Author: Paul Ploumis
04 Feb 2015 Last updated at 01:52:44 GMT
BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The Chinese Tin industry witnessed a remarkable year as the country's imports of tin ores and concentrates jumped significantly higher in 2014 when compared with the previous year.
The country's imports of tin ores and concentrates totaled 177,950 t in 2014. The tin content of the imported ore was nearly 28,000 t, higher by 50% when matched with the previous year. According to ITRI, this is by far the highest annual imports by China. Also, Myanmar accounted for nearly 97% of the total imports of ores and concentrates by China during the year.
The Chinese refined tin production climbed higher by nearly 22% in 2014 to 186,900t, data from China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association indicated. However, the country's imports of refined tin dropped considerably during 2014. The whole year imports declined 41% over the previous year to 7,771t. The imports picked up towards the end of the year. The imports during the month of Dec '14 surged higher by 297% from the previous month to total 1,123t. The largest supplier of refined tin to China was Indonesia. The tin imports from Indonesia accounted for nearly one-third of the total Chinese imports.
According to unofficial information, China has turned net exporter of the metal in 2014, for the first time in seven years. It is estimated that the country's tin exports might be more than 9,000t. However, official data shows that the country exported only 937t in 2014. Bulk of the exports is believed to have taken place in the form of non-ingot tin in order to evade 10% export duty. Incomplete statistics from major tin importing regions suggest metal exports to the tune of over 6,000t.
