Indonesian tin miner Arsari Tambang, chaired by President Prabowo's brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo, has partnered with Singapore's Asahi Solder to expand solder production at its Batam factory instead of exporting raw tin.
At a glance
- STANIA, a subsidiary of Arsari Tambang, signed an MoU with Singapore's Asahi Solder this month covering technology transfer, quality improvement and market expansion.
- The MoU includes a move into solder paste, a higher-value product than the solder bar STANIA currently produces, used in surface-mount electronics assembly.
- STANIA's Batam factory opened in July 2025 with 2,000 tonnes/year capacity; Arsari Tambang has set a longer-term target of 16,000 tonnes/year and about Rp1.2 trillion in annual turnover.
- Arsari Tambang is chaired by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the businessman brother of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and has mined tin in Bangka Belitung since 2011.
What happened
PT Arsari Tambang's solder subsidiary, PT Solder Tin Andalan Indonesia (STANIA), signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore's Asahi Chemical & Solder Industries this month to deepen Indonesia's tin downstreaming push. The agreement, signed at STANIA's factory in Batam, covers joint product development, technology transfer, quality improvement and market expansion -- including a move into solder paste, a higher-value product than the solder bar STANIA currently makes. STANIA is controlled by Arsari Tambang, the tin-mining company chaired by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the younger brother of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Arsari Tambang began as a tin miner in the Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia's tin heartland, in 2011; STANIA is its bet on capturing more value from that ore before it leaves the country. The Batam factory opened in July 2025 with an initial capacity of 2,000 tonnes of solder a year, and Arsari Tambang has set a longer-term target of 16,000 tonnes annually and roughly Rp1.2 trillion in yearly turnover. Asahi Solder, a Singaporean solder, flux and conductive-ink manufacturer founded in 1977, gives STANIA a route into export markets it could not easily reach alone.
The details
Indonesia has spent the past decade trying to stop being just a supplier of raw tin ore to the rest of the world. The Arsari-Asahi tie-up is a concrete step in that direction, not a symbolic one. STANIA does not just melt Bangka Belitung's ore into ingots -- Arsari Tambang has already been doing that since 2011 -- it turns tin into solder, the alloy that holds circuit boards together in everything from smartphones to solar inverters. That is several rungs higher up the value chain than shipping tin ingots to Taiwan, South Korea, China, the United States and Europe, which is still where most Indonesian tin ends up today.
Asahi Solder brings something STANIA cannot build on its own: decades of formulation know-how and an existing customer base among electronics and renewable-energy manufacturers across Asia. The MoU's focus on solder paste is the tell here -- paste is a more technically demanding, higher-margin product than the solder bar STANIA currently ships, used in surface-mount assembly for circuit boards rather than traditional wave soldering. Without a partner who already sells paste into those production lines, a new Indonesian entrant would need years to pass the qualification trials electronics manufacturers run before switching suppliers.
The timing lines up with President Prabowo Subianto's hilirisasi push, the same downstreaming policy that drove Indonesia's nickel-processing boom since 2020 and is now being extended to tin and other minerals. Not every part of Indonesia's tin industry is moving the same direction, though. State-owned PT Timah, the country's largest tin miner, has spent the past year expanding its raw-ore and ingot export markets into new countries. Arsari Tambang's bet runs the other way: capture the margin at home before the metal leaves, even as it competes for feedstock from the same shrinking pool of Bangka Belitung ore -- mined tin output there fell to roughly 55,000 tonnes in 2024 from 67,600 tonnes in 2023 as the government cracked down on unlicensed mining.
For now, this is a capacity story, not a price story. STANIA's 2,000-tonne current output and even its 16,000-tonne target are small next to Indonesia's total mined tin production, so the deal is unlikely to move global tin prices on its own. What it signals is a slow rebalancing of who captures value from Indonesian tin -- away from pure ore exporters and toward companies that can turn that ore into a finished, branded product before it crosses a border. Traders and Indian solder buyers sourcing from Southeast Asia should watch whether Indonesia's downstreaming push eventually tightens raw ore or ingot export supply the same way its nickel policy did, rather than expecting any near-term move in spot tin prices.
Why it matters
Indonesia supplies a large share of the world's traded tin, including material that eventually reaches Indian electronics and solder manufacturers. Every tonne Indonesia processes into solder before export is a tonne India's own solder producers can no longer source as cheap raw ingot -- echoing how Indonesia's earlier downstreaming push reshaped nickel and stainless-steel supply chains. A larger, better-funded STANIA also becomes a potential competitor to Indian solder manufacturers in export markets such as the Middle East and Africa, not just a supplier of raw material.
Our read
Outlook: neutral. This is an industrial downstreaming and technology-partnership story, not a supply or demand shock -- STANIA's current and targeted solder output is small next to Indonesia's total tin production, so it is unlikely to move global tin prices in the near term. Any price effect would come indirectly, and slowly, if Indonesia's downstreaming push eventually tightens raw ore or ingot export availability the way its nickel policy did.
What to watch
- Whether Indonesia's mined tin output stabilizes or keeps declining from 2024's roughly 55,000-tonne level, which would determine how much ore is actually available for STANIA's expansion.
- Progress toward STANIA's 16,000-tonne annual solder target and whether new investment figures are disclosed for the Asahi Solder partnership beyond the original Rp100 billion factory build.
- Any move by Indonesia to restrict raw tin ore or ingot exports the way it did with nickel, which would directly benefit downstream processors like STANIA.
For information only, not investment advice.
Tin price in India
metalscost.com India reference price as of 2026-10-03.
Detailed analysis
Timeline
- 2025-07: STANIA's solder factory in Batam is inaugurated with an initial production capacity of 2,000 tonnes of solder a year.
- 2026-09: STANIA and Singapore's Asahi Solder sign an MoU to jointly develop higher-value solder products, including solder paste, and expand into new markets.
Demand Drivers
Solder demand is tied to global electronics assembly and renewable-energy manufacturing -- Asahi Solder's own product lines serve circuit-board production, LED manufacturing and solar-panel ribbon soldering, all industries STANIA is now positioned to supply directly from Indonesia rather than through imported solder.
Supply Drivers
Indonesia's mined tin output fell to roughly 55,000 tonnes in 2024 from 67,600 tonnes in 2023 after a government crackdown on unlicensed mining in Bangka Belitung, the same region Arsari Tambang's own mining operations draw ore from -- meaning the downstream expansion is competing for a shrinking domestic feedstock base even as it adds processing capacity.
Government Policies
The partnership aligns with President Prabowo Subianto's hilirisasi (downstreaming) agenda, which has already reshaped Indonesia's nickel industry since 2020 by restricting raw-ore exports in favor of domestic processing, and is now being extended to tin and other minerals to push more value-added manufacturing onshore.
Mining Production
Arsari Tambang has mined tin in Bangka Belitung since 2011; STANIA represents the group's move from pure extraction into downstream manufacturing, vertically integrating its own ore supply with solder production rather than selling ingots to third-party processors.
What could lift prices
- A long-established solder manufacturer, Asahi Solder, is transferring technology and market access to an Indonesian producer, cutting the qualification time STANIA would otherwise need to sell into electronics-assembly supply chains.
- Indonesia's government has an active hilirisasi policy track record -- it used the same playbook to build a nickel-processing industry from almost nothing since 2020 -- giving this tin push a template that has already worked once.
- STANIA is vertically integrated with Arsari Tambang's own tin mining in Bangka Belitung, reducing its exposure to feedstock price swings that a pure downstream processor would face.
What could weigh on prices
- Indonesia's mined tin output is shrinking, not growing -- down to about 55,000 tonnes in 2024 from 67,600 tonnes in 2023 -- which could cap how much ore STANIA's expansion can actually draw on domestically.
- STANIA's current 2,000-tonne output and even its 16,000-tonne target are small next to Indonesia's total tin production, so the deal changes little about near-term global tin supply.
Country impact
| Country | Impact | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | High | Direct beneficiary of new downstream manufacturing capacity and jobs that align with the government's tin hilirisasi policy. |
| Singapore | Medium | Asahi Solder gains a manufacturing and market-access foothold inside Indonesia's tin supply chain through the MoU. |
Industry impact
| Industry | Effect | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Electronics Manufacturing | Positive | A domestic solder-paste supplier gives Indonesian and regional electronics assemblers a more localized alternative to imported solder for surface-mount circuit board production. |
| Renewable Energy | Positive | Asahi Solder's product range already serves solar-panel ribbon soldering and LED manufacturing, markets STANIA can now supply from within Indonesia. |
| Mining | Positive | Supports Indonesia's push to capture more value from tin ore domestically instead of exporting it raw, though it also increases competition for a shrinking pool of Bangka Belitung ore. |
Who gains, who loses
- Arsari Tambang and STANIA: Gains technology, quality standards and market access from an established solder manufacturer without having to build those capabilities from scratch.
- Asahi Solder: Gets a manufacturing and supply foothold inside Indonesia's tin-rich Bangka Belitung supply chain and a partner positioned to serve Southeast Asian electronics demand.
- Indonesia's downstreaming policy goals: Another concrete private-sector project the government can point to as evidence its hilirisasi agenda is expanding beyond nickel into tin.
- Pure raw-tin ore and ingot exporters: As more Indonesian tin is processed into solder domestically, less raw ore or ingot may be available for export-focused business models built on shipping unprocessed material.
Other ways this could play out
- If Indonesia's mined tin supply keeps falling, STANIA's expansion plans could compete directly with PT Timah and other exporters for the same shrinking pool of Bangka Belitung ore, pushing up domestic ore prices even as processing capacity grows.
- If the government tightens raw tin ore or ingot export rules the way it did with nickel, downstream players like STANIA could gain a structural cost advantage over ingot exporters.
Price risks
- A near-term global tin price move from this deal is unlikely given STANIA's small scale relative to Indonesia's total tin output.
- Feedstock competition between STANIA's downstream expansion and existing ore and ingot exporters could tighten domestic tin ore pricing in Bangka Belitung even without affecting international tin prices.
Historical comparison
- 2023 to 2024: Indonesia's mined tin output fell from about 67,600 tonnes to roughly 55,000 tonnes after a government crackdown on unlicensed mining in Bangka Belitung, even as the country remained the world's largest tin exporter.
Technical view
Price is mixed relative to its 20-period and 50-period moving averages, showing no clear trend alignment.
Computed from metalscost.com's own stored price history.
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