Timah to reduce tin bar export, turn to downstream products

IDX-listed tin giant PT Timah Tbk said that it would reduce its tin bar export volume to around 30,000 tons per year amid declining onshore reserves and as the company seeks to export more downstream products such as tin solder and tin chemical, Kontan reported on Monday.

The paper said that the company has set a target for tin downstream products to account for about 80 percent of total sales by 2021. According to company financial report, tin chemical currently accounts for 1.2 percent of total sales, while tin solder sales volume stood at 2,100 tons.

Timah President Director Sukrisno said that tin solder accounts for about 51 of global tin demand, suggesting the huge export demand for the downstream product.

So if global demand stands at around 360,000 tons per year, demand for tin solder is about 180,000 tons per year. ?Why not we take, for instance, about 50,000 tons per year,? Sukrisno said.

Currently, the world?s largest tin solder producing country is China. Sukrisno said that he had visited China to look into the possibility of teaming up with one of the Chinese tin solder producers. He declined to provide further details. (*)