London 20/01/2016 - China's nine major tin smelters, which include the world's biggest supplier Yunnan Tin, have agreed to cut refined production by 17,000 tonnes this year, or about four percent of global supply, according to a joint statement released on Wednesday.
The cutback amounts to 12 percent of their annual combined production of 140,000 tonnes in 2015, the International Tin Research Institute (ITRI) commented on its website. This is equivalent to more than 80 percent of China's domestic production of refined tin and some 40 percent of the world total, ITRI explained.
"The industry in China has been negatively impacted by continuously declining prices through 2015, as evidenced by reported financial losses and the significant production cuts already made in the last six months," ITRI also commented.
The nine participating producers are Yunnan Tin, China Tin, Chengfeng, Zili, Kaimeng, Yunxin, Jinye, Nanshan and Weitai. They recently met at a seminar in Kunming and agreed to coordinate production cuts in response to market conditions and implement the phasing out of old and backward facilities.
According the Bloomberg, the smelters also called upon the Chinese government to buy tin for reserves.
The LME three-month tin price was last at $13,380 per tonne, down more than 30 percent from around $19,350 a year ago.
(Additional reporting by Perrine Faye)