No Bids in Korean Tender

SHANGHAI, Mar. 4 -- South Korea has reissued a tender to buy 200 tonnes of tin ingot, after passing on an earlier auction closed on Friday due to a lack of bidders, the state-run Public Procurement Service (PPS) said. The agency is seeking metal with more than 99.9% purity, excluding Russian origin, for shipping by May 31 to the port of Busan, it said on its website. At its previous tender last month it had only one bid and bought 200 tonnes of standard grade 99.85% tin from Hanwha Corp at a premium of $230 over the LME price c.i.f. Busan.

The PPS's refined tin purchases in 2010 are budgeted at 1,910 tonnes, marginally higher than the 1,900 tonnes acquired in 2009. The agency's tin inventory, which is used to manage the supply chain to small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, is due to rise to 2,300 tonnes by the end of 2010.