Indonesia unrest boosts tin prices

Indonesia unrest boosts tin prices

PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters): Rioting and economic troubles in
the world's top tin producer Indonesia could help drive up
already bullish prices, analysts and industry sources said
yesterday.

The said, however, any price boost from the unrest was likely
to result from sentiment more than anything else as some analysts
expected the Indonesian woes to have only a short-term impact on
the country's production.

"Sentiment will play a lot of role in this. If the situation
in Indonesia really deteriorates, then people sitting somewhere
far away will think a big producer is in trouble," said William
Adams, managing director of Rudolf Wolff in Tokyo.

"The sentiment effect can be greater than the actual effect,"
he added.

Tin prices jumped on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday
with three months delivery tin last traded at the day's high of
$5,780 per ton, up $80 from Wednesday.