Japan's copper output seen rising 2.5% in second half of financial year 2019/20
04/10/2019 09:17
TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Japan's copper output in the second
half of the 2019/20 financial year to March 31 is forecast to
climb 2.5% from a year earlier, Reuters calculations from plans
outlined by smelters showed, despite slower demand in auto and
semiconductor sectors.
Higher output is planned at top-ranked Pan Pacific Copper
(PPC), Mitsubishi Materials Corp 5711.T and Dowa Holdings Co
5714.T , with Mitsubishi predicting the highest 16% increase.
Mitsubishi, Japan's third-biggest copper smelter, expects
output at its Naoshima Smelter and Refinery in western Japan to
jump 23% while production at Onahama Smelting and Refining,
north of Tokyo, is planned to rise 5%, a company spokeswoman
said.
The leap at Naoshima is due to maintenance conducted in the
second half of the last financial year, she added.
Dowa also sees its six-month output to be 10% higher than a
year earlier thanks to a recovery at Onahama plant, which is
jointly owned by Mitsubishi, Dowa and Furukawa Co Ltd 5715.T .
"Output at Onahama slowed last year because of some
technical glitches," a Dowa spokesman said.
PPC, which is 67.8% owned by JXTG Holdings Inc 5020.T and
32.2% by Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd 5706.T , predicted
output to inch higher by 2%.
But all these smelters are worried about slowing demand.
In September, Japan copper and brass association slashed its
demand forecast for Japanese rolled copper products for the year
to March 2020 to 766,500 tonnes from its March prediction of
822,000 tonnes.
"Prolonged U.S.-Sino trade conflicts and slowing global
economy have softened copper demand in areas such as automobiles
and semiconductor," a spokesman at the association said, adding
that Japanese smelters were not as optimistic as earlier this
year.
Below are the production plans of base metals for October to
March from PPC, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd 5713.T ,
Mitsubishi Materials, Furukawa, Dowa, Mitsui Mining, Nittetsu
Mining Co Ltd 1515.T and Toho Zinc Co Ltd 5707.T .
The table shows comparisons against planned or estimated
production in the first half of the 2019/20 financial year and
actual production in the second half of 2019/20.
H2 H1 H2 y/y
2019/20 2019/20 2018/19 PCT
COPPER
Pan Pacific 302,000 299,000 296,500 1.9
Sumitomo 210,000 210,000 223,536 -6.1
Mitsubishi 177,036 179,742 152,172 16.3
Furukawa 38,183 39,284 39,390 -3.1
Dowa 34,522 35,020 31,278 10.4
Nittetsu 24,775 24,776 24,775 0.0
Total 786,516 787,822 767,651 2.5
ZINC
Mitsui 109,300 111,900 107,900 1.3
Dowa 93,763 86,837 95,810 -2.1
Toho Zinc 50,100 42,095 50,199 -0.2
Total 253,163 240,832 253,909 -0.3
LEAD
Toho Zinc 43,800 47,515 41,637 5.2
Mitsui 34,000 35,000 34,100 -0.3
Mitsubishi 13,890 13,428 13,092 6.1
Dowa 5,983 5,566 6,104 -2.0
Total 97,673 101,509 94,933 2.9
NICKEL
Sumitomo 31,300 31,300 28,474 9.9
FERRONICKEL
Sumitomo 6,600 6,700 6,731 -1.9
* Note: In tonnes
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi;
Editing by Edmund Blair)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4563-2761; Reuters
Messaging: yuka.obayashi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))