Yunnan Tin Company, the world’s largest tin producer, said on Tuesday that its net profit for 2011 increased 92% year-on-year to RMB 703 million yuan (US$112 million at current exchange rates). According to a filing with the Shenzhen stock exchange reported by the Xinhua news agency, the company’s operating revenue for 2011 stood at RMB 12.842 billion yuan (US$ 2.04 billion), up 39% from a year earlier.
The company attributes the profit hike to the rise in the prices of its products, such as tin ingot, tin products and tin chemical products in 2011 – a large proportion of YTC’s tin is used in downstream products.
Two weeks ago YTC issued a warning that its net profit for the first quarter of 2012 will drop 75-80% year-on-year to RMB 35-45 million yuan ($5.6 – 7.1 million). The company attributed the poor performance in the latest period to “impacts from the eurozone debt crisis, less working days in the first quarter, and falls in tin prices and demand of both local and overseas markets during the period”. Q1 results are due to be released on 27 April.
