Sumitomo to close factory

Sumitomo to close factory

TOKYO (DPA): Japan's Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. said Thursday it will withdraw from making electronic parts in the Philippines because dwindling demand has made the operation unprofitable.

The steel-maker that has diversified into the field of electronic parts said the production line at the Philippine factory for manufacturing plastic package for MPUs (microprocessing units) was halted Oct. 15.

Sumitomo Metal Electronics Devices Incorporation, a subsidiary of the company, set up the factory in Batangas Province, south of Manila, in June last year.

The factory, with some 200 employees, had the capacity of making one million units a month.