Firm Japan Nonferrous Metals Output in July

Japanese nonferrous ingot shipment increased for 3 items in July from a year earlier though only an item increased in June, according to nonferrous metals ingots and products report announced by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Thursday. The nonferrous metals products’ output and shipment increased for 4 items. The activities in nonferrous metals expanded under firm demand. The electrolytic copper output increased by 14.3% to 132,451 tonnes in July from a year earlier. The shipment increased by 19.6% to 89,034 tonnes. The inventory increased by 22.7% to 33,760 tonnes. The output and shipment keeps expanding when Sumitomo Metal Mining increase the output at Toyo smelter and refinery in Ehime. However, the shipment growth was lower than June shipment due to surging copper price. The electrolytic gold output decreased by 3.4% to 10,999 kilograms in July from a year earlier. The shipment increased by 1.2% to 10,111 kg while the inventory decreased by 55.5% to 2,380 kg. The shipment recovered apparently due to firm demand from gold plating in automobile industry though the demand was expected to decrease. The rolled copper output increased by 6.1% to 88,734 tonnes in July from a year earlier. The shipment increased by 6.5% to 86,223 tonnes while the inventory decreased by 9.7% to 33,730 tonnes. The activity was lifted by firm demand for semiconductor, liquid crystal and other capital expenditure. The communication optical cable fiber output increased by 24.5% to 1.266 million kilometers core in July from a year earlier. The shipment increased by 15.4% to 1.004 km core while the inventory decreased by 26.5% to 207,367 km core. The higher activity is apparently due to demand recovery in Japan and North America.