T

he debut of the Indonesia Tin Market (Inatin) at the Indonesia Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (ICDX) remains in limbo as members of the Indonesian Tin Association (ITA) wrangle over a branding issue.

Association members demanded that the tin market, which is regulated by the Indonesia Tin Committee, adopt a brand that would herald Bangka Belitung province as the epicenter of tin production as mandated by the association at the inception of the tin market initiative last year.

“We are offended as they have named the market Inatin instead of the Bangka Belitung Tin Market,” ITA president director Hidayat Arsani told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The ICDX officially launched the tin market last month as an international market platform for physical tin purchasing contracts. Inatin is expected to serve as an alternative to the London Metal Exchange for setting a benchmark price for the commodity.

Inatin will trade physical contracts with each lot consisting of 5 metric tons of tin priced in US dollars, for 15 minutes from 2:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Western Indonesia time.

The initial transaction was scheduled for Jan. 12, and later delayed until Feb. 1, providing a compromise is reached between ICDX, represented by the tin committee, and the tin association.

The disagreement on market branding follows bickering between association members, which led to the ousting of ITA executive chairman Rudy Irawan. Rudy is one of the main sponsors of the establishment of Inatin and the self-imposed ban on tin exports.

Rudy was removed after many association members reneged on their commitment to the export ban.

Tin committee chairman Wachid Isman, who is also the president director of world’s largest tin exporter, PT Timah, denied that disagreement over branding was the reason behind the postponement of Inatin’s debut.

“It is market timing. The timing (on Jan. 12) was not good because the European holiday has just finished. Next week is Chinese New Year, when people in China, Hong Kong and nearby areas will be on holiday,” Wachid said.

He added that his committee had explained to ITA members that Inatin was only the beginning of the establishment of the Bangka Belitung Tin Market.

“It will be a long process. The most important is we enter the bourse and determine tin prices,” Wachid said.

According to ITA, only three of its 28 members are inclined to take part in Inatin, including PT Timah, the biggest player on the market. Meanwhile, ICDX chief executive officer Megain Widjaja said Inatin currently had two members: PT Timah and PT Tambang Timah.

Previously, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency at the Trade Ministry,
Syahrul Sempurnajaya, said representatives of Japanese and Korean buyers had shown interest in joining Inatin.(rcf)