Furukawa Electric Raises Capacity for Triple Insulated Wire and Ultra-Thin Stainless Wire

Furukawa Electric is expanding production capacities for its original triple insulated wire, named TEX, as well as for ultra-thin stainless steel wire used along the steady demand. The firm installed the second line for TEX in addition to an line at its magnet wire making subsidiary in Malaysia, FE Magnet Wire (Malaysia) and started the operation of No.2 line in March 2011. As for ultra-thin stainless steel wire, Japanese magnet wire subsidiary, Furukawa Magnet Wire has progressed capacity expansion at Kosudo factory in Niigata, Japan.

TEX is a kind of magnet wire, which is equipped with a three-fold insulation around the conductor. TEX is widely adopted to small transformers inside battery chargers for mobile devices and AC adopters for PCs. Furukawa Magnet Wire’s Mie plant in Japan and FE Magnet Wire (Malaysia) has productive lines for TEX at present.

Furukawa Electric has succeeded in steady order receipts for TEX since fiscal 2010 (April 2010-March 2011). The firm decided installment of another productive line in Malaysia to meet the strong demand from the customers mainly in China and Taiwan while to hedge supply trouble in disasters by diversification of productive sites.

Ultra-thin stainless steel wire is used for metal mesh of screen printing. The demand has increased. Furukawa Magnet Wire has increased wire drawing machines and annealing machines step by step at Kosudo factory since April 2010. The firm eyes additional facility installment in fiscal 2011 and targets double sales and profits of the product from the present.

Furukawa Electric’s magnet wire business, including enamel wire, TEX, stainless steel wire and other related products, posted full-year consolidated net sales at above 30 billion yen in fiscal 2010. The full-year profit was 100-200 million yen due to domestic plant optimization in the first six months. The firm projects to expand the profit by more than ten times in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010.