Indonesia has delayed the launch of a new futures contract for trading tin a key input in electronics until early next month, the country's commodities exchange said Wednesday.

The stalled opening was due to the Chinese New Year holidays which start on January 23 this year, said the Indonesia Commodity and Derivatives Exchange and to allow officials to finalise the new system.

The launch had been due on Thursday, with just four Indonesian companies joining in hopes of gaining more control over world prices. Industry players currently use the London Metal Exchange futures prices for tin trading.

The new market had only attracted about 10 percent of Indonesia's 40-odd tin producers, although the world's largest tin miner Timah was among them.

Mr Megain Widjaja the commodity exchange's chief executive said that "We are sure that more tin producers will join in the future, after they see the benefit for these four companies that already joined.”

Mr Syahrul Sempurnajaya head of the state Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency said the delayed launch was due to the holiday and also to give more time for us to finalize the contract system.

He added that "In addition, some (buyer) companies are still awaiting approval from their head offices to buy from the Indonesian bourse."

Indonesia is the world's second largest tin producer after China and the world's biggest exporter.

(Sourced from news.malaysia.msn.com)