UPDATE 1-S'tomo Metal to start Taganito output in 2013

* Taganito plant to run for 30 years

* Firm's total annual nickel output to reach 100,000T in 2013

TOKYO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd (5713.T), a copper and nickel producer, said it would start commercial production of nickel at its Taganito plant in the Philippines in August 2013, a year later than planned.

The company had initially expected to start operations at the 30,000 tonne-a-year nickel plant in 2012.

Sumitomo Metal, Japan's top nickel producer, said in a news release that the project will run for 30 years.

The company's strength lies in its success with high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) technology, which uses low-grade laterite ores to produce nickel.

Previously laterite ores were usually abandoned.

Sumitomo Metal aims to achieve total nickel output of 100,000 tonnes in 2013, up from 65,000 tonnes currently.

Apart from Taganito, Sumitomo Metal produces 22,000 tonnes of nickel annually using HPAL technology at its Coral Bay plant, also in the Philippines. (Reporting by Yuko Inoue, Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Joseph Radford)