Pasar to invest another P800M to upgrade copper refinery

The Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation (PASAR), the country’s only copper smelting and refining company, is investing another P800 million to upgrade its copper refinery in Leyte.

PASAR president Jarier Herrero said the company wants to increase its copper refining capacity by 31,500 metric tons (MT) annually to 200,000 MT from the current rated capacity of 168,500 MT.

"What we will do is to extend the refinery east and west to accommodate the additional refining cells," said Herrero.

The increase in capacity will enable PASAR to match the output between the smelter and the refining plants. Currently, the plant produces excess anode or unrefined copper which has to be sold to the other smelters and refineries due to the lower capacity of the refinery.

The company will begin construction of the additional capacity by the first quarter of 2004 and expects to be fully operational by late 2004 or early 2005.

This will be the second of a series of PASAR’s modernization program for its smelting and refinery inside the 180-hectare Leyte Industrial Development Estate in Isabel, Leyte.

In the last two years, PASAR spent P2 billion to upgrade its facilities and at the same time raise the plant’s capacity by 40 percent to bring it at par with world-class smelting plants.

PASAR is led by the consortium of Glencore International AG of Switzerland which spent P3.2 billion to acquire the government’s interest in PASAR four years ago.

The new shareholders plan to increase the plant’s output to 240,000 MT per year. About 90 percent of its output are exported to China, Korea, and Southeast Asian countries.