National tin production to decrease: minister

Indonesia may only produce less than 90,000 metric tons of tin this year, far lower than the initial target.

The reduced tin production is caused by slowing demand due to the economic crisis, Bambang Setiawan, director for coal, minerals and geothermal energy at the energy and mineral resources ministry told reporters Wednesday.

"We initially planned to cap production at 105,000 tons, but this year production may not even reach 90,000 tons," Bambang said.

He said the government would not apply the production quota this year as it was still waiting for a ministry regulation as a legal basis.

Bambang said the government planned to cap production, because it wanted to protect the environment in the mining areas.