LONDON, Dec 27: The price of tin hit a 17-year high point in trading here on Wednesday owing to expectations of a supply deficit in 2007, largely owing to a drop in Indonesian output, traders said.

On the London Metal Exchange (LME) the price per ton for delivery of tin in three months reached $11,350, the highest level since 1989 when the metal was re-introduced on the London market.

The price of tin has risen by about 75 per cent in 2006.

According to Societe Generale, a shortage of supplies of tin will shoot up to 25,000 tons in 2007 from a deficit of 3,000 this year, as output fails to satisfy rising demand for the metal which is used to make electronic devices.

Expectations of a deficit have meanwhile been fuelled by a recent move by Indonesian authorities to shut about 20 illegal tin smelters.

Indonesia is the world's second-biggest tin producer, behind China.

“The market has been very nervous about whether the smelters that were closed down and the fringe miners and fringe smelters would be able to resume operations in 2007,” said William Adams, an analyst at BaseMetals.com.—AFP