UPDATE 1-Malaysia Smelting Corp's tin deliveries disrupted by gas explosion, letter says

(Updates with detail and background) By Pratima Desai LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia Smelting Corp (MSC), one of the world's biggest tin producers, has told customers its deliveries have been disrupted by a gas pipeline explosion, according to a letter seen by Reuters. A huge fire broke out at a gas pipeline operated by state energy giant Petronas in Puchong on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. The fire was extinguished, but MSC said gas supplies had been disrupted. MSC MSCB.KL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Due to the recent natural gas pipeline explosion incident at Putra Heights, Selangor, Malaysia on 1st April 2025, the supply of gas to our smelting plant has been in interrupted until further notice," the letter from MSC dates April 3 said. "There is no official timeline given on the resumption of the gas supply as yet but we will be diligently following up following up with the relevant agencies and will keep our customers informed once the smelting plant is back online." Latest figures from the company's website show MSC produced more than 21,000 metric tons of the soldering metal in 2023 used to make semiconductors. That would amount to more than 5% of global supplies estimated at around 390,000 tons this year. Tin prices CMSN3 on the London Metal Exchange jumped to $38,395 a ton this week, their highest in nearly three years on worries about supplies due to disruptions in tin-rich Myanmar and Democratic Republic of Congo. Alongside other metals traded on the LME, tin was under pressure on Friday due to recession fears sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plans. Tin was down 4.9% at $35,520 a ton. (Reporting by Pratima Desai Editing by David Goodman and David Evans) ((pratima.desai@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 513 5681;))