Japan Electric Wire and Cable Shipment Increases in August

Electric wire and cable shipment increased by 4.8% to 71,000 tonnes of copper in August from a year ago from 139 Japanese electric wire and cable makers which belong to Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association, announced the Association on Thursday. The shipment for wholesalers and electric contractors decreased for 3 straight months from a year earlier, which represents around 45% of the total shipment, while the shipment for the other usage fields increased and covered the decrease. The shipment of optical fiber products increased by 61% to 2.53 million kilometers core in August from a year ago.The shipment for wholesalers and electric contractors maintains slow since June-July when copper price stays high and the unit price of electric cable became much expensive in spot trading. The statistics by Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association seemed to reflect the market condition and the shipment growth became slower since June. On the other hand, the shipment volume sustained the high level at over 30,000 tonnes, when the industrial cable shipment is brisk for large electric contractors used for large sized plants or buildings thanks to active investment by private sectors.The shipment of optical fiber products exceeded 2 million kilometers core for 5 months in a row when the demand is firm for expansion of optical network to household.