Dowa Metaltech to Sell Copper Products at 500t/m in Thailand

Dowa Metaltech (Thailand), a subsidiary established by Dowa Metaltech of Dowa Holdings Group in October 2006 to process copper rolled products in Thailand, aims to triple the sales of copper products to 500 tonnes per month in 2010 from the present. Dowa Metaltech (Thailand) will slit bare copper strip and tin-plate the products by reflow plating method in order to supply the products to automotive parts makers in the country. Dowa Metaltech aims to widen the sales network of copper rolled products with tin reflow plating to whole Asian area in the future, supplying the products from productive bases in Japan, China and Thailand.Dowa Metaltech invests 600 million yen to establish a new factory in an export processing zone of Vietnam. The new factory will start operation in July 2007 with a mini traverse slitter, a standard slitter and a tin reflow plating line. The subsidiary is the first base to introduce a tin reflow plating line in Southeast Asian area.Dowa Metaltech has exported and sold 150-200 tonnes of processed copper products per month for Thailand. The firm becomes able to process and supply the products inside Thailand after establishment of the new subsidiary. Dowa Metaltech plans to export the products to other Southeast Asian countries including India and Vietnam through Dowa Metaltech (Thailand) in the future. The subsidiary will sell 250-300 tonnes of the products per month in the first year with 1 billion yen of annual sales value. The subsidiary targets 5 billion yen of annual sales after 5 years.