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Tin World is the only magazine with
global coverage on the tin industry including all aspects of the metal
from mining
to end use.
If your interest is in commodities or canmaking,
solders or smelting, plating or pewter, then there is something for you in the
pages of TIN World.
TIN World
is available in PDF or in hard copy printed format.
Sample issues are available to download
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no charge. Further issues are freely downloadable to qualifying tin users.
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| 2009 Spring Issue
26
- A
taster of some of the articles in the current issue. To read the full
articles subscribe or register.
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Industry moves
towards balance and regulation
Tin prices on the London Metal Exchange seem to
have stabilised between $10,000 and $11,000 at the end of February,
maintaining their position rather better than most non-ferrous
metals on the Exchange, though this is less than half their peak in
May of last year.
According to the figures produced by the World
Bureau of Metal Statistics, the refined tin market as a whole was
still in deficit over the year, despite the effects of the global
downturn. Indeed, the figures for mine production show a significant
drop of over 11% compared to 2007 and this can only serve to support
the price over the coming months, despite the reduction in demand.
Medium and long-term demand is still looking good and there are no
large, easily exploitable high-grade deposits on the horizon yet to
be tapped, so we may have reached market balance already this year.
In an industry that has become dominated by a few very large
vertically integrated producers, it is something of a shock to
realise how big the growth in cassiterite production by artisanal
and small scale operations has been over the past few years. As in
the 1980s with the Brazilian ‘garimpeiro’ mining in the Amazon
basin and more recently unregulated artisanal mining in China and
Indonesia, this does bring a whole raft of problems relating to
regulation, ecology and human rights. In these cases, strong action
from central government was possible, but what happens in conflict
zones? Tin producers’ body ITRI has taken onboard the need for an
industry-wide approach to developing supply chain standards(see item
page 6) and this must be a good thing for the both producers and
consumers of tin and tin derivatives.
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| Market News |
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Tin market deficit of
4,300 tonnes in 2008
According to the latest
report from the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, the tin
market recorded a deficit of 4,300 tonnes during the 2008
calendar year after allowing for reported DLA deliveries.
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Metals
X sells Collingwood to Icon Resources
Australian tin producer,
Metals X Limited has agreed to the sale of its wholly owned
subsidiary, Bluestone Nominees Pty Ltd, the owner of its
idled Collingwood Tin project, to Icon Resources Ltd.
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ITRI look to develop
supply chain standards
Tin producers’ body ITRI
has issued a press release on its policy of developing a
responsible cassiterite supply chain, prompted it seems by
concerns that have been widely voiced over the involvement
of armed groups in the mining and trading of cassiterite in
the Democratic Republic of Congo. (report in Tin World
Issue 24, 2008)
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Timah
to move into chemical manufacturing
Indonesian tin mining giant PT Timah is taking a further
step towards vertical integration of its business by
constructing a tin chemical factory for the manufacture of
plastics stabilisers in PT Krakatau Industrial Estate
Cilegon (KIEC) Banten. The total budget for the project is
Rp 250 Billion and it is targeted to be completed by the end
of this year.
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| Solder
News |
Tinplate
News |
Cookson
sees marked slowdown in Q4 2008
Cookson Group has just released its
results for 2008, which the company say reflect two very
different periods of trading. Over the first nine months
they experienced continuing growth in their main end-markets
of steel, consumer electronics and automotive. However, from
late September the company saw a rapid and significant
weakening, reflecting the severe global economic downturn.
As a result, the return on sales margin of 10.7% achieved
over the first nine months fell to 7.3% for the last quarter
of the year.
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German
recycling rate now at 90.9%
Germany’s only manufacturer of
packaging steel, Rasselstein, reports a 90.9 per cent
recycling rate for packaging steel, fulfilling their product
responsibility by far exceeding the legally advisable 70 per
cent level. The recycling rate of tinplate by end-consumers
has also further increased to 92.5 per cent.
With the help from two service providers, Rasselstein
guarantees the collection of used steel packaging from
different collection systems and returns it to be reused in
the production of steel.
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IPC
releases PCB industry results for January
IPC — Association Connecting
Electronics Industries has announced the January findings
from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
Statistical Program.
PCB Industry Growth Rates and
Book-to-Bill Ratios Announced
Rigid PCB shipments are down 18.9 percent and bookings
are down 30.7 percent in January 2009 from January 2008. The
book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry
in January 2009 slipped further to 0.88.
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CMI
announces new recycling logo
The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) has unveiled its
new recycling logo and invited brand owners and retailers to
use the symbol in order to increase recycling awareness
among consumers. CMI members believe that the logo
underscores the can industry’s commitment to
sustainability through its efforts to promote the many
benefits of steel and aluminium can recycling.
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| Statistical
Supplement |
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| This
issue contains world mine and refined production data drawn
from the World Bureau of Metal Statistics monthly electronic
bulletin, 'World Tin Statistics' which can be obtained in
full by subscription from WBMS (click on the logo for the
WBMS website). |
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