Japan Copper Electric Wire Demand to Grow by 1.1%/year through F2011

Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association announced on Wednesday Japanese copper electric wire shipment by 136 members will grow by averaged 1.1% per year through 2011. The association expects the shipment reaches 919,000 tonnes in copper weight in fiscal 2011, which is 5.5% higher than fiscal 2006. The association forecasts the shipment of optical fiber cable will increase by averaged 1.5% per year and reaches 11.76 million kilometers core in fiber length in the 5 years. The association expects the copper electric wire demand increases except for communication area in fiscal 2007-2011. The growth rate is annual 4.2% for export and 2.3% for power generation when the export increases for Middle East and Japanese power generators expand the investment in fiscal 2007 and 2008. The demand for construction, which represents 45% of total demand, increases by annual 1% in the 5 years. The copper electric wire demand increases by annual 0.7% for electronic machinery during the 5 years while the demand decreases for electronics devices and appliances due to offshore shift by the users. The demand for automobile increases by 0.5% during the period when the association expects the wire consumption per 1,000 units of vehicle increases from 7.7 tonnes in fiscal 2006 to 8.13 tonnes in fiscal 2011.