Cu Cable Shipment Gradually Recovers for Cars and Appliances, Japan

Japanese domestic shipment of electric wire and cable was quickly estimated at 57,800 tonnes of copper in September, minus by 17.4% from a year earlier, announced Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association on Friday. The shipment continued to represent year-to-year minus for all demand fields except for domestic power companies. Meanwhile, actual shipment of optical fiber products increased by 14.4% to 2.94 million kilometers of fiber core (kmf) in August from a year earlier. The export maintained steady.

Copper cable shipment for domestic power companies represented year-to-year plus for July-September. The companies keep stable investment to build new power transmission facilities or renew old power distribution facilities. Aluminium wire shipment also keeps the high level.

Copper cable shipment for automobiles recovered to the level almost as high as 7,040 tonnes in November 2008, though which maintained year-to-year minus in September. The shipment for electric appliances reached 13,000 tonnes for the first time since November 2008. The demand has recovered along output recovery at automakers and electric appliance makers.

On the other hand, copper cable shipment for domestic construction market and related wholesalers kept 20% year-to-year declining. The monthly averaged shipment is unlikely to recover the recent peak at 30,000 tonnes in 2007 due to stagnant investment by domestic manufacturing industry and housing market as well as the shrinkage trend of public civil engineering.

The actual shipment of optical fiber products increased by 23.8% to 2.33 million kmf for export while decreased by 11.2% to 610,000 kmf for domestic market in August from a year earlier. The export maintains strong, especially for China.