Hitachi Cable to Increase Copper Products Output in 2H

Hitachi Cable announced on Wednesday the firm planned to increase the output of copper fabricated products by 4% to 8,200 tonnes per month in the second half of fiscal 2006 ending March 2007 from the same period of fiscal 2005. The firm plans to increase production volume by around 10% for copper strip and rolled copper products for electrical usages with expectation the demand would increase thanks to market recovery of digital appliances and steady capital investment by domestic private sectors. The firm estimates the total output average through fiscal 2006 would become to 7,997 tonnes per month, increasing by 3% from fiscal 2005.Hitachi Cable plans to increase copper strip production by 10% to 4,400 tonnes per month in 2H of fiscal 2006 from the same period of fiscal 2005. The demand is recovering for lead frame to package silicon integrated circuit chip, connector for consumer appliances and heat sink, while the demand was low in 2H of fiscal 2005.The production would increase by 7% to 1,300 tonnes per month for copper fabricated products for electrical usages in 2H of fiscal 2006 from the same period of fiscal 2005 thanks to steady demand for capital investment related fields. In addition Hitachi Cable will expand output capacity of copper backing plate in February 2007, which is used for productive machines for liquid crystal panels.Hitachi Cable plans to reduce copper tube output by 6% to 2,500 tonnes per month in 2H of fiscal 2006 from the same period of fiscal 2005. Domestic copper tube market has shrunk due to more out-in production of air conditioner, the main application to use copper tube. As to the export, the firm would be suffered from much payment for risk hedging for foreign exchange rate of yen. The firm will reduce the output then.