Wednesday, 01 Sep 2010
Bloomberg reported that Mitsui Mining & Smelting Company is planning to shut its Hikoshima smelter in western Japan for about 20 days of maintenance starting from late October.

Mr Nobuyuki Nakamoto GM of the zinc business said that the smelter in Yamaguchi prefecture which has annual capacity of 74,000 tonnes of special high grade zinc will resume operations in mid November. The Tokyo based company also shut its 67,000 tonnes Kamioka smelter in Gifu prefecture in western Japan in late August for about a month of maintenance.

Special high grade zinc with a minimum purity of 99.995% is used to galvanize steel products in vehicles. Zinc prices in London have gained 11% in the past year as the global economy recovered from its worst postwar recession boosting vehicle production.

Mr Nakamoto said that both maintenance shutdowns at Kamioka and Hikoshima are scheduled ones and there will be no impact on our production.

Mitsui Mining plans to produce 113,200 tonnes of zinc for the 6 month period to the end of September down 0.9% from 114,200 tonnes in the same period a year earlier. The company’s Hachinohe plant in Aomori prefecture, northern Japan has an annual capacity of 112,000 tonnes of prime western grade zinc which has a minimum purity of 98.5% and is used mainly for the construction sector.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)