Malaysia Smelting Corporation plant

One of the most important tin smelting bases in the world

The Straits Trading Company (STC) built this plant in 1902 to complement its other tin smelting site in Pulau Brani, Singapore. The company became so big that by 1912 it was supplying one-third of the tin being purchased around the world.

Butterworth emerged at the forefront in processing for the demand, particularly due to the massive canning industry in the West, which had spurred the growth of tin mines in Perak and other parts of Malaya since the 1860s. With help of the railway line which reached the town, the port here also became a major point for tin exports.

Malaysia Smelting Corporation took over STC’s tin smelting business with a majority stake in 1982. Using latest technology such as the high-tech reverberatory furnace, the facility today undertakes advanced processes like refining tin-bearing ores into pure tin metal.