Hunan stockpile planned

Chenzhou, a city in central China's Hunan Province, plans to build up its own metals reserves, to support local metals companies, Reuters reported. An official website reported a plan to buy 5,000 tonnes of tin, along with varying quantities of silver, lead, zinc, tungsten and bismuth. But the city has not started purchases, and prices and timing have yet to be decided. "It is just an intention," said an official at the city's government, who declined to be named.

Hunan is now China's second largest provincial producer of tin, after Yunnan. Provisional CNIA data shows 2008 refined tin output of 22,843 tonnes, just ahead of Guangxi (21,586 tonnes) but well behind Yunnan (73,809 tonnes). Yunnan announced a metals stockpiling plan last December and could acquire or arrange financing for up to 30,000 tonnes of tin this year. The provincial initiatives are paralleled by central government stockpiling via the State Reserve Bureau, although no tin has been bought by the SRB, which has focused on aluminium, copper, zinc and nickel – ITRI