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Rohm and Haas Company has reported second quarter 2008 sales of $2,567 million, a 17% increase over the same period in 2007, with Electronic Materials and the chemical businesses outside North America delivering strong growth. The Electronic Materials Group comprises two reportable segments which provide materials for use in applications such as telecommunications, consumer electronics and household appliances. Sales for the Electronic Materials Group were $536 million in the second quarter of 2008, up 34% over the same period in 2007, reflecting the impact of acquisitions in Display Technologies as well as solid organic growth of Electronic Technologies. The Electronic Technologies segment is comprised of the company's Semiconductor Technologies, Circuit Board Technologies and Packaging and Finishing Technologies business units. Sales for the segment of $460 million were up 16% versus the second quarter of 2007, driven by strong growth in Asia for all business units. Sales in the second quarter excluding precious metals pass-through sales were up 15%. Semiconductor Technologies sales grew 13%, reflecting strong demand and favorable currencies, particularly in the Asia Pacific Region. Circuit Board Technologies sales increased 20% as compared to the same period last year, with solid growth in the Asia Pacific Region more than offsetting declines in North America. Packaging and Finishing Technologies sales rose 20% versus last year, primarily driven by strong growth in precious metal sales and in process sales. Adjusted pre-tax earnings for this segment of $107 million were up 11% from the second quarter of 2007, reflecting increased demand and favorable currencies, partially offset by higher metal costs and increased costs related to expansion efforts, including the new Asia Technical Center in Taiwan.\n\n\n

Growth in Asia is illustrated from this reporting at multiple levels of business - Opportunities are available for copper in a multitude of applications.

Nexans published its Q3 2009 sales figures and reported revenues of €1.27 billion (US$1.90 billion) compared to €1.69 billion (US$2.53 billion) in Q3 2008, a decline of 25%. At constant metal prices, sales in Q3 2009 amounted to €988 million (US$1.48 billion), which corresponds to a 19% organic decrease. For the nine months ending September 30 the company reported an organic fall in cable business sales of 17%, based on constant metal prices calculations. This compares with a 16% contraction experienced in H1 2009. Nexans said that lower building cable sales in Europe and Asia-Pacific as well as setbacks in the execution of high voltage contracts affected its sales figures. Energy cable revenues in Q3 were down by 13% y-o-y; those of telecom cables plunged by 19% y-o-y. In line with planned cutbacks in production capacity, electrical wire sales in Q3 were down by 35% y-o-y.

Ohio-based supplier of specialty copper alloy products Brush Engineered Materials Inc. reported second quarter results. Q2 2009 sales were US$174.1 million, 29% lower than the same period a year ago but an improvement of 29% from the first quarter this year. Net loss was US$0.8 million versus net income of US$7.2 million in Q2 2008. The Specialty Engineered Alloys segment reported Q2 sales of US$41.2 million, compared to sales of US$83.0 million the same period in 2008. Operating loss for Q2 was US$9.3 million compared to an operating profit of US$4.8 million a year ago. The decline in segment sales was primarily due to the effect of the severe global recession in key markets including telecommunications, computer, automotive electronics, oil and gas, aerospace and heavy equipment. A portion of the decline was due to lower metal prices. The company is foreseeing an improving order book and is expecting to generate a slight profit in Q3 this year with higher sales volume and positive impact from its cost-reduction activities.

Prysmian Cables & Systems said it expects its Chinese sales volumes to increase by 50% by 2010, an increase which has been aided by the opening of the company's fifth production plant in China. The company's sales increased by 16% year-on-year in 2007 and said that further growth opportunities were linked to the development of new infrastructure for energy and communications. Prysmian's new plant will be based in Tianjin and is expected to have an annual capacity of 10,000tpy including special cables for e.g. rail networks, mining and windfarms.

Prysmian S.p.A has announced its sales results for 2008. Sales amounted to Euro 5,144 million, exhibiting a 4.2% y-o-y organic growth. Adjusted EBITDA reached Euro 542 million, with a sales margin of 10.5% compared to 10.3% in 2007. Adjusted net income was Euro 332 million, up by 11% y-o-y. The group achieved strong performance in its utilities business, which grew by 12.1% y-o-y. This is attributed to positive performance of high voltage underground and submarine cables. The trade and installers business contracted by 5% due to the slowdown in the construction industry. Industrial cables exhibited organic growth of 5% mainly because of positive performance in the oil and gas, and renewable energy sectors.

General Cable Corporation has announced its sales results for Q4 2008. In volume terms, sales in Q4 2008 contracted by 6.3% y-o-y. In the same period, operating income decreased by 17.8% y-o-y to US$76.4 million. The company attributed the decline in its operating income to weak demand in developed economies and lower capacity utilisation. Sales to Europe and North Africa contracted by 7.8% y-o-y, particularly due to lower demand and pricing for construction products in Spain, and weakening activity across Europe. In North America sales fell by 6.6% y-o-y, as the company experienced reduced demand for high metal content copper telecommunication and low voltage cables.

Despite a slowdown in the global economy and a softening in demand for aluminium rolled products in some regions, JSE-listed aluminium reroller Hulamin expected global demand to increase this year. CEO Alan Fourie on Tuesday commented that the company, which exported about 70% of its products, had seen some softening in demand for aluminium rolled products in some regions, but added that demand for these products was expected to grow by between 5% and 7% this year. "Obviously the slowdown of the [global] economy puts pressure on margins, it is an economic consequence, but we are still selling into a growing international market," he said. Locally, however, the softening economic climate was expected to impact on sales volumes for the second half of the year. However, Hulamin expected these high-value products to continue growing as a percentage of its sales in the next few years. Fourie noted that five years ago, these products equated to just over 50% of its sales volumes, while their contribution was just below 60% in 2007. They now comprised about 64% of its total sales volumes. Meanwhile, Hulamin stated that its costs had increased by 16%, influenced by a 58% increase in energy costs, increasing alloying costs caused by magnesium prices rising from $2 000/t to $4 500/t, and increases in other metals. Excluding the cost of increasing energy and metals prices, the company's costs had increased by 6%. Fourie noted that while the rising aluminium costs did not affect its profitability, it did have an effect on its working capital. "We hold aluminium in our working capital. So when the aluminium price increases, the cash tied up in working capital increases and we have seen a significant increase in working capital during this period, because the rand price of aluminium has increased by close to 40% in the last six months," he explained. Further, Fourie did not expect the increasing electricity prices to have too great an impact on its futu

Prysmian SpA, the Italian cable maker, has announced consolidated sales results for Q1 2009. Sales amounted to EURO 926 million, a decrease of 11.5% compared with the same period in 2008. Net profit was EURO 91 million, down by 11.1% y-o-y. The company attributed this decline to the economic downturn, already evident in Q4 2008. In response to this, Prysmian is focusing on higher value-added activities and high-tech market segments. The company said that it managed to achieve satisfactory profits supported by the growth of sales in the sectors of high voltage underground and submarine cables along with industrial cables such as those for oil& gas, renewable energy and infrastructure.

Nexans announced sales of EUR1.7B (US$2.4B) in Q3 2011, up 3.9% y-o-y. Sales increased by 6.8% y-o-y in the first three quarters of the year. In the energy sector, the company's sales increased by 2.8% in energy infrastructure, 9.6% in industry, and 7.4% in building. With regards to the telecoms sector, Q3 sales increased by 6.0% in telecom infrastructure and 2.9% in private networks (LAN). The consumption of copper cables especially accelerated in Europe and South America. Wire sales were down by 13.8% due to Nexans' decision to utilise more of the material in their own downstream production, resulting in less material being available for external sales.

Wolverine Tube has announced the sale of its Canadian plumbing tube unit as part of its long-term growth strategy. The sale, worth $42 million, would enable the company to focus "its business and capital on the development and sale of value-added, energy-efficient heat-transfer tubing, fabricated assemblies and metal joining products to market leading customers", the chairman of Wolverine said. Wolverine's debts of over $260 million would be reduced to less than $133 million following the sale, reducing to under $100 million by the end of the year. The company said it's annual revenue would reach around $850 million following the sale and that better economic conditions in 2009 should help to "foster the company's growth".

US speciality brass mill Ansonia Copper and Brass Inc. has announced that it will lay off 85 of the 102 employees at its Liberty Street, Ansonia, factory in Connecticut. The plant manufactures copper alloy rod and wires. Company President Raymond McGee said "it's a very, very difficult situation". He blamed the redundancies, on top of 76 employees laid off in April 2007, on the company's struggle with escalating costs. Since 2002 electricity costs have soared 239%, natural gas 200%, fuel oil 125%, and copper and nickel 500% apiece. Ansonia's other facility in Waterbury, CT, which manufacturers copper alloy tube is unaffected by the announcement.

Further evidence of the impact of the North American economic slowdown on copper demand has recently been published by the ABMS and government statistical bodies. North American copper wirerod production plummeted 9.6% year-on-year to 174,000 tonnes in April. Output had been on a downward trend but the magnitude of the deterioration in April has still come as something of a surprise. A year-on-year increase of 2.0% in North American output January had been followed a 1.0% fall in February and a 2.7% drop in March. In April Canadian output was flat year-on-year due to improving export sales to the US, while US production fell 9.8% year-on-year and Mexican shipments slumped by 17.5%. On a year-to-date basis North American wirerod production was 2.9% lower in the four months to April 2008. Weakening demand from the automotive industry, coupled with a resurgance in copper prices and the return of Russian wirerod imports has clearly led to a deteriorating market situation for domestic mills.

Mueller Industries second quarter results highlight the tough times that the US brass mill industry is facing, but that companies can still operate profitably in a challenging market environment. The company's plumbing and refrigeration segment saw sales fall 11% to US$404m, while its operating profits dropped 32% to US$35m. The company blamed lower shipment volumes and lower spreads for the weaker performance. Sales at the company's OEM division, which includes its brass rod activities, rose 10% year-on-year to US$354m, while its operating profits rose 5% to US$19m. The improvement here is due to acquisition of Extruded Metals. Commenting on the results Harvey Karp, Chairman of Mueller Industries said "Mueller's earnings for the first half of 2008 were achieved despite the continuing decline in the housing industry, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, the turbulence in the financial markets, rising metal costs, sky-high energy prices and a slowing national economy. Considering these adverse circumstances, we are pleased with the results."

But today the scenario is different, with builders getting a mix of mid end and affordable housing into their portfolio. Raminder Grover, CEO-Homebay Residential, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, says the revival in sales has been, conservatively speaking, to the tune of around 25% across the mid-to-high income segments, according to his company's sales records. Rohtas Goel, CMD of Delhi-based Omaxe too says there has been a 30% increase in sales thanks to factors such as a reversal in general economic sentiment after the elections and more options available in affordable housing. Statistics too would appear to bear this out. India's largest real estate developer DLF says it has sold almost 1,500 flats in various cities since April, notably some 400 flats in its mainstay market Gurgaon, 700 in Bangalore, 100 plots in Indore, 200 flats in Hyderabad and 50 in Cochin. Rival Unitech has managed to sell more than 4,000 units in the last two and a half months in the National Capital Region, Chennai and Mumbai. Omaxe has also sold almost 500 apartments in its Omaxe Eternity project in Vrindavan.

Toyota Motor Corporation announced on 5th November a sharp increase in H1 2012 revenues of 36.1% y-o-y compared with the same period in 2011. The increase was largely due to base effects associated with last year's Japanese earthquake and tsunami. As part of the announcement, Toyota revised up their annual profit forecasts to JPY1.05T from JPY1.0T (US$13.29B from US$12.66B). However, Toyota revised down overall expected 2012/13 car sales by 50,000 units. This was driven by downward revisions to Asian and European sales forecasts, 50,000 and 40,000 units, to 1.73M and 790,000 units respectively. North America was a bright spot for Toyota, with expectations for full year North American automobile sales revised up by 20,000 units to 2.4M vehicles.

Furukawa Electric said it plans to double sales to around ¥50 billion ($630.7 million) by 2015 though increasing production and sales in Indonesia. Sales are to increase at local plant TMS which manufactures copper and aluminium wirerod and the company hopes to capture the demand in infrastructure to increase its sales of cables. The company also expects increased demand from the automobile sector which will have a positive impact on wire harness production. In addition, Furukawa Electric said it had made an agreement with SUCACO for technical assistance with aluminium overhead ground wires and high performance electric wires.

Fujikura Dia Cable (FDC), the joint venture of Fujikura and Mitsubishi Cable Industries, announced a 14% year-on-year decline in their building cables shipment for the period April-September 2008. FDC describe the current situation as a difficult one, especially due to weak demand. The manufacturer, facing decreased inventory value due to falling copper prices, has to sell at relatively low prices reducing profit margins. FDC cable shipments fell by 8% in 2007 and the initial target for 2008 was to grow back to the 2006 level. However, this was revised down because of sales results. Overall profitability is also affected by rising prices of insulating and sheathing materials.

Japanese electric wire and cable manufacturer Fujikura Ltd reported consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended 30 June 2009. The company achieved sales of ¥112.93b (US$1.19b) for the first quarter, 28.7% lower than the same period a year ago. Operating income for the first quarter was ¥1.84b (US$19.4m), 50.3% lower than the year-ago level. Net income for the same period was ¥111m (US$1.17m), 94.3% lower than a year ago. The company is expecting to make a net loss of ¥800m (US$8.43m) for the first half ending 30 September 2009.

Nexans, the world's largest cable maker, has announced its sales results for Q1 2009. In the three months to March 31, sales amounted to 1.245 billion euros (US$1.61 billion), down by 28.5% compared with the same period in 2008 at constant metal prices. Net debt at the end of Q1 was reduced to 362 million euros (US$468 million) compared to 536 million euros (US$693 million) at the end of Q4 2008. The company said that in response to the economic crisis, it will accelerate restructuring and cut the workforce by 900. Nexans has restructured its business in Canada while it intends to shut down its Building Cable business in Germany. Further plans may be announced mainly in Europe.

International Wire Group announced results for the second quarter ended 30 June 2009. Net sales for the quarter were US$102.0 million, compared to US$199.9 million for the same period in 2008. The decline was due to a lower copper price and decreased volume. Operating income for the second quarter was US$1.3 million compared to US$10.9 million. The lower income was attributed to lower sales volume in all business segments but was partially offset by operating cost reductions and lower selling and administrative expenses. Net loss was US$0.9 million, compared to net income of US$5.6 million.

Luvata, a major copper semis fabricator, announced that it expects a 10% rise in sales in 2011 on the back of strong Asian demand. The company expects sales of around 335,500t of copper semis this year, in comparison to 305,000t in 2010. In 2010, Luvata achieved sales growth of 19.6% y-o-y. The company believes that copper demand is recovering well, with robust growth in China and South East Asia, where the residential construction, manufacturing and electrical engineering sectors are performing strongly.

Mueller Industries Inc., the US based copper tube and fittings manufacturer, announced its end of year 2011 results, reporting net sales of US$491M in Q4 2011, down from US$527M in Q4 2010. The company attributed US$11M of the diffrence in net sales between Q4 2011 and the previous year period to a decline in the copper price. US$25M of the difference was attributed to lower unit shipment volumes, of which, the plumbing and refrigeration sectors accounted for US$14M. The company is optimistic that new housing starts will continue to rise through 2012, boosting copper tube demand.

Mueller Industries, a leading producer of copper tubes and brass products, reported net sales of $594.1M in Q2 2012. After accounting for changes of metals prices, this represents a decline of 1% y-o-y. The contraction was partially offset by a slightly higher sales volume y-o-y.

Mueller Inc, the US-based manufacturer of plumbing and commercial copper tube, announced on 5th February that its operating revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012 increased by 27.1% y-o-y, to USD16.4M, compared to the same period in 2011. CEO Greg Christopher said that the company is heavily dependent on the housing and commercial construction sector, and after five years of decline and stagnation," the industry finally appears to be gaining positive momentum."