According to the summary of the plan for metal production Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. released on April 1, the Company's production volume of ferro-nickel (in pure Ni equivalent) planned for the fiscal year 2015 (April 2015 - March 2016) is 20,000 tons (10,000 tons in the former half and 10,000 tons in the latter half). When compared with the planned volume for the prior fiscal year (21,400 tons), this represents a decrease of 6.5%. Out of 2 lines of the kiln the Company has at its Huga smelting plant, one kiln is scheduled to have a repair work for 10 days during April and for 20 days during September to October and another kiln for 20 days in 2016.

Besides, the production volume (in pure Ni equivalent) of electrolytic nickel planned for FY2015 is 63,800 tons (31,700 tons in the former half and 32,100 tons in the latter half), which represents an increase of 10.6% versus the prior year (57,700 tons). Increased electrolytic nickel production from the prior year is planned as aforementioned because the shipment of raw materials from Taganito (Philippines) is supposed to increase.

• [Editor:Juan]