BEIJING, Oct 31 (Reuters) - China will produce an additional 7,000 metric tons of tin ore next year, an industry official said on Tuesday, helping to reduce a global supply deficit after tin mining was suspended in Myanmar.
China is the world's largest tin market and also the largest producer, but a large portion of the ore it processes comes from its southwestern neighbour.
Myanmar is the world's third largest tin producer, with about 70% of output from its Wa state.
Chinese imports from Wa state will drop by as much as 10% this year, said Wang Zhongkui, from the Tin Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, after the region ordered a halt to all mining and processing activity in August.
The ban is expected to last until November, said Wang, who was speaking at an online seminar organised by metals trading firm China Minmetals.
However, despite plans for additional output in China next year, global supply of tin concentrate will still be in deficit, said Wang.
China currently holds around 25,000 tons of ore stocks that could sustain production needs for around a month based on the currently monthly refined tin output.
Supply of refined tin in China will be facing a 3,150-ton glut in 2023, though the market is expected to shift to a supply shortage of 800 tons in 2024, according to Wang.
The tin price will likely be on the uptrend in 2024, Wang said, with the average price of the most-traded refined tin contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbing to 225,000 yuan ($30,759) per ton in 2024 from a forecast of 215,000 yuan a ton in 2023.
The futures price fell more than 2% on the month to 213,000 yuan a ton on Tuesday, which was 34% higher from a year before.
($1 = 7.3150 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Amy Lv and Dominique Patton; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Rashmi Aich and Jan Harvey)
