Japanese domestic shipment of electric wire and cable decreased by 1.2% to 56,000 tonnes of copper in January from a year earlier, according to preliminary survey on around 130 electric wire and cable makers belonging to Japan Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association, the Association announced on Monday. The estimated volume is the third low as January following January 2009 and January 2010 in past 35 years. The actual shipment of optical fiber products kept above 3 million kilometers of fiber core (kmf) for 6 straight months until December.
The copper wire and cable shipment for domestic power companies is estimated to hit the lowest volume as January in past 35 years, those which are used for power transmission and distribution networks. The shipment for electric machines and appliances would hit the second low volume as January in past 35 years, those which are applied to home appliances, heavy electric machines, electronic appliances and automotive electric devices. The actual shipment of optical fiber products increased by 35.1% to 2.378 million kmf for export in December from a year earlier. The export kept year-to-year plus for 6 months in a row despite of historically strong yen trend. The shipment for domestic market represented year-to-year minus for 6 straight months.