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KITZ Corporation has announced that it will integrate its two brass bar manufacturing subsidiaries with effect from July 1st. According to the plan, KITZ Metal Works will take over Kyoto Brass and brass bar production will be integrated at the Nagano plant, Japan owned by KITZ Metal Works. As a result, Kyoto Brass' plant in Kyoto, Japan will be closed. The decision is attributed to the global economic downturn that has been taking place since autumn 2008. Total brass bar output of the two plants in January amounted to 3,000t, down by 40% y-o-y. The company anticipates that demand will not recover in the short run.

Because of slowing housing construction and the consequent decline in demand for gas appliances and water taps, the demand for brass bars in Japan is falling. Demand is also being affected by the decrease in car industry activity. As a result, brass bar makers in Eastern Japan are planning to reduce production output for the fourth quarter by 20-25% on a year-to-year basis. August production in Japan was ''as low as 16,362 tonnes'', according to the Japan Copper & Brass Association. Monthly order receipt volume for the last three months of 2008 is expected to average just 15,000 tonnes.

Kitz Metal Works, a brass bar maker and subsidiary of the Kitz group, announced plans to add a continuous casting line at its Chino plant in Japan. The US$2.6M development will add a further 18,000t-19,200t to the company's annual billet production capacity. Construction work is set to begin this month and the plant is expected to be commissioned by the end of the year. The company expects that the lower production cost of the new casting line will allow for the investment cost to be recovered within five years.

Hitachi Cable Ltd. announced that it will cease production at its Tsuchiura plant by March 2012, effectively ending its domestic copper tube business. The facility produces copper tubes for air conditioners and in FY2010 it contributed to a sales volume of 20,000t; a sales value of ¥17.76B or 4.2% of the company's total revenue. The withdrawal from the business is attributed to difficulty maintaining profitability after air conditioning manufacturers shifted operations to foreign markets. Hitachi will keep a 50-50 JV with Furukawa Electric in Shanghai and its 36% share of a Thailand based copper tube manufacturer.