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.