Japan Electric Wire and Cable Shipment Increases by 2.6% in 2005

Japanese shipment of electric wire and cable increased by 2.6% to 856,318 tonnes in copper volume in 2005 from 2004, according to the statistics by the Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association. The shipment of optical fiber products increased by 17% to 18.392 million kilometers in fiber, exceeding the previous year’s result for the first time in these 4 years.The shipment of electric wire and cable increased by 4.3% to 387,661 tonnes in copper for construction and wholesalers in 2005 from 2004 with the active demand for large domestic plants newly constructed by Japanese major electric appliance makers. The shipment increased by 1.3% to 70,156 tonnes in copper for electric power companies when Japanese power companies increased their capital investments in 2005.On the other hand, the shipment decreased by 0.7% to 204,196 tonnes in copper for electric machine and appliances as the rebound of the digital appliance boom in 2004. In detail, the shipment of winding wire increased by 0.3% to 159,117 tonnes in copper in 2005 from 2004 and that of wire and cable for appliance decreased by 0.5% to 56,134 tonnes in copper.The shipment of optical fiber products turned into recover since spring 2005 with the firm demand for Fiber-to-the-Home and local area networks (LAN) in buildings. The annual shipment might reach 20 million kilometers in fiber if the shipment keeps the level in June-December 2005.