T

he government is planning to tighten its regulation of tin exports by setting standards for the minimum specification and packaging of non-ingot products to prevent false declaration of cargoes.

Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said Tuesday the minimum specification would be based on international standards.

'€œWe have seen indications of the incorrect declaration of refined tin ingots as other types of tin products and there has been an irregular surge [in exports], therefore, we aim to tighten rules on non-ingot products,'€ he told reporters after a meeting at his office.

The Trade Ministry would issue the new trade regulation as soon as possible and keep the arrangement for tin ingots, Bayu further said.

The new trade rules would not aim at restricting overseas shipments, but only curb illegal trade and ensure the growth of the local refining industry stayed on track, he added.

Indonesia, the world'€™s largest tin exporter, has around 40 percent of globally traded tin and supplies a bulk of the raw materials that fuel the electronics industry, among others.

In an earlier move last year, Indonesia increased the purity level of tin ingots to boost domestic refining and required exporters to trade their tin at the Indonesia Commodity and Derivatives Exchange before shipment. The measures are intended to allow Indonesia to set the reference price for tin as a challenge to the London Metal Exchange (LME).

The rule has so far proven effective to boost the tin price above US$23,000 per ton.

The government also plans to expand the trading rule at the local commodity exchange before being applied to other tin products, including solder, from early next year.

However, the Trade Ministry'€™s export director for mining and industrial products, Thamrin Latuconsina, recently told Reuters that tin solder might be excluded from the obligation as it was categorized as a finished product.

The standards and specifications for exports may affect four types of tin products, which are ingot, pure and non-ingot, solder and tin in other forms, according to Trade Ministry director general for foreign trade Bachrul Chairi.

Tin exports rose significantly by around 22 percent to 34,456 tons in January-May this year compared to the same period last year. Monthly exports jumped by 145 percent to 12,779 tons in May from April, according to data from the Trade Ministry compiled from Bloomberg.

Tin solder and other products made up 21 percent of overall exports in the first five months of this year, according to the data.

Historically, Indonesian tin exports settled at around 8,000 tons each month in recent years.

Johan Murod from the Indonesian Tin Association could not be reached for comment on the planned rule on non-ingot tin products.