It was reported that Chinalco Luoyang Copper will soon complete its 100ktpy copper strip and plate project, which commenced in July 2007. Investment amounted to 2.3B yuan and it is expected that when commissioned it will realise 5.6B yuan of annual sales income. The company was founded in 1954 and has annual capacity of 120kt of non ferrous metals products and 50kt of refined copper.

Italian cable maker Prysmian announced financial results for FY2010. The company said that sales revenues amounted to €4.6B, an organic increase of 3.2% from the previous year. The second half of the year saw an upturn, exhibiting organic growth of 9.7% y-o-y. However, adjusted net profit fell to €173M in FY2010 from €206M a year ago. It was commented that 2010 was characterised by first signs of recovery, with the upturn having started in Q2 and then being confirmed during the year. Prysmian stressed that their strong balance sheet allows them to proceed with the Draka integration.

Antaike reported that sales income from the 'traded in' home appliances policy reached 150B yuan by the end of 2nd March 2011. In addition, volume of new and old appliances amounted to 40M and 41M sets respectively. Appliances included in the policy are TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers. The scheme has triggered a considerable consumption volume of copper semis, such as copper commercial tube used in the manufacturing of refrigerators and air conditioners.

Hong Kong Haojidi International Group established Huameida Copper Co., Ltd. in Liaoning Province, China, the investment of which amounted to US$100M. Huameida Copper will engage in the manufacturing of copper semis. According to plans, the company will have capacity of 100ktpy of copper wirerod and 1.2ktpy of solar battery copper wire. It was commented that when the project is commissioned, it will be the largest copper wirerod project in the three north eastern provinces of China (Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang).

Egypt's cable maker El Sewedy will delay the construction of a cable plant in Libya due to the unrest in the North African country. The company had signed an agreement in 2007 with the General Electricity Co. of Libya and the Libyan Economic Development Fund to build the plant in Tripoli, owning 55% of the venture. Investment would amount to US$65M and annual capacity would be 13,600t of cable.

Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) announced that it will build automotive wiring harness plants in Cambodia and the Philippines to reduce the risks of production concentration in China. SEI said that a labour shortage and wage hikes are occurring in China. It was also reported that Brazil is important to SEI because it is "friendly to Japan and rich in natural resources." The company aims to increase the proportion of overseas sales to 50% in FY2011, up from 40% in FY2009. With a view to expanding overseas operations Sumitomo will promote competent employees to executive posts regardless of nationality.

It was reported that the copper industry faces ongoing disruptions due to the devastating earthquake in Japan. Mitsui Mining & Smelting said that there are still plant suspensions at several sites in Saitama, Fukushima and Aomori Prefectures. Electrolytic copper foil production in Ageo, Saitama, has been suspended since 11th March. In addition, Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) said that Daikoku Electric Wire's sites in Tochigi and Iwate Prefectures continue to be impacted. Daikoku Electric is a subsidiary of SEI and engages in the production of magnet wire.

According to the Brazilian electric conductor and non-ferrous metals association Sindicel, Brazil's copper products' trade deficit soared by 135% to US$375M in 2010. It was reported that imports reached US$944M, up by 55.7% from the previous year. Exports rose by 27.5% to US$570M in 2010. Sindicel added that copper products trade has seen consecutive deficits since 2008. The association anticipates that import growth will outperform export growth in the current year, partly due to the depreciation of the US dollar against the Brazilian real.

General Cable said that operating income in Q4 2010 increased by 50% to US$63.2M from US$42.1M in the previous quarter. The company said that Q4 was the third consecutive quarter of sequential volume improvement, particularly due to better than expected demand across Europe and strong demand for transmission products in the US and Brazil. It was commented that sales volume of transmission products in the US reached an all-time quarterly high in Q4. It is anticipated that General Cable will see sales volume grow by 2% q-o-q in Q1 2011supported by strong demand in North America and elsewhere.

The Japan Copper and Brass Association said that rolled copper products output declined for the first time in 15 months in January from a year earlier. It was commented that demand from the electronics sector, such as semiconductor and TV set makers, was weak, however, a gradual recovery is expected. Output contracted by 1.3% y-o-y to 70,339t in January 2011 but was up by 1.4% from December 2010. It is anticipated that output will recover in March, even though the speed of improvement is slower than expected.

Jianxin Copper announced that it produced 34,500t of copper wirerod and 3,216t of copper ingot in 2010, realising 2.2bl yuan sales income. The company plans to increase output to 60,000t in 2011 and achieve 3.0bl yuan sales income. Jianxin Copper, which is located in Yujiang County, Jiangxi Province, China, commenced production in April 2009. Total investment amounted to 180ml yuan.

Elektrokoppar said that payment terms with end-users need to be shortened due to record high copper prices. The Swedish copper wirerod producer commented that fabricators cannot act as bankers and have to shorten payment terms by nearly 50% compared to last year. The company decided to reduce production of copper wirerod by 20% from 2010 in order to cut the stock level needed to be financed. The main wirerod mill operations have gone down from four shifts to three. At the current copper price levels, Elektrokoppar decided to cover the north European market than selling to other markets with high freight rates and high financing costs.

The Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association said that copper wire and cable shipments increased by 4.9% y-o-y to 56,600t in January 2011. The association commented that although deliveries to the automotive sector were weak, those to the electric machinery sector were steady. In addition, shipments to the construction industry were steady too as they have hit the bottom. Shipments in January 2011 were the third lowest in the last 35 years after 2010 and 2009.

Paranapanema announced that it approved a capacity expansion and technology modernisation plan, supported by a positive macroeconomic outlook and favourable price trends for its products. The market will be boosted by Brazil's anticipated economic growth, and in particular by infrastructure, civil construction, electricity and green power projects. In addition, the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games will provide further support. Paranapanema will increase its refined copper capacity at its Dias D'Avila unit from 230,000tpy to 280,000tpy in H1 2012. The company will also install a precious metal refining plant at the same unit, scheduled to be operational in H2 2012. Paranapanema's copper semis division, Eluma, will expand its cold rolling capacity from 28,000tpy to 55,000tpy. Furthermore, hot rolled products capacity will rise from 60,000tpy to 200,000tpy whilst tube capacity from 18,000tpy to 36,000tpy. Investment of the entire plan for 2011-13 will amount to 630 million reais (US$377 million).

German wiring harness maker Leoni reported EUR2.96 billion revenues in 2010, up from EUR2.16 billion a year ago and well above its forecast for EUR2.80 billion. Revenues were fuelled by sales growth in BRIC markets as well as in the US. Strong demand for automotive components and the increase in copper prices provided additional support to revenues, especially in Q4 2010. The company realised earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of EUR131 million in 2010, reversing a EUR116 million loss in 2009. EBIT in 2010 beat Leoni's projections, which stood at EUR120 million. Leoni reiterated its full year revenue target of EUR3.10 billion for 2011, and said the unrest in Tunisia and Egypt, where it has several production sites, will not have a substantial impact on its performance.

It was reported that five leading Japanese copper semis fabricators posted better results for April-December 2010, partly attributed to higher copper prices and a very hot summer. However, profitability in October-December was lower because of slower demand from the automotive and electronics industries as well as inventory adjustment by the end-users.

According to a survey conducted by Antaike in China, 33 semis fabricators out of 55 had not started operations in the first week after the Spring Festival. It was reported that these companies will resume operations after the 10th day of the Chinese New Year. The majority of the companies that had started operations by the first week of the Chinese New Year did not maintain any raw material inventory as procurement aimed to meet only current production needs.

Nexans reported that it saw strong improvement in performance in H2 2010. The cable maker said that sales at current metal prices amounted to 6.2 billion euro in full year 2010. The company realised a light organic growth of 0.4%. In addition, Nexans commented that sales in the second half of the year exhibited an upturn, which was a 6.5% organic growth from the same period of the previous year. It is expected that sales should continue to improve in 2011, possibly growing by more than 5%.

Chinese imports of refined copper and copper products increased to 364,420t in January 2011. The numbers surpassed earlier expectations based on the closed arbitrage window and the Chinese New Year festive season. Imports were up by 5.7% from December 2010 and 24.7% from January 2010. The fact that Chinese copper buying was stronger than expected in the last three months implies that tightening monetary policies had little impact on copper demand.

Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) plans to construct automotive connector factories in China and Vietnam. It was reported that SEI will spend 1.9 billion yen to build a factory in Jiangsu province, China, by June 2012. The establishment will employ 360 and will be the third automotive connector production site in China, along with the plants in Tianjin and Huizhou. In addition, SEI will construct a plant in Vietnam at a cost of 1.7 billion yen. The facility will employ 430 and is anticipated to be operational in October 2011. SEI's wiring harness unit Sumitomo Wiring Systems will construct the two plants, raising the group's total connector output by 25% to 500 million units per month. The company expects that demand for connectors will grow by 5% annually, supported by robust automotive sales in emerging markets and elsewhere.

Prysmian secured EU regulatory approval for the proposed acquisition of Draka. According to the statement released by the EU antitrust regulator, "The Commission's investigation has shown that the merged entity will continue to face effective competition in the production of optical fibre cables and general wiring despite becoming the European leader in the markets concerned." It was reported that the European Economic Area consists of a number of smaller suppliers, and therefore Prysmian will continue to have a sufficient number of competitors in its markets.