Japan Steel Wire Rope Shipment Rises by 13% in F2007

Japanese steel wire rope shipment increased by 13% to 94,587 tonnes in fiscal 2007 ended March 2008 from fiscal 2006, which increased for 2 years in a row, according to Japan Steel Wire Rope Manufacturers Association. The import rate decreased by 3.5 percentage points to 25.1% in the domestic market. Japanese wire rope shipment increased by 15% to 82,142 tonnes for domestic market in fiscal 2007 from fiscal 2006 while the export increased by 2.1% to 12,445 tonnes. The domestic demand was firm for elevator and crane, construction machinery while the export hit 10-year high. The wire rope import decreased by 4.1% to 27,470 tonnes in fiscal 2007 from fiscal 2006, which decreased for the first time in 8 years despite of the high level. The import rate in the domestic market decreased due to higher domestic shipment. The machinery application represented 28.2% of the domestic shipment in fiscal 2007, which increased by 2.8 points from fiscal 2006 and exceeded construction application for the first time ever. The construction application represented 25.5%, down by 4.1 points. The weight decreased by 1.1 point to 7.9% for steel and by 2.0 points to 6.3% for fishery while the weight increased by 0.1 point to 3.8% for shipping and by 5.0 points to 21.2% for distributors and was flat at 3.2% for shipbuilding.