Indonesia Ready to Export 700 tons of Tin

PANGKALPINANG, KOMPAS.com – A total of 700 tons of tin produced on Indonesia’s tin-rich Bangka Belitung islands is ready for export following the approval of 2020 programs and budget (RKAB) by the local administration, an official said Thursday, July 2.

Acting Head of the Energy and Mineral Resources Agency in Bangka Belitung islands Amir Syahbana said the governor gave his nod for the export plans after a coordination meeting on President Joko Widodo’s directive on economic recovery.

“It’s the president’s orders to boost export as a means of economic recovery during the Covid-19 pandemic that is seen as an extraordinary situation,” Amir told Kompas.com in Pangkalpinang on Thursday, July 2.

He went on to say that the approval for tin export permits were issued to PT Bukit Timah, PT Biliton Inti Perkasa, and PT Prima Timah Utama.

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The products meant for export are specifically from the 2018's in stock, with sale value estimated at 172.2 billion rupiahs ($11.9 million) or $16,400 per metric ton based on an exchange rate of 15,000 rupiahs per US dollar.

The RKAB approval was given under very strict policy. One of the requirements was requesting the relevant companies to provide tax clearance. This proved that they have settled any outstanding taxes.

“Some companies have paid taxes of up to 3 billion rupiahs. In addition to that, three percent of the sales will go to the state revenue. All of the transactions will move the economic activity, including paying the salaries of their employees,” he said.

He explained that with the issuance of the latest RKAB approval to the three companies, eight mining companies can now directly export tin bars. The other five licensed companies include RBT, MCM, MSP, ACL, and TINS, he said.

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Contributing 23 percent of the global tin market, Indonesia is the world’s second-largest tin producer after China. Data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said Indonesia produced 69.76 tons last year.

Tin exports declined in 2019. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said that the tin exports from January to November 2019 reached $1.17 billion or down 19.17 percent from $1.45 billion in the same period the previous year.

(Writer: Heru Dahnur | Editor : Yoga Sukmana)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/07/02/213000026/700-ton-timah-bangka-belitung-bisa-diekspor-ke-pasar-global.