Japan's biggest copper smelter Pan Pacific Copper said that it suspended operations at its 200,000 tonnes per year Saganoseki smelter on January 7 after a fire damaged an electric power substation on the site.

A spokesman said that the company is checking when it can resume operations at the plant in Oita, southeast Japan, and whether its other smelter and refining plants in Japan can make up for lost production.

The Saganoseki plant produces anode, an intermediate state of refined copper, for refining at its Hitachi plant.

A company spokesman said that "We can't say for now when we can start operations at the Saganoseki plant. It all depends on when we can secure parts for damaged electronics machines. But we have ample inventories of anode for the time being.”

Asia's premiums for spot refined copper could rise if there is a prolonged suspension at Pan Pacific, an exporter to China, Taiwan and South Korea, prompting its term buyers to turn to the spot market.

A copper buyer for Pan Pacific Copper's metal in China said no information had been received from the Japanese supplier on whether the fire would delay term refined metal shipments.

Buyer said that "From our experience, they are likely to buy copper from the spot market for term deliveries if that is the case.”

An industry official said he did not expect a large impact on the domestic market from the shutdown, given a relatively high level of inventories of refined copper.

According to the Japan Mining Industry Association, domestic inventories of refined copper at smelters stood at 93,639 tonnes at the end of November, against November output of 112,305 tonnes.

(Sourced from Reuters)