Japan Copper Smelters Reduce Ingot Output by 1.4% in 1H F2008

Japanese copper smelters will reduce the copper ingot output by 1.4% to 730,692 tonnes including the double count of commissioning production in first half of fiscal 2008 starting April compared with same period of 2007, according to Japanese smelters’ output plan. With lower grade ore, the output volume decreases by more than 10% for Sumitomo Metal Mining and by 1% for Pan Pacific Copper. The zinc ingot output increases by 9.8% for 4 smelters while the lead ingot output decreases by 1.6%. Pan Pacific Copper announced on Tuesday the output decreases by 1.5% to 218,200 tonnes in the first half from same period of 2007 for the wholly owned subsidiary, Nikko Smelting & Refining and by 0.2% to 85,700 tonnes for attributable volume of the interest in Hibi Kyodo Smelting. Japanese are suffered from lower grade ore from offshore mining operations. Sumitomo Metal Mining plans 13.3% output reduction in the first half from same period of 2007 despite of the expansion. The firm tries to improve the production facility to deal with lower grade ore but the firm expects the output decreases by 8.7% for the full year from previous year. Mitsui Mining & Smelting increases the zinc ingot output by 10% in the first half from same period of 2007 after the major repair work at Hachinohe Smelting in 2007. The firm expanded the output capacity by 4,000 tonnes per year at Hikoshima Smelting. Mitsubishi Materials plans 4.8% output increase for lead ingot.