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June 2008\nNA Copper Mail

Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA) said it is expecting at least EUR40 million of synergies each year from the takeover of Cumerio which was completed in March this year. The company said that it will benefit from the transfer of best practice between the two companies while cost savings mainly come from logistics and process optimization. NA also plans to increase production at its Cumerio smelters. The company expects further acquisition opportunities in Europe and in other parts of the world, including Asia. NA plans to expand its operations in southeastern Europe and the Black Sea region to capitalize on its strong economic growth before looking for growth opportunities outside Europe. In Bulgaria, the company currently expands copper cathode production capacity of its Pirdop smelter to 180,000 tonnes per year.

Norddeutsche Affinerie is to invest €62.5M to increase by 60% its copper scrap recycling capacity in Lünen, Germany by 2011. The investment will double the firm's capacity to process complex copper-bearing scrap such as shreddings, powders and electrical scrap to 140,000t/y, bringing total scrap recycling capacity up to 350,000t/y from 220,000t/y currently. The scrap will be processed into copper cathode. The investment will see the installation of a second smelting furnace, and a waste gas purification plant in Lünen. Norddeutsche's current secondary smelter in Lünen uses a range of scrap, whilst its Hamburg plant uses copper concentrate and a small percentage of high-grade scrap. Electronic scrap availability has increased in Europe as end-of-life regulations have been introduced for its disposal.

According to data released by the US International Trade Commission, copper imports in September soared to 56,012 tonnes, up by more than 50% compared to August. Larger import volumes provide optimism for economic recovery in the US. The US stimulus plan amounts to US$787 billion and until now only a fifth to a quarter has been spent. Maximum results of the stimulus programme are expected to be realised in Q4 2009 - Q2 2010.

Dubai Cable Co. (Ducab), the joint Dubai and Abu Dhabi state owned wire and cable producer, is optimistic about short to long term wire and cable demand prospects. This is primarily due to heavy investment in infrastructure by Gulf governments, including plans to build a six-nation power grid. The company also sources its optimism from predictions of a wire and cable supply deficit in India.

Codelco, the Chilean copper producer, is optimistic about medium to long term copper demand prospects, primarily due to Chinese growth. The company also sources its optimism from predictions that the Japanese earthquake will have only a marginal and short term impact on the copper market, before growth resumes. In addition, it was reported that world demand is strong and has a good outlook despite expectations that the market in the developed world will only return to pre-crisis levels.

Japanese rolled copper product output fell by 3.7%y-o-y to 68,620t in March. This was mainly attributed to disruption to automotive supply chains following the March 11 disaster. The full impact of the decline of Japanese carmakers is expected to hit copper producers in the forthcoming months due to the expected two month time lag in copper demand. There is, however, optimism about the medium term demand outlook due to growing demand in air conditioner and housing utensil production in addition to the positive effects of the country's forthcoming rebuilding work. Company operations are expected to ramp up after factory repairs are anticipated to be completed towards the summer.