Pan Pacific Copper’s Hitachi plant plans 145,500 tonnes of electrolytic copper production in fiscal 2012 starting April as fiscal 2011. The plant tries to secure stable supply for rebuilding activity for northeast Japan with damage from the major earthquake in 2011.
The plant has annual 225,000 tonnes of production capacity based on anode supply from Saganoseki smelter. The firm reduces the production by 15% due to limited availability of material ore. Hitachi plant planed 127,500 tonnes of production for fiscal 2011 before the quake but the plant revised the plan upward to 145,500 tonnes after the quake. Mitsui Mining & Smelting’s subsidiary, Hachinohe Smelting plans around 100,000 tonnes of zinc production in fiscal 2012 as fiscal 2011. The firm tries to secure domestic supply partly due to additional demand for the rebuilding activity.