positive feedback on ITA’s plan to hold Asia Tin Week in Hong Kong on 19-21 November this year, to foster a broader Asia approach, reflecting the region’s growing significance in both tin production and consumption.

As deeply historic and significant countries in the global tin industry, both Thailand and Malaysia play modern and strategic roles in the industry, remaining essential parts of the tin supply chain through smelting and downstream processing capabilities.

ITA is grateful for the support from Andrew and Patrick in hosting the visit to Thailand and Malaysia, and also thanks Tongfang Technology, Redring Solder, OM Manufacturing, and the Tin Board for sharing their invaluable insights.

ITA represents more than 70% of global refined tin production and remains committed to leading the tin industry towards a sustainable future through engagement across the supply chain and with major stakeholders.

Thailand Smelting and Refining Company and Malaysia Smelting Corporation are Members of the International Tin Association.

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Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC) has announced a temporary interruption to production at its Pulau Indah tin smelter due to a gas pipeline explosion in nearby Putra Heights.

The explosion occurred on 01 April, resulting in an interruption to gas supply, affecting MSC’s Pulau Indah near Port Klang. As a result of the gas supply interruption, MSC has halted production until further notice. No official timeline has been given for the restoration of gas supply.

In recent years, MSC has been transferring operations from its historic Butterworth smelter in Penang to the new facility near Port Klang. The company produced 16,300 tonnes of tin ingots in 2024, ranking the fifth largest refined tin producer globally.

MSC has said the incident may result in delayed deliveries of tin metal.

Malaysia Smelting Corporation is a member of the International Tin Association.

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2024 saw global refined tin production of 371,200 t, representing a decline of 2.7% from 2023. Approximately 63% of this tin originated from just ten leading smelters, whose collective output increased by 14,300 t (7% year-on-year).

The top three producers remain unchanged, with Yunnan Tin maintaining its position as the world’s largest producer of refined tin at 85,000 t, and Minsur keeping second place although bolstered by strong growth of 14.3% to 36,300 t. Yunnan Chengfeng remained in third place with approximately flat production on the previous year.

After switching places in 2023, PT Timah and Malaysia Smelting Corporation (MSC) have switched again in 2024 as PT Timah’s production recovered to 2022 levels and MSC saw the largest year-on-year decline in the cohort.

PT Timah’s recovery came amid a difficult year for the Indonesian tin industry, with national refined tin production falling 30.7%, as the country’s investigation into alleged historical irregularities in the tin trade exacerbated licensing and export delays.

After facing significant challenges in 2023, EM Vinto production increased 26.3% to a record 12,700 t refined tin.

Chinese producer Guangxi Huaxi (formerly Guangxi China Tin) saw the strongest growth within the cohort of 34.1%, while Jiangxi New Nanshan saw modest growth, and both companies retained their positions from 2023.

Total production in mainland China saw remarkable growth of 4.6% despite the ongoing mining suspension in Wa State, Myanmar—traditionally a major concentrate source for Chinese smelters—bringing the national total to 194,000 t in 2024. This increase is attributed to unprecedented growth in secondary refined tin production of 14.9% on the previous year, and significant drawdown of raw material stockpiles.

Global secondary supply grew by 6.8% in 2024 to a record high, following growth of 2.9% the previous year. Secondary supply ex-China declined by 3.4%. Production at tin recycler Aurubis Beerse fell 16.9%, seeing the company switch places with Thaisarco.

Our view: Despite coinciding with weaker-than-expected growth in tin demand, protracted supply disruptions in Myanmar and Indonesia saw the tin market fall into a narrow deficit of 2,200 tonnes in 2024.

While 2024 saw the industry focus on a challenging supply story, 2025 will likely see supply recover as demand continues to move into a recovery cycle, putting the market on course for a small surplus in 2025.

Yunnan Tin, Minsur, PT Timah, Malaysia Smelting Corporation, Thaisarco, and Aurubis Beerse are members of the International Tin Association. Yunnan Chengfeng, Guangxi Huaxi, and Jiangxi New Nanshan are associate companies reporting data to ITA China.

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The top two producers remain unchanged, with Yunnan Tin maintaining its position as the world’s largest producer of refined tin, and Minsur kept second place. A challenging year at PT Timah resulted in a 23% decline in production, whilst growth at Malaysia Smelting Corporation saw the companies switch positions.

2023 saw moderate production growth from Chinese producers Yunnan Chengfeng and Guangxi China Tin, who held onto third and sixth positions respectively. This growth was offset by declines at similarly-sized producers Jiangxi New Nanshan and EM Vinto, which traded places. European secondary producer Aurubis Beerse saw growth, climbing one spot to ninth, while a decline at the Thailand Smelting & Refining Company (Thaisarco) pushed the company to tenth place, completing the Top 10.

Total production in mainland China declined 1.3% to 177,000 t in 2023. A partial resumption of mineral processing and sales of government stockpiles in the autonomous Wa State of Myanmar, which suspended mining operations from 1^st August 2023, maintained some level of shipments to China. Myanmar tin concentrate shipments to China decreased 15% year-on-year, while shipments from other countries increased by 5% over the same period.

Global secondary supply increased by 7.5% in 2023, recovering from a 6.6% decline the previous year. Growth in secondary refined tin production was split evenly between Europe and China.

Our view: Alongside a difficult macroeconomic climate impacting demand, a decline in global tin production yielded a market surplus of 9,700 t. An expected recovery in demand and ongoing supply disruptions especially in Wa State and Indonesia may bring supply tightness in 2024. We anticipate a reversal of the significant stocking seen in 2023.

Yunnan Tin, Minsur, Malaysia Smelting Corporation, PT Timah, Aurubis Beerse, and Thailand Smelting & Refining Company are members of the International Tin Association. Yunnan Chengfeng, Guangxi China Tin, and Jiangxi New Nanshan are Associate Companies reporting data to International Tin China.

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Renison joint-operator Metals X Ltd (ASX: MLX) has reported a quarterly and annual increase in tin production from the historic Tasmanian mine and a new off-take agreement with joint venture partner Yunnan Tin Group.

Contained tin production from Rension was 2,714 in the quarter ending December 2023, up 7% from the previous quarter. Production for the 2023 calendar year totaled 9,532 tonnes tin-in-concentrate, an increase of 12% from 8,404 in 2022. An increase in production is attributed to increases in ore tonnes milled (160,035 t in Q4; 151,580 t in Q3) and improved mill recovery at 78% (above the rolling 12-month average of 76%).

The impact of new access to the higher-grade Area 5 and Leatherwood stopes saw average grade of ore mined enhanced from 1.77% in the quarter ending-September 2023 to 1.84% in the recent quarter. This grade improvement is yet to be reflected in the average grade of ore processed which remained flat at 2.17% in Q4.

2,622 tonnes of tin-in-concentrate was shipped from Renison, including the Metals X share of 1,303 tonnes to Thaisarco and MSC.

Metals X announced it has entered into a new offtake agreement with Yunnan Tin Group for 2024. Shipments under the new agreement will commence in the Q1 2024 following the completion of the company’s contractual obligations to Thaisarco and MSC. Metals X stated that the new contract “materially improves payment terms of trade for the realisation of tin sales”.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased 8.9% quarter-on-quarter to AU$41.74 million, while all-in sustaining costs (AISC) decreased from $26,893 to $26,552 per tonne contained tin. The company attributed decreased costs per unit production to the increase in tin-in-concentrate production, despite an 8.9% decrease in average LME cash contract price from AU$40,667 to AU$37,063 per tonne.

The company reported progress in its ventilation upgrades at Area 5, mine dewatering at the North Renison Decline, and mine resource drilling programmes including 13,475 m of underground drilling. Reserve definition and grade control drilling in 2024 Q1 will be focused on Leatherwood and Area 5 among other stopes.

The company highlighted its previous publication of the Renison Ore Reserve and Life of Mine Update, which projects annual production to 2035.

Providing an update on the Rentails project, which targets the historic Renison Bell tailings dams for tin extraction, Metals X stated that it has made progress as planned on the selection of furnace technology, infrastructure engineering, and hydrogeological and geotechnical management of the tailings dams.

Our view: Metals X’s continued growth in production in line with the Life of Mine plan demonstrates positive progress at Renison. Ongoing progress on the Rentails project is welcome as the Renison underground mine begins to approach the end of its mine life.

Bluestone Mines Tasmania Joint Venture Pty, Yunnan Tin Corporation, the Thailand Smelting & Refining, and the Malaysia Smelting Corporation, Company are members of the International Tin Association.

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