Playing Games at the Tin Exchange

Indonesia Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (ICDX) screens did not record any tin trades between the end of August and the second week of September. The reason: the price of tin on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had plunged to US$20.897 per ton, while the ICDX price still hovered around US$21.880.

Ibrahim, director of Equilibrum Komoditi Berjangka, said the situation had made buyers registered with the ICDX nervous. The majority of them are traders who resell their tin. The problem is that international buyers base their decisions on the LME price. "If they had continued to trade on the ICDX, they would have lost money," Ibrahim explained on Thursday two weeks ago.

September 23, 2014