Onamba Co., Ltd. has announced that it will shut down and absorb two domestic plants that produce electric wire and wire harnesses. The decision will be implemented in H1 of FY2009 and is attributed to the weakening economic environment, the appreciation of the yen and the increased market competition. The company employs 130 staff.

Nexans has introduced a full range cable qualified for projects in places with extremely low temperatures such as the Arctic. The new product is called ICEFLEX and it features advanced flexibility, something that cables with conventional insulation fail to achieve. It is a halogen-free marine and offshore cable that remains flexible in temperatures of -50 C. Considering the growing number of oil and gas projects in the Artic, the new cable has good sales prospects.

The Chinese Henan Province has announced that it plans to invest in key regional projects. According to the plans, nine projects are related to the non-ferrous metals industry, two of which are copper semis plants. The first is a high precision electronic copper sheet and coil project of Chalco Luoyang Copper Co., Ltd. with annual capacity of 100,000 t. The second is a copper sheet and coil project of Henan Sanfeng Copper Co., Ltd. with annual capacity of 50,000 t.

Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. and Tohoku University Graduate School have jointly introduced a medical application made of copper alloy. This development refers to an apparatus that uses copper shape memory alloy and aims to correct ingrown nails. What the apparatus does is to insert an alloy plate at both sides of the nail correcting its curvature. Tohoku University is currently using the instrument on a pilot basis, however, Furukawa is planning to start selling it within this fiscal year. The company expects to sell a significant volume of the newly developed instrument as about 10 million people in Japan suffer from ingrown nails.

A pilot programme launched by the International Copper Association (ICA) and copper miner Codelco has tested the use of copper cages in salmon farming. According to a joint statement of the two organisations, it was the first time that about 60,000 salmon were harvested in copper cages. The programme was part of a wider plan of the two organisations which looks for new markets for copper. Codelco said that the use of copper benefits salmon farming because of its antimicrobial properties. The programme showed that there was a decrease in salmon mortality and better oxygenation in specimens.

Amid the global economic crisis, one sector that has not contracted but has actually expanded is the utilities infrastructure in the Middle East. The government of Dubai announced in January that it will spend AED 37.7 billion (US$10.3 billion) as part of its 2009 budget. A considerable part will be spent on infrastructure projects and power networks will be a significant portion of this plan. According to data provided by Dow Wire and Cable, the regional demand for medium and high voltage cables amounts to 270,000 km and this is expected to rise in the next 2-3 years. While there is still growing demand for medium and high voltage cables, there is currently shrinking demand for smaller products such as building wire.

Jiangsu Jiangrun Copper Co., Ltd. is planning to produce 240,000 tonnes of copper wirerod in 2009. The company is making use of the newly installed SCR line, which is gradually ramping up to its full capacity of 350,000 tonnes of copper wirerod. Jiangsu Jiangrun is a subsidiary of Jiangsu Jinhui Group, a major copper conductor producer in China established in 1994.

Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced that they will set up a joint venture to produce high voltage cables. The plant will be located in Jebel Ali and will be operational next year. Annual output will be 30,000 tonnes of high voltage cable, supplying the local market and GCC countries. The investment will amount to Dh500 million (US$136 million) and is expected to break even in the third year of the project.

The State Administration of Taxation in China announced that it will increase its export tax rebates on copper foil, plate and tube from 1st April. The policy was announced on 27th March and it aims to boost Chinese exports. Copper plate's export tax rebate will rise from 5% to 9%, copper foil's from 5% to 13%, and copper tube's from 9% to 13%. It is expected that the measure will support the copper semis market.

Standard & Poor has announced that it placed credit ratings for Wolverine Tube Inc. on CreditWatch. The decision includes its 'CC' corporate credit rating and 'C' senior unsecured debt. Wolverine Tube announced its decision regarding an exchange offer of senior notes due 2009 for new ones due 2012. Given the current market conditions and the financial position of the company, this decision raises default risk levels. Standard & Poor will monitor the exchange offer.

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.

According to a recent report published by Global Industry Analysts, the global copper tube and pipe market will exceed 3.6 million tonnes by 2015. While mature regions such as North America, Western Europe and Japan exhibit flat or negative growth, emerging economies in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and the Middle East will generate significant prospects for the copper tube and pipe industry. The fastest growth will be realised in China because of its ongoing industrialisation and urbanisation activity.

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.

Mueller Industries, Inc. has announced its sales results for 2008. Net income in 2008 amounted to US$ 80.8 million, compared with US$ 115.5 million realised in 2007. Net income in Q4 2008 reached US$ 7.8 million compared to US$ 28.8 million in the same period in 2007. The company attributed the sharp contraction in its Q4 income mainly to weak shipments and the lower average cost of copper. The plumbing and refrigeration segment has been hit by slowing demand and higher per unit conversion costs on lower production volumes. In addition, European copper tube activities were interrupted for approximately four weeks due to a fire. In response to the ongoing economic crisis, the company's strategy for 2009 is to readjust operations and reduce costs.

According to data released by the Shanghai-based nonferrous metals data provider Metalease, 18 major copper tube makers in China were operating at 35% capacity in January, in response to plummeting demand. Business activity has also been affected by the Chinese New Year festivities. The plants, which have a combined capacity of 978,000 t per year, consumed 28,000 t of refined copper in January compared to their consumption capacity of 81,500 t per month. Even though the Chinese government has increased the export tax rebate for copper tubes of diameter of less than 25 mm, the 18 copper tube producers exported only 21% of their total output in January, compared with 26% in December.

According to the United States International Trade Commission, US copper imports in November rose by 2.5% m-o-m to 50,992 tonnes, compared with 49,737 tonnes in October. The rise in the imported quantity of copper is not attributed to an increase in physical demand for the red metal, but to the narrowing Comex-LME arbitrage ratio that favoured imports. The physical demand for copper is suffering from ongoing weakness due to the downturn in the US construction, manufacturing and automotive industries. As a result, in the first 11 months of 2008 US copper imports have contracted by 14.2% to 661,918 tonnes, compared to 771,125 tonnes in the same period of 2007.

South Korea has experienced a sharp decrease in its entire copper semis range production in November 2008 according to the Korean Nonferrous Metal Association. Copper wirerod totalled 46,007 tonnes, falling by 18% y-o-y. Copper plate and strip plunged by almost 42% y-o-y to 10,744 tonnes. Copper tube also declined by approximately 26% to 9,448 tonnes, while copper and copper alloy bar production fell to 16,191 tonnes, a decline of approximately 8%. Overall, copper semis production in November 2008 dropped by 21.4% y-o-y. For the first eleven months of 2008, copper semis output amounted to 1,097,154 tonnes compared to 1,193,092 tonnes from the same period in 2007, declining by 8%. The economy has been hit by shrinking exports and weakening domestic demand. In response to the downturn, the government announced that it will invest 50 trillion won within the next four years in infrastructure and environment projects.

The Chinese government is supporting the copper industry by eliminating taxes on copper concentrate imports and finished copper products exports. China is the world's top copper consumer and according to Antaike Chinese copper consumption in 2009 will grow by 2.1%, revised down from its previous forecast of more than 6%. The duty-free trading policies will benefit copper smelters and fabricators, however, weak global demand will continue to take its toll on Chinese exports.

Intraday copper three-month prices on the LME rose by 4.1% to US$ 2,940 per tonne on December 29th compared to the closing price on December 24th, affected by higher oil prices and the weaker US dollar. Increases in oil prices are correlated with increases in copper prices since investors see oil as a barometer for the entire commodity class. Then, the weaker US dollar makes metals cheaper for holders of other currencies. However, analysts remain pessimistic about the red metal due to plunging demand as the ongoing economic slowdown will continue to take its toll on the demand for copper.

Rea Magnet Wire has announced that it will lay off the 75 staff employed at its Las Cruces plant located in the West Mesa Industrial Park and suspend production. This is expected to take place by February 2009, however, it depends on the work commitments of the plant. The company produces copper, aluminium and brass insulated magnet wire and bare wire, supplying motor, transformer and coil manufacturers. Rea's workforce in North America exceeds 1,000 staff. The decision to close the plant is attributed to weakening demand for magnet wire in the US. As a result of poor market conditions, the company cannot continue to operate at limited capacity. Rea Magnet reported that the decision is not permanent and it hopes to reopen the plant as long as the market circumstances permit so.