Singapore remains main market for Bangka Belitung`s tin

Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung, Feb 3 (Antaranews Babel) - Singapore remained the main market for Bangka Belitung`s tin, buying 25.63 percent of the province`s tin exports last year, according to the local office of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

"The tin exports to Singapore in 2018 were 21.71 percent lower than those of the previous year," Chief of the BPS Office in Bangka Belitung Province Darwis Sitorus said here on Sunday.

Singapore is among the top five buyers of Bangka Belitung`s tin besides Japan, The Netherlands, South Korea and India. In total, tin exports to the five countries accounted for 75.51 percent of the overall tin exports, he said.

On a monthly basis, the province`s exports in December 2018 tumbled 38.43 percent compared to the same month of 2017, with tin exports declining 32.61 percent in value, he said.

"The export of other commodities than tin also dropped 51.24 percent, bringing the value of exports in December 2018 to US$112.9 million (as compared to US$183.3 million in the same month of 2017)," he said.

However, compared to a month earlier, the exports in December 2018 rose 13.97 percent, with tin exports climbing 81.22 percent after the permit of a tin surveyor was frozen the month before.

Meanwhile, the export of commodities other than tin dropped 46.50 percent in December 2018 to US$27.9 million compared to a month earlier.

Reporting by Aprionis

(S012/B/R013)