Restrictions on Tin Exports to be Withdrawn
Thursday, 09 October, 2008 | 18:46 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Mineral, Coal, and Geothermal director-general Bambang Setiawan said the government has withdrawn the maximum of 100.000 tons per year restriction on tin exports. “But we don’t know the quota for next year,” Bambang said yesterday. The restriction is considered unnecessary since tin exports are currently declining due to a decrease in demands.

Bambang said the restriction was intended to maintain the price of tin. He is certain that the current condition will not allow lead exports to exceed more than 100.000 tons per year. Indonesia is the world’s biggest tin producer and exporter, supplying 30 – 50 percent of the world’s tin requirement.

The restriction was also aimed at reducing tin mining because the price of the commodity was rising. Until the first semester of this year, the world tin price had reached US$ 19.000 per metric ton, far higher than last year’s US$ 14.500 per metric ton.


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