Indonesia's state tin miner, PT Timah Tbk, said in a statement it expects higher average tin selling prices in 2010 because of recovering tin demand, which will lift 2010 profits after last year's slump. Timah, the world's largest integrated tin miner, also plans to boost offshore mining by increasing the number of dredges this year, in order to increase tin output.
Timah said its conservative forecast for the average selling tin price in 2010 was $14,800 a tonne, up 9.2 percent from an average of $13,558 a tonne in 2009. The firm estimated global tin consumption in 2010 would increase 10 percent to 330,000, from 300,000 tonnes in 2009, citing signs of a recovery in consumer purchasing power, especially for electronic and consumer goods.
Timah said on Wednesday its 2009 net profit fell 77 percent to a better-than-expected 313.8 billion rupiah ($34.54 million), from 1.342 trillion rupiah in 2008. Timah attributed the fall to lower tin prices in the first quarter of 2009. Tin for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange stood at $18,549 a tonne on Thursday, up 9.43 percent so far this year.
The firm plans to increase the number of cutter suction dredges to 15 units by the end of 2010 to boost output from its offshore mines. Timah's refined tin production fell 8 percent to 45,086 tonnes in 2009, from 49,029 tonnes in 2008, due to declining tin output from its onshore mines.
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