Dowa recycling arm to double PGM output

TOKYO - Japanese smelter Dowa Mining Co Ltd said yesterday its recycling arm, Nippon PGM Co Ltd, would double the capacity of its operations to recover platinum group metals (PGM) from used auto catalysts in 2001/02. Dowa, Japans fifth-largest copper smelter and fourth-largest zinc smelter, said treatment capacity at Nippon PGM, a joint venture with bullion house Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo, would gradually increase to 900 tonnes a month by the end of the current business year to next March, from a current 450 tonnes. Nippon PGM is the worlds second-biggest PGM recycling company after Canadian metal producer Inco Ltd . Dowas managing director, Shoji Kato, declined to specify the volume of PGMs to be recovered at Nippon PGM, which is 60 percent owned by the Dowa group and 40 percent by Tanaka Kikinzoku. Earlier yesterday, Dowa Mining said it posted a group net profit of 4.92 billion yen ($39.84 million) in the business year that ended on March 31. It forecast a jump in net profit to 6.50 billion yen this year. Kato said profits from its electronics divisions would likely decline in 2001/02 on slackening demand from the information-technology sector. But he said profits from Dowas metal-recycling operations and its environmental business would help increase overall profits in 2001/02. The companys environmental operations range from waste management to soil restoration and environmental consulting and engineering. For 2001/02, Dowa expects an average copper price of 85 cents per lb, up from 81.9 cents in 2000/01, and an average zinc price of $1,000 per tonne, down from $1,101. It sees the dollar averaging 110 yen in 2001/02, compared with an average 110.6 yen the year before. Dowa shares closed at 565 yen, up 30 yen or 5.61 percent. That compared with a 2.15 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei share averag JAPAN: Dowa recycling arm to double PGM output. TOKYO - Japanese smelter Dowa Mining Co Ltd said yesterday its recycling arm, Nippon PGM Co Ltd, would double the capacity of its operations to recover platinum group metals (PGM) from used auto catalysts in 2001/02. Dowa, Japans fifth-largest copper smelter and fourth-largest zinc smelter, said treatment capacity at Nippon PGM, a joint venture with bullion house Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo, would gradually increase to 900 tonnes a month by the end of the current business year to next March, from a current 450 tonnes. Nippon PGM is the worlds second-biggest PGM recycling company after Canadian metal producer Inco Ltd . Dowas managing director, Shoji Kato, declined to specify the volume of PGMs to be recovered at Nippon PGM, which is 60 percent owned by the Dowa group and 40 percent by Tanaka Kikinzoku. Earlier yesterday, Dowa Mining said it posted a group net profit of 4.92 billion yen ($39.84 million) in the business year that ended on March 31. It forecast a jump in net profit to 6.50 billion yen this year. Kato said profits from its electronics divisions would likely decline in 2001/02 on slackening demand from the information-technology sector. But he said profits from Dowas metal-recycling operations and its environmental business would help increase overall profits in 2001/02. The companys environmental operations range from waste management to soil restoration and environmental consulting and engineering. For 2001/02, Dowa expects an average copper price of 85 cents per lb, up from 81.9 cents in 2000/01, and an average zinc price of $1,000 per tonne, down from $1,101. It sees the dollar averaging 110 yen in 2001/02, compared with an average 110.6 yen the year before. Dowa shares closed at 565 yen, up 30 yen or 5.61 percent. That compared with a 2.15 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei share averag JAPAN: Dowa recycling arm to double PGM output. TOKYO - Japanese smelter Dowa Mining Co Ltd said yesterday its recycling arm, Nippon PGM Co Ltd, would double the capacity of its operations to recover platinum group metals (PGM) from used auto catalysts in 2001/02. Dowa, Japans fifth-largest copper smelter and fourth-largest zinc smelter, said treatment capacity at Nippon PGM, a joint venture with bullion house Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo, would gradually increase to 900 tonnes a month by the end of the current business year to next March, from a current 450 tonnes. Nippon PGM is the worlds second-biggest PGM recycling company after Canadian metal producer Inco Ltd . Dowas managing director, Shoji Kato, declined to specify the volume of PGMs to be recovered at Nippon PGM, which is 60 percent owned by the Dowa group and 40 percent by Tanaka Kikinzoku. Earlier yesterday, Dowa Mining said it posted a group net profit of 4.92 billion yen ($39.84 million) in the business year that ended on March 31. It forecast a jump in net profit to 6.50 billion yen this year. Kato said profits from its electronics divisions would likely decline in 2001/02 on slackening demand from the information-technology sector. But he said profits from Dowas metal-recycling operations and its environmental business would help increase overall profits in 2001/02. The companys environmental operations range from waste management to soil restoration and environmental consulting and engineering. For 2001/02, Dowa expects an average copper price of 85 cents per lb, up from 81.9 cents in 2000/01, and an average zinc price of $1,000 per tonne, down from $1,101. It sees the dollar averaging 110 yen in 2001/02, compared with an average 110.6 yen the year before. Dowa shares closed at 565 yen, up 30 yen or 5.61 percent. That compared with a 2.15 percent rise in the benchmark Nikkei share average. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE