Japanese copper smelters' H1 output seen rising 4.2% y/y

Mitsubishi Materials

04/04/2024 10:04

By Yuka Obayashi
       TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) - Japan's refined copper
production in the first half of the 2024/25 financial year is
expected to rise 4.2% from a year earlier, Reuters calculations
from plans outlined by smelters showed, amid stronger local
demand from the chip industry.
    The financial first half falls between April and September.
    Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM)  5713.T  expects a 21% surge in
first-half output following a two-month maintenance shutdown at
its Toyo Smelter & Refinery between September and November last
year, a company spokesperson said.
    Japan's biggest copper supplier Pan Pacific Copper (PPC)
also expects a slight increase in its first-half supply due to
enhanced output capacity at the Hitachi Refinery in eastern
Japan, a company spokesperson said.
    PPC, jointly owned by JX Metals, Mitsui Mining and Smelting
 5706.T  and Marubeni  8002.T , outsources smelting and refining
operations to its parent companies' plants. It procures raw
materials and sells the refined metals. 
    The company faced supply setbacks in the second half of the
last financial year due to boiler trouble at the Saganoseki
Smelter and Refinery in southern Japan, the spokesperson said.
    In March, the Japan Copper and Brass Association projected a
5.9% increase in domestic demand for copper products in the
financial year just started, citing an expected recovery in the
automobile and chip industries that will drive demand for plates
and strips, copper tubes, and brass bars. 
    The Japan Electric Wire & Cable Makers' Association (JCMA)
has also forecast 2.0% growth in domestic copper wire shipments
in the current financial year, helped by a resurgence in the
semiconductor industry and robust export demand.
    Below are the production plans of base metals in metric tons
for April to September by key suppliers PPC, Mitsubishi
Materials  5711.T , SMM, Furukawa  5715.T , Dowa Holdings
 5714.T , Mitsui Mining and Smelting  5706.T , Nittetsu Mining
 1515.T  and Toho Zinc  5707.T .
    The table shows comparisons against planned or estimated
production in the second half and actual output in metric tons
in the first half of the 2023/24 financial year that ended on
March 31, with year-on-year percentage changes for the first
half of 2024/25. 
    
                  H1           H2          H1                  
                  FY2024/25    FY2023/24   FY2023/24    y/y
 COPPER                                                        
 Pan Pacific          312,300     290,100      308,300      1.3
 Mitsubishi           224,094     211,710      220,182      1.8
 SMM                  227,000     191,616      187,484     21.1
 Furukawa              23,300      23,302       24,961     -6.7
 Dowa                   3,747       4,167       16,632    -77.5
 Nittetsu              24,776      24,605       24,907     -0.5
 TOTAL                815,217     745,500      782,466      4.2
                                                        
 ZINC                                                          
 Mitsui               104,600     114,100      103,700      0.9
 Dowa                  89,830      93,271       70,822     26.8
 Toho Zinc             34,200      41,900       35,747     -4.3
 TOTAL                228,630     249,271      210,269      8.7
                                                        
 LEAD                                                          
 Toho Zinc             48,300      41,700       43,980      9.8
 Mitsui                35,300      37,700       33,700      4.7
 Mitsubishi            15,090      15,066       14,226      6.1
 Dowa                   4,116       6,121        5,183    -20.6
 TOTAL                102,806     100,587       97,089      5.9
                                                        
 NICKEL                                                        
 SMM                   31,100      29,174       28,526      9.0
 FERRONICKEL                                                   
 SMM                    2,100       1,955        2,945    -28.7
 
 (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jan Harvey)
 ((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))