森美兰芙蓉新那旺工业区吴泉有

吴泉有年轻时就热爱发明，父亲是笨珍的一名渔夫，渔船的引擎故障时，父亲总是自行修理。

观察学习启蒙

作为儿子的吴泉有习惯在旁观察学习，从中学会螺母和螺栓用法、机器如何运作等等，也就此启蒙他对机器设备的了解。

在柔佛毕业后，22岁的他开始了第一份生意———设计和制造食品加工机器。

“我的第一台成品是精露（Cendol）制造器，价格1600令吉。我的客户很开心，原本制作精露需要一天的时间，有了这台机器，他只需要一个小时。”

取得第一次成功后，吴泉有开始设计及研发各种食品加工机器，包括面条、粿条、辣椒酱、豆腐……等等。

他的发明之路一直延续至今，不过，现在已转向建筑领域。利高建筑机械有限公司（RBM）的掌舵人———董事经理吴泉有

Malaysia Smelting Corp ends two-year slump

Workers at MSC's plant in Butterworth.

Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd (MSC) turned around last year after posting two years of losses, announcing earnings of RM37.45mil for the year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY16). 

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the world’s second largest tin metal supplier said the swing from a net loss of RM4.8mil in 2015 was achieved on 1% higher revenue of RM1.48bil.

MSC attributed the better results to higher tin prices and gains from the strengthening US dollar (its sales were quoted in the currency).

MSC’s core operations are driven by the international smelting business and the Rahman hydraulic tin mine, the country’s largest tin mine.

It said the Butterworth smelter delivered a pre-tax profit of RM22.89mil compared with a pre-tax loss of RM5.48mil in 2015.

Rahman Hydraulic tin mining operations, meanwhile, recorded a pre-tax profit of RM40.3mil versus RM14.19mil in 2015. This was mainly due to bigger sales quantity and higher tin prices in 2016.

During FY16, MSC also recognised a net gain arising from fair value adjustment of the land and buildings of RM2.9mil.

For the fourth quarter (Q4), the tin producer reported a net profit of RM5.5mil against a net loss of RM7.4mil a year earlier. Revenue, however, slipped 1% to RM350.14mil.

MSC said the improved Q4 profit was mainly due to a higher share of profits from associates and joint ventures arising from a reversal of provision for tax liabilities recorded in the second quarter of 2016. This was off-set by higher cost of sales and higher impairment of receivables.

On the current-year prospects, the company said despite the improvement in tin prices, market conditions remained challenging as the global commodity and resource sectors were still volatile.

In a press statement, MSC chief executive officer Datuk Patrick Yong said the volatility of tin prices continued to be one of the biggest challenges facing the industry.

“We will take significant steps to stay ahead of the pack and mitigate the impact of fluctuating prices,” he added.

The company’s board has proposed a first and final dividend of 8 sen for FY16 (FY15: nil).


The Star : M HAFIDZ MAHPAR

Bright future for tin industry in near term

Casts as a sunset industry in Malaysia, the yet still strong appetite for tin amid a shortage in global supply, spells a bright outlook for the metal in the near term.

According to the Malaysian Chamber of Mines executive director, Muhamad Nor Muhamad, global tin consumption stands at around 362,000 tonnes annually while production remains at some 340,000 tonnes per year..

“As no new major tin mines are likely to be opened in the near future, this shortage of supply will persist for quite some time. Hence, the price of tin will continue to remain strong going forward,” he told Bernama.

As of today, tin price stands at US$19,720 a tonne on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) while that of the London Metal Exchange (LME), the global trendsetter for the metal’s price, saw overnight trading at US$19,845 per tonne.

“As no new major tin mines are likely to be opened in the near future, this shortage of supply will persist for quite some time," says Muhamad Nor.

After the crash of 1985 which saw the tin price falling by more than 50%, the global demand for tin has been growing steadily from an annual average of 218,600 tonnes in the 1980s to 239,600 tonnes in 1990s and 314,500 tonnes in the 2000s.

The metal’s price plunged from US$17,000 per tonne in June 1985 to a 10-year low of US$5,780 in March 1986.

Global tin supply has also increased in tandem with demand, from an annual average of 224,800 tonnes in the 1980s to 233,400 tonnes in the 1990s and 309,000 in the 2000s.

As of 2015, Muhamad Nor said China continued to be the world’s largest tin producer, with an annual output of 146,600 tonnes, followed by Indonesia (68,400 tonnes), Brazil (25,500 tonnes), Bolivia (20,135 tonnes), Peru (19,511 tonnes) and Australia (7,158 tonnes).

At the same time, the world’s largest tin producer is also the biggest user of the commodity, consuming 175,842 tonnes annually, followed by the United States (31,354 tonnes), Japan (26,762 tonnes), Germany (17,931 tonnes), South Korea (13,091 tonnes) and India (8,657 tonnes).

As for Malaysia, he said the tin industry played an important role to the economy, contributing some RM250mil to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), besides providing a significant number of employment to locals, both directly and indirectly.

He said the country produced 4,180 tonnes of tin concentrates last year from the total of 35 tin mines operating throughout the nation, namely in the states of Perak, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah.

In comparison to the scenario of 1979, at a time when tin industry was still a major contributor to the Malaysian economy, the amount of tin concentrates produced then at 63,000 tonnes accounted for 31% of world’s output with the industry employing more than 41,000 people.

After the closure of Escoy Smelting Sdn Bhd in 1998, Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd (MSC) was Malaysia’s sole integrated tin producer and operator of the country’s sole tin smelter located in Butterworth.

Overseas, MSC also owns 99% of PT SRM Indonesia, 35% of China’s Guilin Hinwei Company Ltd and 40% of Africa Smelting Corp SPRL in Congo.

Explaining the logistics, Muhamad Nor said tin metal were stored in warehouses located in Butterworth, Penang; Port Klang, Selangor; and Pasir Gudang in Johor.

“We don’t have the inventory figure for tin in Malaysia. However, the level of tin stocks that are kept at the London Metal Exchange warehouses throughout the world currently totals some 4,100 tonnes,” he said.

Despite the low tin concentrates production, he said the country was able to produce some 26,849 tonnes of tin metal at MSC’s tin smelter last year.

This, he pointed out, was largely the result of tin concentrates being sourced from overseas while domestic consumption totalled 2,238 tonnes.

Last year, Malaysia imported 25,901 tonnes of tin concentrates for smelting into tin metal from several countries such as Indonesia, Australia, China, Bolivia, Brazil and Africa.

He said that MSC was the world’s second largest tin smelter after China’s Yunnan Tin Group Company Ltd which produced 76,000 tonnes of tin metal annually.

Other major producers were Indonesia’s PT Timah which has an annual output of 23,756 tonnes, China’s Yunnan Chengfeng Nonferrous Metals Co Ltd (20,100 tonnes) and Peruvian miner Minsur SA (19,583 tonnes).

However, Muhamad Nor said Malaysia’s tin industry continued to face challenges especially relating to mining activities.

“The main challenges faced by the tin mining industry in Malaysia today are the lack of available land for mining, the short period of mining lease, as well as the small area of mining tenement granted by the state authorities,” he added.

Meanwhile, the chamber, whose role is to protect and advance the general interest of the mineral community, was incorporated on Dec 10, 1914, under the Federated Malay States Chamber of Mines Incorporated Enactment No.25 of 1914, which is now known as the Malaysian Chamber of Mines Incorporation Act 1914.

It is the only chamber in the country to have been established via an Act of Parliament.

Its other roles include to collect and distribute mineral information, promote, support or oppose any legislative or other measures affecting the mineral industry and exchange information on mineral matters with other mineral associations, both locally and abroad.

To-date, the chamber has 170 members consisting of major mining management groups, mining companies, mining/mineral associations, consultants, engineers and individuals.

The Chamber is also associated with other tin organisations such as the Tin Industry (Research and Development) Board, the Malaysian Tin Products Manufacturers’ Association and the local tin trading operator, KLTM. - Bernama