PT TIMAH TO BOOST SALES THROUGH SPOT MARKET

Jakarta, June 17 (ANTARA) - PT.Timah Tbk. is considering to sell its products in the spot market in an effort to boost sales to reach up to 50,000 tons in 2009.

"The target of our tin sales is set at 50,000 tons until the end of 2009. Our target is still conservative or the same as last year," the company's corporate secretary, Abrun Abubakar, said here on Wednesday.

He said his company would not as yet start selling its product in the spot market now as the price was still low namely only around US$15,700 per tons.

It would only enter the market when the price reached minimally US$19,000 per ton, he said.

In order to boost sales, he said, the state-owned tin producer also wished to increase its export to North America while the products whose export could still be raised were the downstream products.

"Our exports to North America so far total only around one percent. We are competing tightly with South American countries such as Peru. They are strong in standard-type tin and therefore we will enter with premium products that have a plus price," he said.

The company's chief finance officer, Krishna Syarif, meanwhile said the world's tin demand had dropped five to 10 percent due to the world financial crisis.

He believed however that with the price of tin reaching US$15,000 per ton demand would rise across the Asia Pacific region and Europe.

So far, he said the company's tin sales had reached almost half of the target. "We hope they will reach half of the target in May or June," he said.