Japanese domestic shipment of electric wire and cable was quickly estimated at 60,700 tonnes of copper in October, increasing by 3% from a year earlier, according to preliminary survey on around 130 electric wire and cable makers belonging to Japan Electric Wire & Cable Makers’ Association, the association announced on Friday. The shipment increased for domestic construction, automobile and electric appliance markets. Total shipment is expected to reach 60,000 tonnes for the first time in eleven months.
The copper wire and cable shipment for domestic construction market and related wholesalers is estimated to exceed 25,000 tonnes in October after six months. The shipment for automobile makers, mainly automotive wiring harness, reached 6,800 tonnes after twelve months in September and is expected to mark 7,000 tonnes in October for the first time since November 2008. The shipment for electric appliances and machines is likely to exceed 15,000 tonnes for the first time in fifteen months. On the contrary, the shipment for domestic power companies represented wide range of year-on-year decrease since the Japan Earthquake except for June. Japanese power companies have shrunk capital expenditure for construction or renewal of their facilities due to fuel cost expansion after stoppage of atomic power plants. The shipment for export was low level at less than 2,000 tonnes per month for seven straight months. The aluminium wire and cable shipment, mainly for domestic and offshore power companies, also represents the same demand trend. As for optical fiber products, actual shipment increased by 15.3% to 3.37 million kilometers of fiber core (kmf) in September from a year earlier, which represented more than 3 million kmf for three months in a row. The shipment for export increased by 28.4% to 2.65 million kmf and reached 2 million kmf for four straight months. Shipment for domestic market decreased by 16.2% to 721,000 kmf and represented year-on-year decrease for three months in a row.
