Japan Major 7 Rolled Copper Makers Post Higher Sales in 1Q

Japanese major 7 rolled copper makers posted higher consolidated sales for April-June from same period of 2006 while 4 of them posted higher profit. Higher copper ingot price lifted the sales while slower demand for semiconductor and digital appliances reduced their sales volume. Japanese averaged official copper ingot price was 970,000 yen per tonne in April-June, which was around 90,000 yen higher than same period of 2006. Furukawa Eelctric’s metals unit increased the sales by 12.7 billion yen, of which 5.8 billion yen from higher copper price. However, the higher copper price reduced the demand when the buyers minimized the purchase volume of copper products to avoid volatility risk. Mitsubishi Shindoh posted 25% lower operating profit at 654 million yen for April-June from same period of 2006. Nippon Mining & Metals’ metal manufacturing unit posted 25.3% lower profit.