Tin hits 27-month high on the KLTM: Report
Thursday, September 25 2003 - 05:34 AM WIB
Tin has performed strongly since early this year registering an average price of RM4,683 (1 USD = RM3.8) per ton to date, compared with RM4,064 for last year.
KLTM chairman Datuk Mohd Ajib Anuar told StarBiz: ?We expect global demand for tin to continue to grow in the short term by about 4 percent per annum.?
He said the global consumption for tin has been quite strong this year, especially in China and Japan, ?due to the recovery in the electronics sector and the switch to lead-free tin solder.?
Consumption in the US is steady while demand from Europe has bounced back, especially in the solder sector.
On the supply side, Ajib said: ?There has been a significant decrease due to the closure of the Renison Mine in Australia and the ban by Indonesia of exports of tin concentrates.?
Overall, he expects a shortfall of 12,000 tons of tin metal this year on the back of an increase in global consumption of 3 ? 4 percent.
Ajib also pointed out the significant reduction in tin metal stocks in London Metal Exchange warehouses. At the end of June last year, total stocks were about 36,000 tons. ?The figure now is about 15,000 tons, which is a reduction of 60 percent,? he added.
He forecast global production of tin-in-concentrates this year to slow by 3 percent; last year production totaled 240,000 tons.
A trader said: ?The price on the KLTM trended higher this week following good buying interest from Japanese and European buyers.
?The recovery in the US economy, based on an improvement in its employment level and strong corporate earnings, has helped to support prices for tin,? he said.
The two Indonesian companies, PT Timah Tbk and PT Koba Tin, along with another KLTM member Malaysia Smelting Corporation Bhd., account for one third of global tin supply. (*)