TOKYO: Japan's copper output in the first half of the 2018/19 financial year to March 31 is forecast to rise 6 percent from the year before, Reuters calculations from plans outlined by smelters showed, amid solid demand for semiconductors and auto parts.
Higher production from Japan, the world's third-biggest smelter, comes after copper prices logged a 7 percent loss in the first quarter, the biggest decline since the fourth quarter of 2015, amid worries about a trade war between the United States and China
Prices climbed more than 30 percent last year on the back of signs of strong Chinese economic growth.
Copper, used in power and construction, traded at $6,765.50 a tonne on Friday.
Top-ranked Pan Pacific Copper (PPC), along with its rivals, said local appetite for copper products have been strong, driven by solid demand for semiconductors and auto parts.
PPC, jointly owned by a unit of JXTG Holdings Inc and Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd, plans to raise its April to September output of refined copper by 15 percent from the same period last year to 300,000 tonnes, the highest in a decade.
The processing capacity at its Saganoseki plant in western Japan has expanded thanks to some reinforcement works during the maintenance period last year, a company spokesman said.
"The increase is also due to slower production last year because of large-scale maintenance at Saganoseki," he said, pointing to the maintenance between September and December.
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, Japan's second-largest copper smelter, and third-ranked Mitsubishi Materials Corp also expect an increase for April to September as the smelters have no maintenance plans.
Below are the production plans of base metals for April to September from PPC, Sumitomo Metal, Mitsubishi Materials, Dowa Holdings Co, Furukawa Co Ltd, Mitsui Mining, Nittetsu Mining Co Ltd and Toho Zinc Co Ltd, with comparisons against planned or estimated production in the second half of the 2017/18 financial year and actual production in the first half of 2017/18.
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