Japan Nonferrous Metal Smelters Report Mixed Results

Japanese nonferrous metals smelters reported mixed results for April-December. Mitsubishi Materials and Sumitomo Metal Mining posted higher consolidated recurring profit from same period of 2006 due to higher metal prices and strong sales for automobile and electronics. Nippon Mining Holdings, Mitsui Mining & Smelting and other 4 smelters posted lower profit due to higher raw materials cost and lower price of electronic materials. Mitsubishi Materials posted 29% higher operation profit for copper unit for April-December from same period of 2006 due to higher price of copper and gold and higher sales volume. The firm posted 53% higher operating profit for electronic materials & components due to strong demand for 300 millimeters silicon wafer. Sumitomo Metal Mining posted 80% higher equity method profit from offshore mines. Nippon Mining Holdings posted 24% lower recurring profit for Nippon Mining & Metals for April-December from same period of 2006. The metal operation firm reported 14% lower profit for resources and metals due to lower smelting margin while the firm posted recurring loss for electronic materials due to inventory valuation loss for indium.