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n addition to tin ingots, Indonesia, the world'€™s largest tin exporter, will also require other tin products '€” including solder '€” to be traded on the local bourse before shipment overseas, at it looks for greater control over the metal price.

Futures Exchange Supervisory Board (Bappebti) secretary H. Junaedi said on Tuesday government officials were in talks to prepare for the new arrangement, which would replace the current tin export regulation.

'€œThe rule on tin ingot exports has worked well to set up a reference price,'€ he said after opening the first Indonesia Tin Conference and Exhibition hosted by the Indonesia Commodity and Derivative Exchange (ICDX).

Since August this year, the government has required tin ingots to be traded at the ICDX before shipment to foreign buyers. The measure has significantly helped increase the price in the international metal market.

The rule has so far been effective for pushing the tin price above the international price, going beyond US$23,000 per ton.

The government is also assessing the possibility of the planned rule to be applied to domestic tin shipments apart from exports, Junaedi said.

Local demand for solders and other types is still low, representing less than 10 percent of overall tin consumption, he added.

ICDX president director Megain Widjaja said the current price level was already favorable for local industry players as they could enjoy a significant profit margin.

'€œBut we want to prevent the price from going up too high,'€ he said, explaining it would pose some threats, such as encouraging the user industry to substitute tin with other metals and forcing other producing countries to release their reserves, thereby flooding the market and causing the price to fall.

Seller members of Indonesia'€™s sole tin trading scheme operator may release 57,000 tons of tin ingots this year as revealed by their submitted production plan, according to Megain. That compares to 72,000 tons estimated last year based on the average sales of 6,000 tons on a monthly basis, he said.

Megain said the exchange target was to attract five new members of sellers in its trading, adding to the existing 21 firms, including the country'€™s major tin producer PT Timah.

Global tin industry body ITRI'€™s China chief representative, Cui Lin, said there would still be a shortage of tin in the world market this year, with reduced supply from Indonesia also contributing to the situation.

'€œThere will be supply constraints from Indonesia due to the export regulation and this will affect the price,'€ she told The Jakarta Post. Lin said earlier in her presentation that the tin price this year would range from between $20,000 and $30,000 per ton.

Within the next five years, the downward trend of supply in the global market would continue due to resource depletion in some major producing countries, driving up the price to more than $30,000 per ton, Lin further said.

Meanwhile, the ICDX said on Tuesday it had 175 metric tons of physical tin in Jakarta.

Indonesia requires ingots of a minimum 99.9 percent purity to be traded on a domestic exchange before exportation.

PT Timah, the country'€™s biggest producer; Noble Resources Ltd. and Toyota Tsusho Corp. are among the companies permitted to buying and selling tin on the ICDX.

Tin for three months delivery advanced 1.3 percent to $23,198 a ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Tuesday.