Indonesia Hopes to be Determiner of World's Tin Price

Reported by Ongku Sutan Harahap Pangkalpinang, Bangka-Belitung, Sept 27 (Antara) - Indonesia seeks to be the determiner of the world's tin price, following the establishment of a national commodities exchange for the mineral resource, said President Director of PT Timah Tbk. Soekirno. "With the introduction of the law, which requires tin trade through a national commodities exchange, it is hoped that no under pricing trade will occur. This way, the country's hope of becoming the tin price determiner will be achieved," he said on Friday. He said in the last three months, the price of tin has risen significantly from US$19,000 per tonne to US$23,000 per tonne. "The possibility of Indonesia becoming the determiner of tin price is huge because apart from being one of the world's biggest tin producers, the country is also the world's biggest tin exporter," he said. He hopes the price of tin will reach the target of US$25,000 per tonne by the end of this year. He said it is not impossible for the price to surpass our target in view of the significant price increase in the last three months. He added that the government's decision to require tin exports through national exchange is strategic as it could guarantee that the price would always be above the basic price, and therefore, would be profitable for companies, regions and the state. "We prefer selling 15 tonnes of tin at US$30,000 per tonne rather than selling 30 tonnes at US$15,000 per tonne. The earnings are the same but companies sell different amounts of tin," he said. Sukrisno said all tin producers in the country support the government's decision. "The presence of the national tin exchange will benefit the country's producers but we also hope the government will carefully select producers that would join the exchange because this will affect the livelihood of many people," he said.(*)