ABSTRACT
Some tin is marketed by supply contracts between governments or their state corporations and consumers. State-produced Indonesian tin is sold by the state corporation through offices in London and Antwerp. The two Malaysian smelters belong to old-established companies dating back to the late nineteenth century, when British enterprise and capital replaced the small-scale smelting operations of the Chinese miners who had dominated the Malaysian industry for several decades. Apart from smelting concentrates produced in Malaysia and elsewhere, the two Malaysian smelters play a major role in the marketing of tin metal. The Penang pricing system has been criticized, partly because of the secrecy with which it works, partly because of the lack of forward dealings. Producer pricing is used in one form or another for nearly all metals, tin being the chief exception.
