Timah records 9-month tin output increase of 26%

PT Timah Tbk, the world's biggest integrated tin producer, said refined tin output rose 26% to 30,084 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, thanks to better dredging performance.

Increased output led to higher sales of refined tin at 30,902 tonnes, up 36% from a year ago, Timah said in a statement on Oct 28.

The average price of tin received by the state-run firm fell 4.1% to US$7,857 a tonne from the same period last year.

Lower global tin prices and higher production costs due to high energy costs caused the firm's net profit to decrease 13% to 101.2 billion rupiah compared with the same period last year.

Tin has lost more than 20% in value in the last year as funds have sold the metal and as supply from Indonesia has grown, raising inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses.

Timah also posted operating profit of 203.9 billion rupiah, down 43% from 361.4 billion rupiah in 2004.

Sales revenue rose 48% to 2.61 trillion rupiah from 1.75 trillion rupiah in the same period last year.

Tin is used in electronics, plating and the chemical sector and as a lead-free substitute in solder.

This year, Timah expects to produce 10 to 15% more tin, or about 40,000 tonnes. It has started a new smelter on Kundur island in Riau province near Singapore.

Timah's Bangka operations have the capacity to produce 47,000 tonnes a year of tin. (*)