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.
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