The stock of Cobra Wire and Cable Inc. has been acquired by Electrical Group, EIS, Inc., a subsidiary of the Genuine Parts Company. Pennsylvania-based Cobra is a wire and cable distributor to the telecom, battery and uninterruptable power supply, and marine sectors. The company is expected to generate a turnover of around US$43M/y.

Luvata has completed the sale of its rolled products division to Aurubis. Luvata will now focus its growth strategy on emerging markets and highly engineered products.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) is facing community opposition to a planned copper rod facility in New Haven, Ind., that could delay the start of full construction at the greenfield site. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Office of Air Quality will hold a public meeting on 15th September about the plant, a joint venture with La Farga Group, after receiving almost 80 public comments from residents with environmental concerns.

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.

According to the Japan Copper and Brass Association, total production of copper and copper alloy semis fell by 4.1% y-o-y to 72,770t in July. Output also contracted by 0.5% m-o-m in July, a second consecutive monthly decline. The fall is attributed in large part to the struggling automotive sector, which has been strongly impacted by the 11th March disaster.

Production for domestic shipments contracted by 6.6% y-o-y to reach 51,112t, whilst output for export markets fell more rapidly in January, reaching 8,898t after a 23.1% y-o-y decline (this however, was narrower than the December drop in exports of 30.7% y-o-y). Copper strip still represented the most heavily produced brass mill semi-fabricated product (27.7% of overall production in gross weight) but output decreased by 11.3% y-o-y, amounting to 16,600t in January. This was principally attributed to weak interconnector demand, the impact of the flooding in Thailand and the highly appreciated yen affecting the export market. Copper tube output decreased by 14.5% y-o-y to 9,750t in January, on weak demand from air conditioner manufacturers caused by bad weather and a slow world economy. Brass bar production fell by 7.7% y-o-y but rose by 900t since December to reach 14,206t in January. The change was attributed to improving demand from the domestic automotive and plumbing sectors.

Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. announced plans to integrate three subsidiaries related to electrical power parts by April 2013. The subsidiaries it is considering are the Asahi Electric Works Co., Ltd. engaging in power transmission, Inoue Manufacturing Co., Ltd. producing underground power lines and Furukawa Power Components Inc. which produces overhead distribution lines. The merger will form a comprehensive parts manufacturer encompassing the entire electrical supply network ranging from power plants to consumers. In the future, it plans to mobilize technology and management resources to strengthen overseas deployment as well as research and development for new energies. Following the integration, it aims to increase sales from about ¥17 billion in total in 2010 to ¥30 billion by 2016.

The General Administration of Customs reported that imports of copper scrap to China increased by 14% y-o-y and 3% m-o-m to 432,320t in July 2011, the highest level recorded in 2011. The increase has been attributed to importers' expectations of increasing copper prices in the future as well as lower price fluctuations in copper scrap compared to refined copper observed in June and July.

The Japan Copper and Brass Association reported that output of rolled copper fell by 4.1% y-o-y in July to 71,978t. This signifies a second consecutive y-o-y decline in output. The drop has been attributed to lagging demand from the automotive and chip sectors. Nonetheless, rolled copper output increased by 2.8% m-o-m.

Anhui Jingcheng Copper Share Co. Ltd. announced on 23rd August that the commissioning of its 30,000t/y high precision copper strip project will be suspended until 31st December 2011. The project was originally intended as a high precision copper alloy operation with a production capacity of 20,000t/y, but in May 2009 plans were revised to develop a 30,000t/y high precision copper strip project at an investment cost of RMB495M.

The first stage of Tianjin Huaruide Copper Semis Company's environmentally friendly copper rod production project has come on stream. A highly efficient continuous casting line has been installed as means of minimising pollution generated by the plant. The 20,000m2 facility is located in Wuging, Tianjin City, and required an investment of RMB50M. Stage two of the project is currently under construction.

Hellenic Cables S.A. announced the acquisition of Fulgor S.A. through a 100% share purchase. Fulgor S.A. is a producer of cables, conductors and bare copper and aluminium wire rod, with significant experience in producing value added products such as high voltage and submarine cables. Fulgor S.A.'s Soussaki Corinth plant has a production capacity of 50,000t/y of cables and conductors and 45,000t/y of copper and aluminium wire rod. Hellenic Cables believes that the acquisition will strengthen its export orientation and enrich its product portfolio.

Industry insiders have revealed that the first stage of Tianjin North China Cable Company's 220,000t/y copper rod project is currently undergoing trial production. The second stage of the project will entail the installation of an Italian CCR production line which will add a further 100,000t/y of production capacity. In addition, the second stage will also involve the installation of a new wiredrawing production line and a production line of electrolytic copper. The total investment required for the realisation of the project is estimated at around US$156M.

Kitz Metal Works, a brass bar maker and subsidiary of the Kitz group, announced plans to add a continuous casting line at its Chino plant in Japan. The US$2.6M development will add a further 18,000t-19,200t to the company's annual billet production capacity. Construction work is set to begin this month and the plant is expected to be commissioned by the end of the year. The company expects that the lower production cost of the new casting line will allow for the investment cost to be recovered within five years.

Daye Nonferrous Metals Co. announced the commissioning of its copper fabrication project on 4th August 2011. The development of the project required an investment of RMB2.1B and is set to reach a production capacity of 300,000t/y.

China Customs announced that exports of copper semis fell by 1.3% y-o-y to 259,470t in H1 2011. Exports of copper wirerod and profile were down by 14.8% y-o-y to 3,900t in the same period. The fall in exports is considered to be the result of weak demand from Europe and the US as well as Chinese producers' shift to higher added value copper semis.

The China Electronic Appliances Service and Maintenance Association reported that sales of air conditioners increased by 60.7% y-o-y to 40M units in H1 2011. Copper constitutes over 26% of the manufacturing cost of air conditioners.

Paranapanema, a Brazilian metal semis producer, began developing its US$47M seamless copper tube plant in the state of Sao Paulo on 27th July. Construction of the plant is expected to be completed by June 2012. The new plant will increase the company's production capacity to 36,000t/y from the current 18,000t/y.

According to data released by the Japan Copper and Brass Association, Japan's rolled copper output amounted to 70,019t in June, a drop of 3.2% m-o-m and 4.2% y-o-y. Despite strong support from the air conditioner sector, demand was hampered by the struggling chip and automotive sectors.

The State Grid Energy Research Institute reported that during the 12th Five Year Period, copper consumption is expected to reach between 23 and 25.5Mt as part of the RMB2.5T investment into power transmission.

On 19th July, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association announced that copper wire and cable shipments increased by 2.4% y-o-y to 58,000t in June 2011. Nevertheless, the shipments remain the third-lowest in 35 years for the June.