Japan Rolled Copper Makers Post Lower 9-month Profit

Japanese major 5 rolled copper makers out of major 6 posted lower operating profit for April-December from same period of 2006. They are suffered from higher copper ingot price and slower building demand. Three makers revised the full year outlook downward. Nippon Shindo posted 73% lower operating profit for April-December from same period of 2006 when the sales volume decreased by more than 10% under very slow building activity. Dowa Holdings’ metal processing unit also posted 46% lower operating profit for April-December from same period of 2006 due to higher raw materials cost and higher depreciation. Nippon Mining & Metals’ metal manufacturing unit posted lower operating profit due to lower sales for special steel products. Furukawa Electric’s metal unit reported more than 10% lower sales for copper tube in April-December from same period of 2006. San-Etsu Metal said the brass wire sales decreased by 10%. KITZ Corporation posted higher operating profit for the 9 months from same period of 2006 when the firm succeeded the price increase to cover higher raw materials cost.