Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd announced on Thursday that production at its Harima zinc and lead smelter will resume from May 6.
The company has been carrying out maintenance at the plant since 18 March, the company said.
The company also announced a number of other closures for some of its smelters and refineries.
The Niihama Nickel Refinery will be shut for four days in May and four days in November for regular maintenance.
The Hyuga ferronickel smelter will be closed for 21 days during May and June for repairs on one production line and for 25 days in November for repairs on a second production line. The renewal of a line of double furnaces, which has been ongoing since February 2010, is scheduled to finish at the end of August. Production will resume then.
Earlier this month, the company said it has no regular maintenance and repair work planned for 2010/11 at its Toyo Smelter & Refinery.
Showing posts with label sumitomo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sumitomo. Show all posts
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Vale, BHP End Annual Iron Ore Talks
Iron Ore Benchmark Pricing On Verge Of Being Consigned To History
Vale SA, and BHP Billiton Ltd. have announced that they have signed a number of short-term contracts with Asian steel mills, with Vale gaining a 90 percent increase in its prices.
Sumitomo Metal Industries Co., has agreed to pay Vale $100 to $110 a metric ton for the quarter starting April 1, spokesman Toshifumi Matsui said on Tuesday, adding that the pact is a tentative agreement.
Nippon Steel Corp., Japan’s largest steelmaker, has also reached a “tentative” price agreement for the April quarter, the company’s President Shoji Muneoka said today in Tokyo without providing pricing details. However, he added that his company still believes that annual benchmark prices are desirable and that his company would be contacting domestic customers about the change to quarterly pricing.
BHP, the largest mining company, today said it will sell the majority of its production to Asian steel mills on shorter-term contracts. The company gave no details of its pricing.
The pricing details mark a break with the 40-year old system of setting a benchmark price. “Details of the agreements with our customers are subject to confidentiality agreements,” said BHP spokesman Amanda Buckley. Ms Buckley declined to comment either on the price agreed or the names of the customers that had agreed those prices.
Pedro Gutemberg, director for marketing and research at Vale, said in Beijing today that his company wanted a new pricing system to improve pricing flexibility, predictability and transparency. Mr Gutenberg didn’t confirm the price agreement with Sumitomo Metal.
“For us, the benchmark system is old, so we decided to go this route,” he added.
Chinese steelmakers are said to be still in talks with the iron ore producers over pricing issues.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
More Japanese Steelmakers Agree Quarterly Coal Contracts
In a further indication of a shift to quarterly raw materials contracts, more Japanese steelmakers have struck deals with coal miners for the April to June quarter.
JFE Holdings, Kobe Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries have both agreed a price of $200 a tonne, up 55 percent from the deal for the previous financial year, the firms said on Wednesday. JFE and Kobe have signed deals with miners BHP, Rio and Teck Resources, while Sumitomo have agreed a deal with BHP.
While the steelmakers are all looking for a return to an annual contract from 1 July, the miners have the upper hand as they try to move to a system that reflects changes in the market, but which leaves the steelmakers exposed to greater volatility in cost and renders them exposed to the spot market.
JFE Holdings, Kobe Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries have both agreed a price of $200 a tonne, up 55 percent from the deal for the previous financial year, the firms said on Wednesday. JFE and Kobe have signed deals with miners BHP, Rio and Teck Resources, while Sumitomo have agreed a deal with BHP.
While the steelmakers are all looking for a return to an annual contract from 1 July, the miners have the upper hand as they try to move to a system that reflects changes in the market, but which leaves the steelmakers exposed to greater volatility in cost and renders them exposed to the spot market.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sumitomo To Increase Zinc Production At Bolivian Mine
Sumitomo Corp., Japan’s third-largest trading company, will increase production at its zinc mine in Bolivia this year after the project turned profitable in the past quarter on reduced costs and rising metal prices.
Output will exceed an original plan to produce 225,000 metric tons of zinc in concentrate after ore processing reached 44,000 tons a day in April, 10 percent more than planned, Koichiro Yazaki, manager at Sumitomo’s San Cristobal Project Department, said in an interview in Tokyo. Production was 204,000 tons last year and 69,000 tons in the past quarter.
Metals have gained 36 percent this year, based on an index of six industrial metals, on signs the worst global recession since the Great Depression is easing and as China stockpiled copper, aluminum and zinc. Bank of Japan board member Hidetoshi Kamezaki said today Japan’s economy, the second-largest, is no longer in freefall and a recovery will take hold soon.
“Production of industrial metals will probably increase as the outlook for their demand and prices becomes better on an improvement in global economies,” Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Okachi & Co., said today by phone. “Some mines may restart operations that they suspended amid the global recession.”
Zinc for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange was little changed at $1,581 a ton at 12:42 p.m. Tokyo time, up 31 percent this year. Prices touched a four-year low of $1,038 on Dec. 12, after reaching $2,900 earlier last year, as the recession eroded demand for the metal used to galvanize steel.
“We expect metal prices will probably increase from the current level, although they may have difficulty returning to last year’s peak,” Takahiro Izuta, Sumitomo’s corporate officer, said in the same interview yesterday. “Prices will likely rebound in tandem with the recovery in global economies.”
Prime Minister Taro Aso has pledged to spend 25 trillion yen ($261 billion) to prop up the Japanese economy and China is spending 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) to boost its growth as nations around the world commit funds to stimulate a recovery.
Japanese trading companies are increasing overseas resource investments to secure domestic supplies and to benefit from long-term global demand as competition for materials gains amid rising consumption in China. Sumitomo gained ownership of San Cristobal, the world’s sixth-largest producer of the metal and the third-biggest in silver, after buying in March a 65 percent stake held by Apex Silver Mines Ltd.
“We have put the mine under our control as it is competitive in terms of production costs,” Izuta said. The open-pit mine, expected to have a 16-year mining life, produces zinc at a cash cost of 60 cents a pound, or $1,323 a ton, according to Yazaki.
Lead in concentrate output at San Cristobal will this year exceed the planned 82,000 tons while production of silver in concentrate may exceed the planned 525 tons, he said. Lead output was 21,000 tons in the three months ended March 31 and 70,000 tons last year. Silver output was 159 tons in the quarter and 586 tons last year.
Tokyo-based Sumitomo expects to gain 260 million yen in profits from the mine, located about 500 kilometers (311 miles) south of the Bolivian capital La Paz, in the year to March 31, 2010, Izuta said. The company booked a loss of about 6 billion yen from the project last fiscal year.
Zinc and lead concentrates produced at San Cristobal are exported from Chile’s Mejillones port to Japan, South Korea, Spain, Belgium and Australia. About a third of the output is bought by smelters in Japan and another third is shipped to South Korea. More than half of the output is sold under long- term contracts, Yazaki said.
The San Cristobal mine has reserves of 3.2 million tons of zinc, 1.2 million tons of lead and 12,600 tons of silver. The zinc concentrate has a purity of about 55 percent to 60 percent and contains 400 grams to 500 grams of silver per ton. The lead concentrate is about 65 percent to 70 percent in purity and contains 3 kilograms to 5 kilograms of silver per ton.
The San Cristobal mine started production in August 2007 after Sumitomo bought a 35 percent stake in the project from Apex Silver in 2006. Sumitomo’s investment and loans to the project have amounted to almost $900 million, Izuta said. The company paid $27.5 million in March to gain full ownership.
Source: Bloomberg
Output will exceed an original plan to produce 225,000 metric tons of zinc in concentrate after ore processing reached 44,000 tons a day in April, 10 percent more than planned, Koichiro Yazaki, manager at Sumitomo’s San Cristobal Project Department, said in an interview in Tokyo. Production was 204,000 tons last year and 69,000 tons in the past quarter.
Metals have gained 36 percent this year, based on an index of six industrial metals, on signs the worst global recession since the Great Depression is easing and as China stockpiled copper, aluminum and zinc. Bank of Japan board member Hidetoshi Kamezaki said today Japan’s economy, the second-largest, is no longer in freefall and a recovery will take hold soon.
“Production of industrial metals will probably increase as the outlook for their demand and prices becomes better on an improvement in global economies,” Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Okachi & Co., said today by phone. “Some mines may restart operations that they suspended amid the global recession.”
Zinc for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange was little changed at $1,581 a ton at 12:42 p.m. Tokyo time, up 31 percent this year. Prices touched a four-year low of $1,038 on Dec. 12, after reaching $2,900 earlier last year, as the recession eroded demand for the metal used to galvanize steel.
“We expect metal prices will probably increase from the current level, although they may have difficulty returning to last year’s peak,” Takahiro Izuta, Sumitomo’s corporate officer, said in the same interview yesterday. “Prices will likely rebound in tandem with the recovery in global economies.”
Prime Minister Taro Aso has pledged to spend 25 trillion yen ($261 billion) to prop up the Japanese economy and China is spending 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) to boost its growth as nations around the world commit funds to stimulate a recovery.
Japanese trading companies are increasing overseas resource investments to secure domestic supplies and to benefit from long-term global demand as competition for materials gains amid rising consumption in China. Sumitomo gained ownership of San Cristobal, the world’s sixth-largest producer of the metal and the third-biggest in silver, after buying in March a 65 percent stake held by Apex Silver Mines Ltd.
“We have put the mine under our control as it is competitive in terms of production costs,” Izuta said. The open-pit mine, expected to have a 16-year mining life, produces zinc at a cash cost of 60 cents a pound, or $1,323 a ton, according to Yazaki.
Lead in concentrate output at San Cristobal will this year exceed the planned 82,000 tons while production of silver in concentrate may exceed the planned 525 tons, he said. Lead output was 21,000 tons in the three months ended March 31 and 70,000 tons last year. Silver output was 159 tons in the quarter and 586 tons last year.
Tokyo-based Sumitomo expects to gain 260 million yen in profits from the mine, located about 500 kilometers (311 miles) south of the Bolivian capital La Paz, in the year to March 31, 2010, Izuta said. The company booked a loss of about 6 billion yen from the project last fiscal year.
Zinc and lead concentrates produced at San Cristobal are exported from Chile’s Mejillones port to Japan, South Korea, Spain, Belgium and Australia. About a third of the output is bought by smelters in Japan and another third is shipped to South Korea. More than half of the output is sold under long- term contracts, Yazaki said.
The San Cristobal mine has reserves of 3.2 million tons of zinc, 1.2 million tons of lead and 12,600 tons of silver. The zinc concentrate has a purity of about 55 percent to 60 percent and contains 400 grams to 500 grams of silver per ton. The lead concentrate is about 65 percent to 70 percent in purity and contains 3 kilograms to 5 kilograms of silver per ton.
The San Cristobal mine started production in August 2007 after Sumitomo bought a 35 percent stake in the project from Apex Silver in 2006. Sumitomo’s investment and loans to the project have amounted to almost $900 million, Izuta said. The company paid $27.5 million in March to gain full ownership.
Source: Bloomberg
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sumitomo Seeks Stake In Copper Mines
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, Japan's top producer of nickel and its second-largest copper producer, said on Monday that it plans to take a stake in at least one copper mine over the next 13 months. This is in line with the company's strategy to gain more control over the source of its ore. The company currently extracts 40 percent of its copper from its own mines and aims to boost that to 70 percent by the end of March 2014 in a bid to improve profitability and secure a stable supply of raw materials.
"We aim to take a stake in at least one profitable copper mine in the next business year," Shigeru Takeuchi, Sumitomo Metal Mining's general manager, told a strategy briefing.
Despite the fall in global commodities prices, the company has no plans to change its expansion programmes although it has been forced to cut metals production as the economic crisis cuts deeply into demand.
The company's second nickel production line and an expanded refinery plant in the Philippines will start up later this year as planned.
Demand for the company's copper has fallen 10-15 percent since the start of the year, although spot sales to China were seeing some recovery.
However, Mr Takeuchi said prospects for nickel and ferro-nickel, which has dropped by 25 to over 30 percent, were less encouraging, although he acknowledged that prospects remained bleak.
An announcement of its metals production is due to be made on April 1, he said.
"We aim to take a stake in at least one profitable copper mine in the next business year," Shigeru Takeuchi, Sumitomo Metal Mining's general manager, told a strategy briefing.
Despite the fall in global commodities prices, the company has no plans to change its expansion programmes although it has been forced to cut metals production as the economic crisis cuts deeply into demand.
The company's second nickel production line and an expanded refinery plant in the Philippines will start up later this year as planned.
Demand for the company's copper has fallen 10-15 percent since the start of the year, although spot sales to China were seeing some recovery.
However, Mr Takeuchi said prospects for nickel and ferro-nickel, which has dropped by 25 to over 30 percent, were less encouraging, although he acknowledged that prospects remained bleak.
An announcement of its metals production is due to be made on April 1, he said.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Sumitomo Developing Nickel And Lithium Projects
Sumitomo Corp. is bolstering efforts to secure natural resources used in rechargeable batteries before shortages predicted for the future materialize.
The company is working with Professor Kazuharu Yoshizuka of the University of Kitakyushu to create technology for developing lithium resources in Bolivia, where the Salar de Uyuni salts flats have 5.4 million tons of confirmed lithium deposits, half of the world's reserves. Development has been slow due to difficulty extracting the element.
By developing extraction technology ahead of other companies, Sumitomo aims to participate in a Salar de Uyuni development project.
The company is also developing a large-scale nickel mine in Madagascar and aims to place the mine into service in the second half of 2010 at a total cost of US$3.7 billion. The mine is expected to produce 60,000 tons of nickel ore annually, enough to meet 25 per cent of Japan's aggregate demand.
Shortages of rechargeable battery materials are forecast accompanying the growing popularity of hybrid and electric cars. By securing stable procurement routes early, Sumitomo hopes to boost profits.
The company is working with Professor Kazuharu Yoshizuka of the University of Kitakyushu to create technology for developing lithium resources in Bolivia, where the Salar de Uyuni salts flats have 5.4 million tons of confirmed lithium deposits, half of the world's reserves. Development has been slow due to difficulty extracting the element.
By developing extraction technology ahead of other companies, Sumitomo aims to participate in a Salar de Uyuni development project.
The company is also developing a large-scale nickel mine in Madagascar and aims to place the mine into service in the second half of 2010 at a total cost of US$3.7 billion. The mine is expected to produce 60,000 tons of nickel ore annually, enough to meet 25 per cent of Japan's aggregate demand.
Shortages of rechargeable battery materials are forecast accompanying the growing popularity of hybrid and electric cars. By securing stable procurement routes early, Sumitomo hopes to boost profits.
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