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Fushi Copperweld Inc., a leading manufacturer of copper-clad wire, was granted approval by the Commercial Court of Liege in Belgium to lease a 45,000 square-meter copper tube manufacturing and distribution facility, which would serve as an operational hub for the company in Europe. The plant will produce 5,000-6,000t/y of copper tube and plans are being considered to develop a copper-clad wire production line. During the lease period, Fushi Copperweld will have the option purchase all of the assets for EUR5.8M (US$7.8M).

There have been reports that the Jinchuan Group Ltd. has invested in modernising its 60,000t/y high-precision copper tube production line. The company introduced a 55MN double-action extruder and a 35MN indirect extruder. Similar to many other Chinese copper semis fabricators, Jinchuan is focusing on increasing its output of more technologically advanced products which have greater value added.

According to the China Nonferrous Industry Association (CNIA), China's copper fabricating capacity will increase from 12Mt/y today to 16Mt/y in 2015. In 2010, China's fabricating capacity was 12Mt and output was 10Mt. By 2015, CNIA forecasts an additional copper fabricating capacity of 1.5Mt of copper wire, 1.2Mt of copper plate and 450,000t of copper tube.

The US-based Copper and Brass Servicenter Association, a trade group representing primarily North American brass mills, reported that shipments of brass mills products amounted to 19.68Mlb (8,927t) in September, a decline of 14.9% from August and an annual decline of 8.1%. Shipments of copper sheet fell by 21.7% m-o-m or 961,000lb to 3.45Mlb (436t to 1,565t) and copper rod declined by 14.4% m-o-m or 807,000lb to 4.77Mlb (366t to 2,164t). Shipments of brass sheet and alloy tube also registered declines in September compared to the previous month, 6.9% m-o-m and 37.4% m-o-m respectively. The survey reported that half of participants expected orders to fall in the coming quarter compared to the previous quarter. When asked about lead times, half of the suppliers surveyed reported that their lead times had shortened in September compared to the previous three months.

Luvata, the UK-based manufacturer of copper semis, expects demand for its products in the US and China to expand by 5% in 2013, according to Chief Executive John Peter Leesi. In an interview with Bloomberg, the Chief Executive said that residential and commercial construction is very important to Luvata and that an improvement in these sectors in the US was boosting demand. Luvata also expects a pickup in demand for copper tube as the air conditioner sector in China expands in 2013, after a poor year in 2012. On Europe, Luvata expects "flat-to-small growth" in demand in 2013.

According to preliminary data from the Japan Brass and Copper Association, Japanese output of rolled copper and alloy products fell 5.3% y-o-y in January, to 60,117t. However, this represents a 4.7% m-o-m increase from the 42-month low figure recorded in December. Copper and alloy tube production, as well as alloy RBS output, have seen the greatest declines in recent years.

According to preliminary data from the Japan Copper and Brass Association, output of copper semis products from Japanese mills declined 4.8% y-o-y in February, to 60,949t. The output of alloy tubes and copper wires declined at the fastest rate in February, falling 38% y-o-y and 20% y-o-y respectively. However, the output of copper flat-rolled products bucked the trend with copper sheet output increasing by 23% y-o-y to 1,468t.

Brazilian copper and alloy semis manufacturer Termomecanica is planning to invest BRL300M (US$143M) in several new products and production facilities. The plans will see the company develop a new line of tube and rolled products, as well as new brass rebar production facilities in Chile and Argentina. The company said that its current production capacity is 140,000 t/y, and that they are producing about 90,000 tpy, stating that they believe in the expansion of the domestic market and an in increase exports. Termomecanica's industrial facilities include two sites in the city of São Bernardo in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, two distribution centres in São Bernardo and Joinvile. The new expansion will add an additional 7% of capacity to the company's operations.

Japan's domestic shipments of residential air conditioners rose 12 percent in March from a year earlier to 678,736 units, the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association said.

Wieland-Werke AG, the German fabricator of brass mill products, reported sales of 475,000t, down by 0.4% y-o-y in financial year 2010/2011. Turnover increased by 24% y-o-y to reach €3,287M and profits also rose to €45M in 2010/2011 after a loss of €6M in the previous year. The rise in turnover was mainly attributed to rising metals prices, while the company said that the increase in profits was caused by a product mix composed of a larger amount of value-added products. Wieland noted strong demand in the first six months of the period, which was offset by the Euro debt-crisis as a driver of significantly weaker demand in Europe during the latter half of the fiscal year. In addition, the company saw a fall in demand in Asia from Spring 2011 and continued very low demand in North America. End-use consumer demand was weak and impacted the electronics and electrical engineering sectors as well as vehicle production. Mechanical engineering was considered to be a bright spot in fiscal year 2010/2011.

Wieland-Werke AG, the German fabricator of brass mill products, stated that demand in 2012 began weakly. After January, orders rose only slightly, but demand from important markets in Asia and Europe declined, principally attributed to cautious buying as fears remained over the impact of the course of the euro debt crisis in 2012. In addition, the company is experiencing reduced demand from the electronics industry in Asia following the closure of several plants affected by the tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand. Wieland has also not seen any growth support from North America and is uncertain about the global outlook for demand in 2012 due to the unpredictability of the euro debt crisis.

Zhejiang Honglei Copper, a Shenzhen listed Chinese copper tube and wire manufacturer, expects to commission a new 30,000t/y special enamelled wire production line on 31 December 2012. Total investment is anticipated to reach RMB175M.

Zhejiang Honglei Copper, a Shenzhen-listed Chinese copper tube and wire manufacturer, announced that its RMB163M, 150,000t/y copper-alloy rolled products project has entered a testing phase. The facility uses continuous casting and rolling process equipment from Germany.

Haier Group Corp., a leading Chinese appliance manufacturer, has expressed an interest in acquiring Fisher & Paykel Appliances, a smaller New Zealand-based appliance maker. Haier already owns a 20% shareholding of the New Zealand company and has exclusive rights to sell its product range in China. F&P also sells Haier's products in the Australia, New Zealand and more recently in the Irish markets.

The Japan Copper and Brass Association released an estimate of the total domestic fabrication of copper and copper alloy products in November, which showed that production fell by 10.4% y-o-y to 65,940t. Copper strip production amounted to 18,240t, down by 18% in November and has experienced year-on-year declines for twelve consecutive months. The segment was negatively impacted by weak demand from the semiconductor and electronic industries since autumn 2011. Conversely, brass strip output rose by 3.3% y-o-y to reach 9,895t in November supported by a rebounding automotive sector. Copper tube output in November amounted to 9,895t, down by 20% y-o-y, due to base year effects caused by a rise in production after the hot summer in 2010 (the November level is higher than the same month of 2009). Brass bar output contracted by 5.3% y-o-y in November to reach 14,993t attributed to weak end-use demand from the Japanese construction and electrical sectors, especially in the latter half of this year.

Nexans, a leading global cablemaking company, has been awarded a contract to design, manufacture and supply Chevron U.S.A with 42km of power umbilicals and terminations for the Jack and St. Malo oil fields in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the conductor which delivers a high voltage power supply, the power umbilical, which was pioneered by Nexans, includes a number of steel tubes, fibre optic elements and signal cables for control and monitoring purposes. By eliminating the need to transport and install separate power and control lines, the power umbilical significantly reduces transportation and installation costs.