Lihua International announces plans to build a smelter at its existing copper recycling facility. The smelter, expected to be complete by the second half of this year, will have a capacity of 25,000 tons per year. The smelter will double Lihua's annual refined copper production capacity to 50,000 tons.
In related news, the company has completed the construction of a 32,000 square-foot warehouse at its current plant in Danyang, China.
"Expansion of our infrastructure is key to supporting our rapid growth and our ability to address increasing demand within the large pure copper market," says Jianhua Zhu, chairman and CEO of Lihua. "By the end of 2011, we are targeting annual refined copper production of 100,000 tons, an increase of 300 percent, compared with our refined copper production in 2009. We expect that these additions to our facilities will help us achieve our corporate objectives, including our 2010 financial targets of up to 40 percent year-over-year growth in gross profit and non-GAAP net income growth of up to 42 percent."
The warehouse contains 21 rooms, 15 of which will be used for the re-packaging and cleaning of scrap copper prior to refining, with the remaining six rooms used for the storage of refined copper rods. The warehouse was constructed to support Lihua's planned increase in refined copper manufacturing capacity.
In addition, Lihua remains on track to begin construction of a new plant which will increase the company's smelting capacity. Construction on that plant is expected to begin by the fourth quarter of this year. When complete, it will increase the company’s refiner capacity to 100,000 tons. Construction is expected to be completed within one year.