Nippon Mining & Metals to Merge Electro-Material, Metalwork Units

Nippon Mining & Metals will integrate its electronic materials division and metal manufacturing division on 1 April, 2008. The divisions have common products and technologies including copper foils and surface treating methods and supply the products for common markets such as electronic appliances and automobiles. The firm will seek synergies by the integration of upper- and lower-stream processes to manufacture copper and other metal products.The electronic materials division supplies rolled copper foil and electrolytic copper foil. The material foil is produced at Kurami plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan which is controlled by the metal manufacturing division and the surface is treated at Shirogane plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan under the control of the electronic materials division. Nippon Mining & Metals will unify the process control for rolled copper foil production by the integration of the 2 divisions.As to surface treating technologies, the metal manufacturing division operates Nikko Fuji Electronics, a subsidiary for precise gold plating and press working of copper alloy products for automobiles and digital appliances. On the other hand, the electronic materials division advances research and development of surface treating agents for semiconductor packaging materials.Nippon Mining & Metals’ next strategic product, double-layer copper clad laminate, “MAQINAS,” is also based on surface treating and sputtering technologies. The firm expects integration synergy for the product development.