Japan Plastic Covered Cu Tube Price Rises in Dealers’ Market

Japanese distributors try to increase reselling price of plastic covered copper tube used for refrigerant pipe of air conditioner. Their price hike is 10-15% in and after July when major air conditioner system parts dealer, Inaba Denki Sangyo increased the price effective on August 1. A dealer said the price hike is accepted by the market while the increasing pace is gradually.

They failed to be accepted such price hike in October 2009 when some dealers try to increase the sales volume along with slow market. However, copper ingot cost increased after that. Japanese official copper ingot price hit 779,000 yen per tonne in April while the price was 619,000 yen in October 2009. The dealers decided to increase the price when they cannot cover the higher cost only by the own effort.

The copper tube demand, which is mainly for air conditioner both at home and building, is estimated at around 16,000-18,000 tonnes per year in recent years. The demand is improving from a year earlier level supporting the price increase move. The demand for air conditioner is expected to increase more for office and plant applications while the home air conditioner demand is strong under hot summer.