Japan Electric Cable Shipment Levels Off at 50,000-60,000T/M

Japanese domestic shipment of electric wire and cable was quickly estimated at 56,600 tonnes of copper in January, plus by 4.9% year-to-year, according to a survey on approximately 130 makers those who belong to Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association. The figure maintains year-to-year plus but the plus range has narrowed to below 5% since July 2010. The volume recovery is very slow.

Quickly estimated shipment hit the third lowest as January in 35 years, following January 2009 and January 2010. The shipment was averagely above 70,000 tonnes per month before world economic deterioration while levels off at around 50,000-60,000 tonnes per month in recent one and a half years.

The main factor is that the shipment for domestic construction market and related wholesalers hovers at around 20,000-25,000 tonnes per month. The shipment was quickly estimated to represent year-to-year plus for 6 straight months while the volume levels off with slow shipment of thick size building and utility cables along decrease of large-size capital expenditure activities.

Copper wire and cable shipment for automobiles, mainly automotive wiring harness, would represent year-to-year minus for 4 months in a row. The demand declined after cease of Japanese government’s incentive for eco friendly cars.

As to optical fiber products, the actual shipment decreased by 2.5% to 2.67 million kilometers of fiber core (kmf) in December from a year earlier. The export decreased by 18% to 1.76 million kmf, year-to-year minus for 7 straight months and below 2 million kmf for 3 months in a row. It is said that local production of optical fiber products is recently increasing at overseas. Strong yen trend also seems to impact the export.