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Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto should post record half-year profits as they reap the benefits of an industrial commodities boom, and are likely to use the results to bolster their arguments in a $123 billion (66 billion pound) takeover stand-off. Both are also likely to outline big expansions in key profit sectors such as copper and iron ore, where analysts predict higher prices next year on the back of strong demand for imported raw materials from China's industrial sector. Consenus figures based on forecasts by 20 analysts and provided by BHP point to a 12 percent rise in annual net profit to $15.4 billion, suggesting second-half profit will have risen 30 percent to $9.4 billion from $7.2 billion previously. Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates forecast Rio's January-June underlying profit will have risen 40 percent to $5.2 billion. BHP's financial year ends June 30, while Rio follows the calendar year.

Aurubis, a leading European copper semis fabricator, said that it saw product demand and production recover in mid-May in the wire and cable industry and in some other copper semis sectors. The wirerod market, especially the automotive wiring industry, is supported by government stimulus packages. It said orders for continuous cast shapes also stabilised in May then rose slightly in June. The company reported pretax profit in the third quarter to June fell to 51m euros (US$72m). Product output was 479,000t of wire rod and 111,000t of continuous cast shapes for the first nine months.

The Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Maker's Association reported that copper wire and cable shipments amounted to 58,000t in June 2011, up by 2.4% y-o-y, principally attributed to strong demand for wiring harnesses used in the automotive industry. This marks the first positive growth in Japanese wire and cable shipments since February after a drop in shipment levels due to the 11th March earthquake and tsunami. Wire and cable exports registered another year-on-year contraction in June, caused by increased competition from local producers and the strong yen. On the other hand, domestic delivery levels increased on the previous year in June, representing the tenth y-o-y rise in a row.

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Copper prices tumbled to a five-week low Thursday on expectations that falling demand from China and a slowdown in the U.S. housing market will lead to a surplus of the metal. Other commodities traded mixed, with crude oil rebounding slightly and gold, silver and soybeans falling. Corn and wheat futures rose. China, the world's biggest buyer of copper, has been importing less of the metal since the completion of most major construction projects heading into the Beijing summer Olympics. Copper imports in June fell 20 percent compared to May, China's custom's agency said this month. As a result, stockpiles of the metal have swelled in Shanghai and London, helping drive down prices.

The Trai statement said, the country added 8.81 million telephone connections (both wire and wireless) during June 2008 as compared to 8.46 million it added during May 2008. In the wireless segment, which includes GSM, CDMA and WLL, there was an addition of 8.94 million as against 8.62 million during May 2008.

On 19th July, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association announced that copper wire and cable shipments increased by 2.4% y-o-y to 58,000t in June 2011. Nevertheless, the shipments remain the third-lowest in 35 years for the June.

The Japan Copper and Brass Association reported that copper semis production amounted to 73,170t in June, a fall of 4.2% y-o-y. This was principally attributed to reduced copper and copper alloy strip production due to weaker demand from the leadframe, automotive component and connector pin segments. In addition, exports of brass strip fell by 38% y-o-y in June. The report comes one month after record import levels of copper and copper alloy fabricated products which expanded by 54% y-o-y to reach 6,251t. This figure consisted of 2,203t brass bar and 1,800t copper tube with 49% of the products received from South Korea and 30% from China.

The Copper and Brass Servicenter Association reported that shipments of brass mill products amounted to 23.1Mlbs in June 2011, up slightly from 23.0Mlbs on the previous month and down by 6.5% y-o-y. The positive signs of growth that were registered earlier in this year, which peaked during March as shipments reached 25Mlbs, subsequently dropped and levelled off in Q2. Slower growth in June compared with the same month last year is attributed to shipments of brass products falling 12.8Mlbs, down by 12% y-o-y, with the largest drops in shipments occurring within the brass sheet, rod and bar product segments.

Antaike reported that most Chinese copper semis fabricators orders decreased in June 2011 from the previous month. Copper commercial tube, copper wire and copper wirerod output rose 10% y-o-y in H1 2011. However, output growth of copper sheet and strip in the same period was weaker. Semis fabricators' profits fell attributed to high finance costs and high copper prices. These factors have also affected refined copper consumption.

Figures released by the General Administration of Customs indicate that total imports of copper blister, cathode, alloys and semis amounted to 280kt, down by 15% y-o-y but up sequentially by 9.9% in June 2011. Over the period from January to June 2011, copper imports contracted to 1.7Mt, down by 24% y-o-y. The rise in copper imports over the previous month is thought to be attributed to a narrowing price gap between the SHFE and LME cathode spot markets as well as the use of copper imports as collateral for credit.

Home prices in China remained flat in June, breaking the eight month trend of continuous decline. Nevertheless, home prices were down by 1.5% y-o-y. The construction industry is one of the key consumers of copper in China.

Shipments of copper wire and cable increased for the second consecutive month in June, reaching 57,300t. This represents a 1.0% increase y-o-y and an 8.0% increase m-o-m. Shipments to the automotive sector performed particularly well, increasing 36.3% y-o-y, following the introduction of subsidies for the purchase of fuel-efficient cars. Additionally, reconstruction efforts from last year's earthquake and tsunami disaster continue to support demand.

"The copper industry is already facing substitution challenges from materials like aluminium and needs to use technology to help ensure larger-scale, more permanent switches are not made, industry participants said. A group of panelists at the Metal Bulletin and American Metal Market Copper Seminar in New York on Wednesday June 6 said that while technology is clearly an opportunity for the industry, there are still some risks. According to Freeport McMoRan vp sales and marketing Steve Higgins, much of the "easy substitution" - such as plumbing tube or transformer lines - has already happened. "Substitution is less than 2% of refined demand today… It's a bit troubling, but it happens," he said. "The bigger worry is that aluminium is going to make inroads into products that have high switching costs - ACR tubing, motors, or into some medium to high voltage power cables and the like that the manufacturers have to go in and put in a lot of capital costs to convert. Once converted, switching back becomes "extraordinarily difficult," he said. "That's the biggest risk to our market as I..."

Newmont Mining Corp. posted a sharply higher second-quarter profit Thursday, with record-high gold prices and production gains pumping revenue past most analysts' expectations. Newmont (NEM:Newmont Mining Corporation News, chart, profile, more Last: 49.02+0.25+0.51% 2:30pm 07/25/2008 Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio Analyst Create alertInsider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: NEM 49.02, +0.25, +0.5%) shares rose $1.82, or 3.9%, to close at $48.77. The stock is up 12% over the past 12 months. Newmont reported net income for the three months ended June 30 swung to $277 million, or 61 cents a share, from a year-ago loss of $2.06 billion, or $4.57 a share. The year-ago numbers were heavily skewed by a $1.67 billion write-down tied to the company's exit from merchant banking and a $460 million charge for settling price-capped forwards contracts. Adjusted earnings from ongoing operations more than doubled to $230 million, or 51 cents a share, from $103 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier. Gold sales during the quarter totaled 1.27 million equity ounces, fetching on average $900 an ounce, as the precious metal rode a huge spike in commodity prices. Gold prices were averaging about $600 an ounce a year ago. Costs per ounce rose, however, to $440 an ounce from $417 a year ago. Copper sales accounted for $183 million during the quarter, down from $340 million a year earlier. Newmont stood by its earlier 2008 production forecast of 5.1 million to 5.4 million ounces of gold, with production cost expected to range from $425 to $450 per ounce.

Sony Corp will invest $369 million (40 billion yen) to power up its lithium-ion battery production operations, adding new facilities and augmenting existing lines. The infusion, which Sony said is the first phase of investment in lithium-ion batteries the company is undertaking as part of efforts to reinforce core areas of its component and semiconductor business over the next three years, will be used to construct new production facilities and to enhance existing lines at Sony's lithium-ion battery production sites in Japan, the Motomiya Technology Center and Tochigi Technology Center of Sony Energy Device Corp. Sony said it is making the investment in response to the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries and that the new production facilities will focus on electrodes, battery cell production lines, and charge and discharge equipment, among other technologies. Sony further reminded its expanding lithium-ion battery production in Singapore and China, and said that in total its monthly production capacity will increase from the current level of 41 million cells per month to 74 million cells in 2010. Sony's $369 million investment will start in its current fiscal year and continue through the second half of its fiscal year 2010. Sony's fiscal Q1 2008 concluded in June. Meanwhile, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co recently committed $923 million (100 billion yen) to build a plant in Osaka, Japan, that is expected to bring its cell production to about 75 million a month from its current 25 million cells per month. Sanyo Electric Co has also reportedly announced plans to invest, promising $1.15 billion (125 billion yen) to develop its rechargeable-batteries business over the next three years. That investment is expected to increase cell output to 90 million per month from Sanyo's current 70 million cells per month. All three of the Japan-based companies last year suffered from loses brought on by their battery operations. Sony-made lithium-