Timah says illegal miners produce 42,000MT of tin per year

State owned tin miner PT Tambang Timah said illegal miners are producing 42,000 metric tons of tin every year, exceeding the company's 35,000-ton annual output, Dow Jones Newswire reported Thursday.

Such illegal mining contributed to the depressed world tin prices on the London Metal Exchange, Timah said.

Indonesia's Timah is the world's single biggest tin producer.

Timah's corporate secretary, Prasetyo Budi Saksono, said the company made its estimates after smelters in Malaysia and China were offered tin concentrates from Singapore companies.

"The smelters mentioned to us last week that they received the tin from Singapore, but they're sure the tin is from Indonesia originally judging by the quality," Prasetyo said in a telephone interview.

Prasetyo declined to name the two Singapore companies they believed are involved in the illegal mining and smuggling.(*)