Timah sees tin demand to increase by 8% this year

The world's demand for tin metal is estimated to increase by eight percent this year to about 356,400 tons from about 330,000 tons in 2004 in line with the increase in demand from Chinese electronics companies, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Monday.

Thobrani Alwi, the president director of the state owned tin company PT Timah, said that about 30 percent of the total tin demand would comprise of the environmentally friendly low lead tin. "The increase in the demand for low-lead tin will significantly benefit PT Timah, which is widely known in the world as the producer of low-lead tin," he was quoted as saying.

In 2004, PT Timah produced about 34,764 tons of tin metal, a 24 percent lower compared to 45,906 tons in 2003. Thobrani did not unveil the company's production target for this year, but he said that PT Timah was constructing a single stage furnace at its refinery plant in Mentok, Bangka in a bid to improve the efficiency of its tin production.

He said the company's realized sales in 2004 dropped by 23 percent to 35,032 tons in 2004 from about 45,373 tons in 2003. But the company's earning from its tin sales increased by 45 percent from Rp 1,945.7 billion in 2003 to Rp 2,812.4 billion in 2003 thanks to the increase in the price.

The tin price at the London Metal Exchange reached about US$6,585 per ton in early 2004 and about US$7,765 per ton at the end of the year. During 2004, the realized price of PT Timah's tin averaged at US$8,842 per ton, 76 percent higher than those in 2003.

The realized price of PT Timah's tin during the first quarter of this year further increased to US$8,356 per ton. (*)