Indonesia plays a decisive role in determining world tin prices

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, Satriono Edi, said that the level of world tin prices on the LME exchange is now set by Indonesia. “Following the implementation of the new law to export tin, a metal used in smartphones and other goods, prices have reached their highest 6-month level in London.

At the same time, the export of factories in Indonesia was forced to restrain because there is only one authorized company in Jakarta, which has a license to export bullion. The policy change is pushing up world tin prices, "said Satriono Edi. Tin has already overtaken all other base metals, including zinc, copper and aluminum. This is due to the export regulation in Indonesia.

A year ago, in order to avoid illegal mining and gain control over prices, the government was forced to change export rules. The law did not apply to the export of solder. At the same time, the export of tin decreased due to the introduction of the law, and the export of solder gradually increased. Noticing this, the government took steps to remove the entire loophole.

As a result of a brainstorming session by government officials, a new law is to be enacted that provides for a separate export license for pure ingot, tin alloy and solder. This means that integrated tin producers will have to register separate subsidiaries and obtain a separate export license. According to the rule, a company with one export license can only produce one product, which could ruin the export of tin ingots.