Govt to ban tin ore exports next month<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government is expected to issue a ruling by the end of this
\nmonth to bar the export of tin concentrate in a bid to help curb
\nillegal mining and to help avoid the ailing state-owned tin
\nmining firm PT Timah from collapsing, according to a senior
\ngovernment official.<\/p>\n
\"The draft is final and it's now in the hands of Minister of
\nIndustry and Trade Rini Soewandi ... We hope the ruling will be
\nissued by the end of this month,\" Husin Bagis, head of the mining
\ndivision at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
He said the new ruling might come into effect next month.<\/p>\n
The new ruling will revise the prevailing ministerial decree
\nNo.146\/1999 that permits the export of tin concentrate and will
\nturn tin into a strategic commodity whose trade will consequently
\nbe supervised by the government.<\/p>\n
It will only allow the export of tin metal, which only PT
\nTimah and PT Kobatin -- another tin mining company operating in
\nBangka-Belitung province -- are able to produce.<\/p>\n
As a consequence, the new ruling will bring to an end the
\nactivities of illegal miners, who only produced concentrates.<\/p>\n
However, Husin said, the new ruling would provide a transition
\nperiod of between four and 12 months before the export of tin
\nconcentrate would be fully banned.<\/p>\n
\"The transition period should minimize social unrest if
\nprotests emerge,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Timah spokesman Prasetyo B. Saksono hailed the planned ruling,
\nsaying that along with the company's cost cutting measures, it
\nwould help solve Timah's difficulties.<\/p>\n
The firm has had to take cost cutting measures to cope with
\nits problems, including reducing working hours and halting the
\noperation of 10 uneconomical dredgers.<\/p>\n
Timah has reportedly blamed illegal tin miners, who have
\nflooded the world tin market with tin concentrate, for causing
\nthe current plunge in the price of the commodity and sending the
\ncompany into near bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
It said that tin prices on the world market had declined to
\nUS$3,500 per ton as of December last year from over $5,000 in
\n2000, while Timah's production costs stood at $4,300 per ton.<\/p>\n
At present, there are 6,000 illegal mining operations
\ninvolving 30,000 unauthorized miners on Bangka Island.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-ban-tin-ore-exports-next-month-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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