Mitsui Sumitomo to Minimize Rolled Copper Output Cut

Mitsui Sumitomo Metal Mining Brass & Copper reshuffles the production system to adjust to limited availability of power supply around Tokyo. The Saitama based maker tries to reduce power consumption through lower casting operation rate and shifting rolling time schedule during the peak power consumption time zone. The firm tries to keep more than 80% of normal shipment at whole company by increasing the production in night time and at Mie plant.

The headquarters plant restarts the idled 2 melting furnaces by end of April while the plant has stopped 2 of 4 furnaces to adjust to controlled blackout program by local power supplier. The production level is 80-90% level but the shipment level keeps normal 3,500 tonnes per month. The plant gets monthly 300 tonnes of crude strip from Mie plant and other companies through May.

The headquarters plant will have to reduce the power consumption by 25% during peak time zone in summer. The firm started study for optimum operations under limited availability of power. The headquarters plant will reduce melting furnace operation during daytime only by keeping the heat of melted metal at some of the furnaces. The firm expects power consumption for the heat keeping is around 25-30% of melting consumption. The plant tries to minimize the production cut by increasing the melting and hot rolling operation in nighttime.

The firm tries to increase the production at Mie plant to minimize the lower power impact around Tokyo. The firm targets 20% or less production cut during summer power saving period while the firm planned monthly 5,460 tonnes of production in fiscal 2011 started April as of February or before the major earthquake.

The firm posted 1.5 billion yen of recurring profit with 43.1 billion yen of sales in fiscal 2010 or the first results after the merger of rolled copper units of Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Sumitomo Metal Mining in July 2010. The firm generated more than 500 million yen per year of synergy through higher own crude strip production rate and integrated purchase after the merger.