Tin Ore Imports Increased Mom in October, mainly Coming from Myanmar

SHANGHAI, Nov 22 (SMM) – Tin ore and concentrate imports stood at 19,835 mt in October, up 28.09% on the month and 79.83% on the year; the accumulative imports totalled 159,144 mt in January-October, up 27.88% on the year. 

Myanmar, Congo, Australia, Nigeria among others are the main exporters. The imports from Myanmar are 16,365 mt, or 4,091 mt in metal content which is equivalent to 25% of the average grade; the imports from other countries stand at 3,470 mt, or 1,735 mt in metal content which is equivalent to 50% of the average grade. The volume of imported tin ore in October was about 5,826 mt in metal content.

The main increase in imports came from the substantial increase in the number of imported tin concentrates from Myanmar. The increase in imports from Myanmar accounted for 89.6% of the total increase. The volume of ore imported from Myanmar in October increased by 31.3% from September as the rising processing fee in China boosted the production enthusiasm of smelters. The month-on-month increase in output at smelters in October drove the demand for ore raw materials. However, the pandemic in Myanmar has affected the import and export of goods to a certain extent, and the duration of the impact needs to be further tracked to assess the impact on the future raw materials of the mine. In addition, the output estimate in November fell slightly and some smelters have recently reduced production due to environmental protection issues. The reduced demand may affect the performance of import data in November, which is expected to fall slightly.