Singapore 17/05/2016 - Mitsubishi Materials is forecasting an 11.6-percent decline in operating profit for its metals business to 21.4 billion yen ($195 million) for the current fiscal year ending March 2017, according to its annual results released on Tuesday.
Mitsubishi Materials sees "signs for concerns in the global economy due to a downturn in China and other emerging markets, despite the prospect of a gradual economic recovery centred on Europe and the United States", it said.
"We believe the Japanese economy will continue its modest recovery, buoyed by improvements in employment and income conditions but recognise downside risk due to overseas economic trends," it dded.
The company also expects its operating environment to be affected by yen appreciation as well as continued uncertainty about the prices of key metals.
For its copper smelting business, Mitsubishi Materials said it will aim to work towards stable operations at its smelters in Japan and overseas while expanding recycling operations by building a processing structure that can manage difficult-to-handle waste and increasing electronic scrap processing volumes.
In fiscal 2016, the company's operating profit from its metals business fell 2.4 percent to 24.2 billion yen due to lower copper and palladium prices, lower sales and the temporary suspension of operations at its Gresik copper smelter and refinery in Indonesia from mid-June till early-September owing to equipment problems.
Mitsubishi Materials' total copper cathode production was 511,000 tonnes in its last fiscal year, down 43,000 tonnes from the previous year.
It is targeting refined copper output of 169,650 tonnes in April-September, up four percent year-on-year.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)