Japan Electric Cable Demand Keeps High for Appliances, Low for Constructions

Mr. Masao Yoshida, chairman of Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association (JCMA) and president of Furukawa Electric, gave a market overview at a press meeting on Friday that Japanese domestic shipment of electric wire and cable is likely to represent higher volume for electric machines and appliances through fiscal 2010 ending in March 2011 than JCMA’s forecast. Meanwhile, he said, the shipment for automobile industry may decline in the second half of fiscal 2010. As to cable demand from domestic construction market, Mr. Yoshida said private sectors’ large-size investment or public engineering is unexpected to recover in a short term though the cable shipment may hit the bottom in fiscal 2010.

JCMA announced in March 2010 domestic electric wire and cable makers’ shipment is forecasted to keep almost flat at 661,000 tonnes of copper in fiscal 2010 compared with fiscal 2009. The shipment is estimated to increase by 2.5% to 154,000 tonnes for electric machines and components while by 1.6% to 72,000 tonnes for automobiles. Japanese government will end cash support for eco friendly car buyers at the end of September 2010. This would impact Japanese car makers’ productions and automotive wire harness demand, said Mr. Yoshida.

JCMA forecasts cable shipment for domestic construction market decreases by 1.7% to 269,000 tonnes. Mr. Yoshida described building wire makers should reorganize their operations when Japanese construction market maintains seriously stagnant. He said JCMA seeks supportive measures for JCMA members’ optimizations in finances or taxes.