Group items tagged

General Cable Acquires Majority Position in Philippine Joint Venture

An 18.34% stake in Phelps Dodge Philippines Inc (PDPI), which is the largest wire and cable manufacturer in the Philippines, has been sold to General Cable Corp by A Soriano Corp (Anscor). This raises General Cable's stake in the cable manufacturing firm from 40% to 60%, with the remaining 40% remaining under the ownership of Anscor. Under the terms of the deal, Anscor has sold 1.081 million shares for P641.49 million ($14.2 million). PDPI was established in 1995 as a joint venture by Anscor and Phelps Dodge International Corp, which General Cable acquired in Q4 2007.

Suspected Communist rebels attacked Xstrata Plc's $3 billion Tampakan mine in the Philippines, which may be Southeast Asia's largest untapped copper deposit, according to the military and project partner Indophil Resources NL. The group burned a drill rig and police are investigating, the Melbourne-based company said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. No one was injured in the assault, which took place around midnight on July 20, according to the statement, which did not identify the attackers. The rebels, probably from the New People's Army, ``tried to extort money from the owners of the mine, but they declined to pay the so-called revolutionary tax,'' Armand Rico, a military spokesman, said today by phone from Davao City. Insurgent attacks may undermine the Philippines' drive to develop the nation's mining industry to exploit gold, copper and nickel. Indophil, which also reported an attack on Jan. 1, is the subject of takeover bids from Xstrata Plc, which owns 62.5 percent of the mine, and a rival management group.

Korea Resources and LG International Corp will resume operations at Rapu Rapu copper and zinc mine in the Philippines after the mine received environmental approval.

"MANILA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Global miner Xstrata Plc (XTA.L) has boosted an estimate of mineral resources at its $5.2-billion Tampakan copper-gold project in the southern Philippines to 2.4 billion tonnes from 2.2 billion, the firm said on Tuesday."

"The lack of a sturdy electrification grid in several countries such asIndonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, and theSarawak region of Malaysia have prompted power utility companies to budget for grid installations and expansions. The electrification expansion programs of utilities in most of these countries are giving a huge boost to the transformers market in the region. "

Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) announced that it will build automotive wiring harness plants in Cambodia and the Philippines to reduce the risks of production concentration in China. SEI said that a labour shortage and wage hikes are occurring in China. It was also reported that Brazil is important to SEI because it is "friendly to Japan and rich in natural resources." The company aims to increase the proportion of overseas sales to 50% in FY2011, up from 40% in FY2009. With a view to expanding overseas operations Sumitomo will promote competent employees to executive posts regardless of nationality.

It was reported that the copper industry faces ongoing disruptions due to the devastating earthquake in Japan. Mitsui Mining & Smelting said that there are still plant suspensions at several sites in Saitama, Fukushima and Aomori Prefectures. Electrolytic copper foil production in Ageo, Saitama, has been suspended since 11th March. In addition, Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) said that Daikoku Electric Wire's sites in Tochigi and Iwate Prefectures continue to be impacted. Daikoku Electric is a subsidiary of SEI and engages in the production of magnet wire.

It was reported that Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., will invest ¥63.0M into its automotive business unit in FY 2011. The company plans to setup subsidiaries in the early part of the financial year in the Philippines and in Cambodia with the aim to make wiring harnesses at lower cost. Sumitomo has also earmarked some of the funds for expanding the production capacity at its manufacturing facility in Mexico in order to meet demand.