S. Korea buys 500 tons of Indonesian tin

S. Korea buys 500 tons of Indonesian tin

SEOUL (Reuter): South Korea's Supply Administration (SAROK)
yesterday bought 500 metric tons of Indonesian tin from LG
International Corp, a SAROK official said.

The purchase was made at $130 a ton, CIF Pusan, over a monthly
average cash price in August on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market, the
official at SAROK's stockpile division.

The administration had asked suppliers at home and abroad for
offers by Tuesday, he said.

The official said SAROK bought tin registered on the London
Metal Exchange LME with a minimum 99.85 percent purity to
replenish its stockpile after it sold tin to local firms to help
ease their shortage of the metal.

Delivery was set for SAROK's warehouse in Pusan within two
months after it opens a letter of credit to the supplier, he
said.

The government procurement body currently has 460 tons of tin
in stock and its tin sales on the domestic market averaged 90
tonnes a month in the first half of this year, he said.

The administration has tried to stabilize prices and the
supply and demand for base metals by selling its stockpile to
local metal firms at an annual interest rate of 7.5 percent for
five-month financing term.

Some small- and medium-sized metal importers have had
difficulty getting local banks to finance trade deals as a result
of the country's financial crisis.