Pandemic at China-Myanmar Border Hindered China’s Tin Ore Imports

SHANGHAI, Jun 20 (SMM)  – Menglian County, Yunnan Province reported new cases of COVID-19 on June 10. In order to control the spread of the pandemic, the county is currently locked down and all vehicles are not allowed to enter or exit. Affected by this, shipments of tin concentrates from Myanmar's Wa State to China have been stopped.

Since March this year, the pandemic in Myanmar's Wa State has spread on a large scale. Menglian County, which borders Wa State, has saw multiple COVID-19 infections since April. On April 8, Meng’a, a port under the jurisdiction of Menglian County, reported COVID-19, prompting Menglian to impose a lockdown, which lasted until early May. During the lockdown, transportation of tin ore from Wa State was completely stopped. The transportation of tin ore recovered after the lockdown was lifted in early May, but Menglian was locked down again after a new COVID case was reported on May 31. The lockdown may not be lifted until the end of June at the earliest when COVID cases are expected to be reduced to zero.

Myanmar's Wa State is an important source of tin ore supply for China, accounting for nearly 30% of China's raw material supply. The transportation interruption caused by the pandemic in Menglian will have a great impact on tin ore supply to China. In addition, the pandemic has also had a major impact on the production of local mines. Many Chinese workers are rushing to return to China, leading to extremely low operating rates of mines and dressing plants.