Furukawa Electric Doubles Optical Cable in Russia and German

Furukawa Electric will double output capacity of an optical cable plant in Voronezh, Russia and start the operation of expanded equipment this autumn. The firm will also double output capacity of another optical cable plant in Augsburg, Germany within fiscal 2007-2008 ending March 2009. Furukawa Electric invests US$ 4 million for Voronezh during fiscal 2007 and US$ 8 million for Augsburg for fiscal 2007-2008.Optical cable plants in Voronezh and Augsburg are subsidiaries of OFS, Furukawa Electric’s 100% subsidiary headed in Georgia, USA to produce optical network products. In Russia optical core networks are actively constructed and in Europe fiber-to-the-home demand is increasing. Furukawa Electric estimates the world optical fiber and cable market would be approximately 80 million kilometers of fiber in fiscal 2007 and 90 million kilometers of fiber in fiscal 2009. Even higher growth is expected in Europe and Russia toward fiscal 2009.Furukawa Electric posted consolidated net sales of 103.6 billion yen and operating income of 5.6 billion yen for its optical fiber cable business in fiscal 2006. The firm could regain operating income for the business after 5 fiscal years thanks to the profit recovery at OFS and the favorable demand in Japan and at overseas. OFS posted net sales of 39.7 billion yen and 300 million yen of operating income in fiscal 2006. Furukawa Electric plans capital expenditure of 2 billion yen for OFS in fiscal 2007.