Japan's copper metal output is likely to fall in April-September from a year earlier because of maintenance shutdowns, while zinc and lead output is on course to rise, according to projections from producers.
Copper output is likely to be pressured by planned maintenance closures at some smelters despite expectations of a continued recovery in demand from copper products producers.
Sumitomo Metal Mining plans to produce 421,000t of electrolytic copper during the April 2021 to March 2022 fiscal year, down by 6pc from planned output of 450,000t for 2020-21. The company attributed the output decline to planned 33-day maintenance beginning in late October. The firm's April-September copper output is projected to fall by 4pc on the year to 210,500t.
Mitsubishi Materials (MMC) expects its copper output to fall by 8pc on the year to around 166,000t in April-September. The company is continuing its work to bring back the 300,000 t/yr Onahama copper smelter to full operations, as production has been capped since January because of an oxygen plant issue. MMC earlier targeted to resume full production at Onahama by November.
Copper output at the 230,000 t/yr Naoshima smelter is also expected to be lower in April-September because of the lingering impact of a 38-day maintenance shutdown that ended late last month. A fire that hit the plant last month did not affect scheduled maintenance and MMC has also completed repairs of the fire damage at the plant during the shutdown.
Pan Pacific Copper, Japan's biggest copper supplier, has not released its planned April-September copper output produced under third-party processing deals.
Mitsui Mining & Smelting is planning to increase zinc and lead output in April-September from a year earlier. The firm's metal output declined in April-September 2020 because of a major maintenance shutdown at the Hachihone smelter, which has a production capacity of 112,000 t/yr for zinc and 45,000 t/yr for lead. The smelter is owned 85.5pc by Mitsui Mining.
But zinc and lead output is expected to be lower compared with the previous half-year period between October 2020 and March 2021. The company is planning to shut the Kamioka zinc production facility for 40-day maintenance beginning in early September and the plant's lead production facility for 15 days in June. The Takehara lead refinery is also expected to close for a week in June. Mitsui Mining also plans a 20-day maintenance of the Hachinohe zinc smelter beginning in mid-September.
| Japan's planned non-ferrous metals output t | |||
| 1H FY2021-22 | 2H FY2020-21 | y-o-y± % | |
| Sumitomo Metal Mining | |||
| Electrolytic copper | 210,500 | 225,000 | -4 |
| Electrolytic nickel | 28,500 | 30,400 | -0.2 |
| Ferro-nickel | 7,100 | 6,900 | 20 |
| Mitsui Mining & Smelting | |||
| Zinc | 109,100 | 115,900 | 10 |
| Lead | 35,300 | 35,900 | 5 |
| Mitsubishi Materials | |||
| Copper | 165,546 | 160,086 | -8 |
| Lead | 13,350 | 12,030 | 3 |
| Dowa | |||
| Copper | 29,285 | 32,443 | -6 |
| Lead | 5,403 | 6,238 | 3 |
| Zinc | 82,006 | 93,490 | 7 |
| Source: Companies | |||
| Note: Year-on-year changes based on actual output data | |||
