Tin cartel formed

Press, 5 April 1983, Page 31

Tin cartel formed

PA London Major tin-producing nations finally agreed at a meeting yesterday to set up an association to protect their interests, delegates said. Earlier attempts to form TINPEC, a producers’ cartel on the lines of the oil producers’ OPEC, had foundered on the conflicting interests of the countries involved. The agreement to form the Association of Tin Pro-

ducing Countries, comes at the end of the first day of a meeting here between ministers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Bolivia, and Nigeria. Senior officials from Thailand, Australia, and Zaire were also present. Asked to comment on delegates’ reports that agreement had been rached, the Indonesian Mining and Energy Minister, Mr Subroto, said details would

be released later. The new association will not replace the existing international tin agreements at the United Nations, to which both consumer and producer nations are signatories. The United Nations agreements are administered by the International Tin Council, which regulates tin prices through intervention buying by means of a buffer stock, and export controls.