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.