According to official customs statistics released on August 22nd show, China importing 941 tonnes of refined tin in July up by 20% on the July 2007 level, while exports dropped to zero. Meanwhile imports of tin concentrates more than doubled to 683 tonnes.

Refined tin imports in January to July are up by 58%YoY to 8,109 tonnes, with Indonesia and Bolivia the main sources. Imports from Indonesia increased by 90% to 2,852 tonnes, while 1,585 tonnes came from Bolivia compared to nothing in the same period last year.

Refined tin exports in January to July were reported at only 386 tonnes, although it is likely that significantly larger quantities will have been exported as tin products in order to avoid the 10% export duty introduced at the start of the year.

Concentrate imports in the year to date are up 74% to 4,858 tonnes, with almost half of the total accounted for by low grade material from Vietnam.