PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Smelting Corp
Bhd (MSC) has resumed mining operations at its 80%-owned subsidiary, Rahman Hydraulic Tin Sdn Bhd (RHT), effective yesterday.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the group said the restart followed the temporary suspension announced last month.
It was reported that the mine had been instructed by Perak regulators to suspend operations for three weeks amid a probe into river discolouration.
Meanwhile, Apex Securities Research, in its latest report, said it maintained its earnings forecast for MSC, as the company’s 2025 performance is expected to fall within its projections.
“The temporary shutdown of Rahman Hydraulic tin mine does not materially affect our estimates, given that conservative assumptions on tin ore output are already embedded in our model,” it said.
The research house kept its “buy” call on MSC, with an unchanged target price of RM1.70, derived from 12 times the estimated earnings per share of 14.1 sen for 2026.
Apex Securities Research’s investment thesis continued to hinge on improving ore visibility, incremental contributions from tailings, structural cost gains once smelting fully migrated to Pulau Indah and MSC’s entrenched role as the world’s largest independent tin smelter.
Operationally, the research house highlighted that RHT had been shut for roughly three weeks after the Sungai Perak river discolouration incident.
The report stated that management attributed the event to heavy rainfall and heightened natural mineral runoff although the source remained inconclusive and it reiterated that RHT ran a closed-loop water system.
Based on a three-week disruption at an assumed run-rate of 11 tonnes per day, Apex Securities Research estimated a 20% to 25% fall in RHT’s fourth-quarter 2025 production.
This translated into a single-digit effect on group refined tin output as nine-month 2025 volumes had already made up 80% of the full-year forecast.
The sand and tailings plant was targeted for commissioning shortly after resumption, potentially adding about three tonnes per day across a ramp-up period extending into 2Q26.
Financially, MSC’s pre-tax profit margin improved marginally to 6.8% in the first nine months of 2025 from 6.6% a year earlier, supported by stronger tin-mining contributions.
The division posted pre-tax profit of RM91.3mil in the nine-month period versus RM83.4mil previously, driven by higher tin output. However, the tin-smelting business weakened after a gas-pipeline incident in 2Q disrupted Pulau Indah operations.
The resulting shortfall pushed the segment’s pre-tax profit from RM5.8mil to a loss of RM5.3mil, despite modest gains in average tin prices.
Ore intake stayed about 25% lower year-on-year amid tight global supply, but management anticipated gradual improvement as Myanmar and Indonesia normalised mining activity, said the research house.
New supply from Tasmania was also expected, with one partner committing a minimum of 4,000 tonnes annually.
Inventory trends were shaped by rising weighted-average costs, reflecting procurement at higher tin prices, it added.
As of 3Q25, tin stocks stood at about 5,932 tonnes, comprising intermediates valued significantly below prevailing prices and refined tin marked near spot levels.
MSC was also testing borehole and airlift mining methods, although no commercial timeline was provided.
In parallel, the group explored rare earth co-mining from residual material, with capital needs described as modest.
Meanwhile, the decommissioning of the Butterworth smelter remained on schedule for completion by the end of this month, paving the way for full cost rationalisation from 2026 as duplicated overheads were removed and labour requirements reduced, said Apex Securities Research.
