old but interesting news.LS-Nikko Copper Says It May Build Plant in China, South America
Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- LS-Nikko Copper Inc., operator of the world's largest copper smelter, may build a plant in China or South America to expand as prices rise, said Kang Seong Won, a senior vice president at the South Korean company.
Building in China, the world's biggest copper-using nation, may help LS-Nikko find buyers for its metal and for sulfuric acid, which it makes as a by-product, Kang said in a Sept. 12 interview. A plant in South America would be closer to supplies of ore for processing, he said.
Copper prices that this month rose to a record on soaring Chinese demand have boosted revenue at LS-Nikko, a joint venture between LS Cable Ltd. and a Japanese group led by Nippon Mining & Metals Co. The smelter gets more than 55 percent of its ore from Chile, Peru and Brazil.
``China and South America, with the exception of Chile, would be the likely candidates,'' said Kang, 48, who is also the general manager of LS-Nikko's main plant in Onsan. ``We are in the early stages of considering'' expanding overseas, he said.
Chile is the world's biggest copper producer. LS-Nikko is unlikely to build a plant there because the country already has ample processing capacity, Kang said.
LS-Nikko, South Korea's only copper smelter and refiner, is also in the initial stages of exploring for a mine in western Sonora state in Mexico with state-owned Korea Resources Corp. and BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, Kang said. Aerial studies will be completed by November.