Copper output to rise

Tokyo
Pan Pacific Copper (PPC), Japan’s biggest copper smelter, plans to raise its output of refined copper by 1.9 percent in its April-September first half from the same period a year earlier due to solid demand at home and abroad, it said on Monday.
The smelter forecast output of 289,700 tons of refined copper in the six months starting April 1, up from 284,200 tons in the same period a year earlier.
“Domestic demand in the construction segment is fairly strong on the back of redevelopment projects in Tokyo metropolitan area and reconstruction projects in northeastern Japan,” PPC spokesman Yusuke Handa said.
Japan’s northeastern region was hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The company, which exports about 43-45 percent of its output, also expects sound demand from China and Southeast Asia, he added.