Short Supply of Indonesian Tin Ore

Indonesian tin ore supply gets short. Smelters in Southeast Asia compete to secure the ore when Singaporean refinery doubles the output in September. The supply power balance is also changing when the 2 major brands from Indonesian government running PT Timah and PT Koba are losing the foothold under the competition with other high quality cheaper brands. Indonesian oriented KJB International and Yunnan Tin of China established tin refinery joint venture, Singapore Tin Industries in February, which is the first refinery in Singapore. The JV will double the output from current 18,000 tonnes to 36,000 tonnes in September after the expansion by July. The demand increases for Indonesian tin ore, of which Banka island is major source, from Mentok smelter of Malaysia, Thailand Smelting and Refining and Chinese refineries along with Singapore Tin Industries. The Indonesian 2 major brands reduce the share in the expanding market.