METALS-Shanghai tin hits near six-month high on Indonesia supply concerns

SHANGHAI, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Shanghai tin rose to a near six-month high on Tuesday, supported by supply fears following reports of a crackdown on illegal mining in key producer Indonesia. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has ordered the closures of about 1,000 illegal tin mines on the island of Sumatra, where mined tin was being smuggled out on small boats and ferries, state media Antara reported on Monday. About 80% of tin production in the key producing region of Bangkia Belitung off the east coast of Sumatra was smuggled overseas, Prabowo was quoted as saying by Antara. The crackdown sparked fears of lower supply from the world's second-largest tin producing country, supporting upward moves in the soldering metal. The most-active tin contract on Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 1.15% at 275,250 yuan ($38,630.49) per metric ton, as of 0313 GMT. It has, however, declined 0.16% so far in the month. Earlier in the day, it climbed to 283,000 yuan a ton, the highest since April 3. Meanwhile, the benchmark three-month tin on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.58% at $34,930 a ton, easing from $35,100 a ton on Monday – its highest since April 4. The London contract was poised to end the month lower by 0.25%. Among other SHFE base metals, copper rose the most, gaining 1.29% to 83,240 yuan a ton, and was set to end the month with a 5.11% increase. The metal found support from the supply disruptions at Freeports' Grasberg cooper mine in Indonesia, as well as China's plan to stabilise growth in the non-ferrous industry. Zinc climbed 0.58%, lead was down 0.44%, aluminium nudged up 0.12% and nickel dipped 0.15%. Among other LME metals, copper eased 0.32%, aluminium was down 0.5%, zinc dropped 0.61%, nickel declined 0.8% and lead dipped 0.2%. ($1 = 7.1252 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Dylan Duan and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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