Tin Shipment Delayed from PT Koba, Indonesia

Restart of tin shipment is delayed from PT Koba, one of Indonesian largest tin refineries. PT Koba had stopped tin ingot production and shipment since the end of January 2008, restricted by Indonesian government, and was reported to restart shipment in March. However, some of Japanese importers said they received informal announcement from Malaysia Smelting Corporation, a parent company of PT Koba, that the next tin export might be delayed in May.PT Koba is the secondly largest tin refinery in Indonesia following PT Timah. PT Koba’s output capacity is estimated to be 15,000 tonnes per annum which represents near 5% of global tin production.PT Koba ceased its operation and shipment totally at the end of January when Indonesian government restricted illegal tin production in the country. Shipment restart was announced on 14 March and the first cargo departed at the end of March. Japanese importer source said the next shipment hasn’t been determined.Global largest 2 tin suppliers of Indonesia and China are recently regulating their tin exports. On the other hand, other countries are increasing tin ingot productions with purchased tin ores including Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. Japanese tin imports from those new suppliers have increased to about 3,000 tonnes per month this year.