Japan's Pan Pacific plans 18.9% increase in second-half copper output

Mitsui Kinzoku

07/10/2022 08:38

TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Pan Pacific Copper plans to
produce 303,300 tonnes of refined copper in the second half of
the 2022/23 financial year, up 18.9% from a year earlier,
Japan's biggest supplier of the metal said on Friday. 
    The country's second half runs between October and March.
    The sharp rise comes after an equipment glitch at the 
Saganoseki smelter in southwestern Japan during the previous
second half, a company spokesperson said.
    The Tamano smelter in western Japan plans to conduce
scheduled maintenance from mid-October to mid-November, he
added.  
    PPC is 67.8% owned by JX Nippon Mining & Metals, a unit of
Eneos Holdings Inc  5020.T , with 32.2% held by Mitsui Mining
and Smelting Co Ltd  5706.T . PPC outsources smelting & refining
operations to their parents' plants.
    Following are details of the company's output plan, with
comparisons against estimated production in the first half and
actual production in the second half of the 2021/22 financial
year that ended on March 31.
     (Copper in tonnes):    
          H2 FY22/23  H1 FY22/23  H2 FY21/22
  Copper     303,300     309,300     255,100
 (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi
Editing by David Goodman
)
 ((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265))