Indonesia to establish mining trading house

The government plans to establish a mining trading house to provide reliable market place for the country's growing mineral products particularly tin, a senior official at the ministry of energy and mineral resources has said.

Director General of Mineral, Coal and Geothermal Simon F. Sembiring said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the mineral trading house which would be called Indonesian Mining Trading House (IMTH), could for the initial stage trade tin metal before other mineral products were ready to enter the market.

Simon did not give further details

"The country's tin production has reached the production level of China. So, it is the right time now for Indonesia to set up a mining trading house," he said, adding that the mining house which would be operated similar to the London Metal Exchange can also be used to control the prices.

According to him the involvement of major tin producers such as PT Timah and PT Koba Tin as the main sponsors of the trading house was therefore quite important. (Godang)