Tongling Nonferrous, China Largest Copper Smelter, Reports 38.03% YoY Fall in 2013 Profit

SHANGHAI, Apr. 30 (SMM) – Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co. reported a 38.03% year-on-year fall in 2013's profit after becoming China’s largest copper smelter in the same year.

The company made a net profit of 572.56 million yuan ($93 million) or 0.4 yuan per share last year, the company said in a report filed to Shenzhen Stock Exchange today.

``As China is accelerating its economic transition, urbanization, UHV grid construction and development of new energy vehicles are set to effectively support copper demand,’’ it said in the report, adding ``China’s domestic copper consumption will hopefully grow, and gains in treatment charges will increase profitability at Chinese smelters’’ in 2014.

Tongling Nonferrous produced 1.20 million tonnes of copper cathodes in 2013, 32.75% more than a year ago, and 95,000 tonnes of copper products, a year-on-year increase of 24.35%. It also mined 48,700 tonnes of copper concentrate, in the metal contained, it said.

It plans to make 1.33 million tonnes of copper cathodes this year and 280,100 tonnes of the metal semis, as well as to mine 50,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.

Tongling’s Jinguan Copper branch completed the world’s biggest flash smelting and flash converting facilities in early 2013, increasing its production capacity to 1.30 million tpy, China’s largest and the world’s second largest, it said in the report.