Wet Weather Hampers Indonesia Tin Output

Jan. 27 -- Wet weather is seriously hampering tin output in top refined exporter Indonesia, a smelter official based in the main producing region of Bangka Belitung said on Friday.

The rainy season in Southeast Asia's largest economy began around November last year and is expected to peak in January or February.

"Under normal conditions dredging ships produce up to 5 tonnes a day, but now they can only produce 1 tonne a day, said Johan Murod, director of PT Bangka-Belitung Timah Sejahtera (BBTS) which groups six private tin smelters on Bangka.

He added that small-scale on-shore miners were mostly working at half capacity, while off-shore dredging was also hindered by the poor weather.

Murod, whose private firm produces 15,000 tonnes of tin ingots per year, said scarcity of tin concentrate had meant that his smelters' monthly output had also been halved.

Indonesia's total 2011 exports for tin, mainly used in soldering for electronics, rose almost 4 percent to 96,019.76 tonnes. Last January, exports were 7,334.65 tonnes.

Refined tin shipments from Indonesia nearly doubled in December after smelters abandoned a self-imposed shipping stoppage and released stocks.

Tin on the London Metal Exchange (LME) traded at $24,200 a tonne at 1051 GMT, versus Thursday's close at $24,005.