Timah lowers 2004 tin output Estimate

State tin miner PT Timah has lowered its production target for the current year because of difficulties in getting raw materials and stiffer competition from smaller companies, Dow Jones reported Friday.

"We will revise down our refined tin output target to below 42,000 tons for 2004," Timah's spokesman Prasetyo Saksono told Dow Jones Newswires.

He, however, declined to give a more specific target for production this year.

Timah, the world's largest integrated tin miner, produced 45,906 tons of refined tin in 2003.

Stiffer competition and "difficulties in getting raw materials in our own site," are behind the fall of the company's tin output this year, Prasetyo said.

Timah's refined tin production fell 47% to 6,246 tons in the first quarter of this year, from 11,780 tons in the first quarter of last year.

He said the company's refined tin output in the second quarter appears to have improved, but still was lower than production in the second half of last year. He didn't provided production figures for the second quarter, however.

Timah plans to announce its first-half earnings and production later this month, he added.

He said Timah is "still comfortable" with the current price of tin. "As long as tin prices are above $6,000/ton, Timah will still enjoy profits."

In the first quarter of this year, Timah's net profit rose 86% on year to 39.8 billion rupiah (US$ = Rp 9,290), thanks to an increase in tin prices.

Cash tin prices at the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market closed at $8,785 a ton Friday, up $40 from Thursday's close. The price is almost double of around $4,700/ton a year ago.

The government has a 65% stake in Timah, with the public holding the remaining 35%.(*)