Timah?s sales down 20 percent in H1

Publicly listed tin company PT Timah reported a 20 percent decline in sales volume during the first semester of this year following a drop in the company?s tin production in Bangka and Belitung province.

The company sold about 24,000 tons during the January-June period, down 20 percent from the amount recorded in the same period last year.

The company?s president director Wachid Usman said on the sidelines of a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission VII which among others oversees mining affairs that the drop in the sales volume was caused mainly by the fall in the tin ore production especially in onshore mines.

Wachid, however, said that he was still optimistic that this year?s target to sell 50,000 tins of tin could be achieved despite the 20 percent drop in the sales in the first semester.

He said that the company would increase the tin ore production in the July-December period to ensure that the sales target could be achieved.

With an average tin price of $19,000 per ton during the first semester of this year, PT Timah?s sales value reached $456 million or Rp 4.24 trillion during the six month period. The sales figures were higher than Rp 4.08 trillion booked in the first six months of 2007. (godang)