China's Tin Production Rising

Mar. 29 -- China’s refined tin production increased by 19% y-o-y to 23,995 tonnes in January-February 2011, according to data from China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA). Production in January and February was 12,440 tonnes and 11,555 tonnes respectively. The increase in production is mainly due to the rise in tin prices to record levels, which stimulated production and sales. ITRI believes that the reported production figure is inflated, because some enterprises report their sales volume rather than real production to the authorities. Some smelters are known to have run down their stocks to very low levels in this period and this de-stocking may be included in the official production data.

Yunnan province contributed a large part of the increase in the whole country’s production. Refined tin production in Yunnan province rose by 31% y-o-y to 14,102 tonnes in Jan-Feb, although the province’s mine production increased by only 8% to 4,741 tonnes. Reported national tin-in-concentrate production was up by 13% to 12,408 tonnes in the same period, although it should be noted that a significant portion of output from smaller mines is never counted in the official figures.