Japan Major 8 Nonferrous Smelters Post Record Profit for F2006

Japanese major 8 nonferrous metal smelters posted record consolidated profit for fiscal 2006 ended March 2007. The total recurring profit increased by 44% to 690.6 billion yen from fiscal 2005 due to higher prices of metals including copper. They also gained from investment in offshore mines. They are in course of growth though they expect lower profit for fiscal 2007 due to lower market price. The largest copper smelter of Nippon Mining Holdings increased the recurring profit by 87.3% to 127.8 billion yen for copper smelting unit for fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005. The firm gained 21.8 billion yen from Minera Los Pelambres of Chile and 5.8 billion yen from LS Nikko of South Korea. The subsidiary, Nippon Mining & Metals posted 18.2 billion yen higher profit due to higher metal prices and better ore purchase condition. Sumitomo Metal Mining doubled the operating profit at 33.5 billion yen for mineral resources unit and 109.5 billion yen for nonferrous metals unit for fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005. The equity method income was 46.7 billion yen from offshore operations including La Candelaria mine of Chile, Cerro Verde mine of Peru and P.T. International Nickel Indonesia. Mitsubishi Materials increased the profit by 45% to 33.3 billion yen for copper unit for fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005. Mitsui Mining & Smelting also increased the operating profit to 2.4 times at 10.9 billion yen for mining & fundamental materials unit. Dowa Holdings posted 25.3 billion yen recurring profit for nonferrous metal unit. They expect lower recurring profit for fiscal 2007 from fiscal 2006 including 28.6% down for Nippon Mining Holdings, 2.6% down for Sumitomo Metal Mining and 20.5% for Mitsui Mining & Smelting.