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Kentucky-based wire and cable manufacturer General Cable Corporation announced on 25th February an adjusted operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2012 of US$48.2M, down from US$ 75.4M in the third quarter. In an outlook for 2013 the company said they expect the first quarter of the year to be the weakest due to "specific factors in Europe and Mediterranean and ROW" although the company said it expects "sequentially better results in nearly all North American businesses." In 2013, the company expects a stronger performance from wire and cable used in the construction and utilities sectors in the US and the Rest of the World ex Europe. The company does not expect any improvement in its wirerod business in the US, but anticipates some pickup in wirerod sales in the Rest of the World ex Europe. The company highlighted in its report continuing weakness in Europe, but expects some improvement in 2013 with the outlook in France and the Mediterranean stabilising.

Yangzhou Baosheng Copper Industry, a large Chinese manufacturer of wire and cable, announced on 12th December that it had placed an order with Germany's SMS Meer for a CONTIROD system to be installed at its plant in Baoying, Jiangsu province. The new system, which has a capacity of 48t/h, will come into action in 2014 and will enable the company to expand its range of products.

According to an annual survey from Antaike, operating rates at Chinese copper fabricators were on average 2.66 percentage points lower in 2012 than in 2011. The sector that saw the largest slow down in utilisation was the copper tube sector, down 7.27 percentage points in 2012, due to low operating rates in air conditioner sector denting the demand for copper tube in China. Wire manufacturers and foil manufacturers were reported to have fared better in 2012, with utilisation rates rising modestly.

Henan-based Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube (Henan Golden Dragon), the world's largest manufacturer of commercial copper tube, will open a new 30,000t/y high precision copper tube factory in July 2013. Henan Golden Dragon begun production of the facility in May 2012 and have invested a total of RMB 380M (USD60.5M). The factory will produce high precision copper tube.

Russkaya Mednaya Kompaniya's (RMK) Kyshtym Electrolytic Copper wirerod plant (JSC 'KMEZ') in the Chelyabinsk region is undergoing development and modernisation work, which involved an investment of 144M roubles (US$4.8M) in 2011 and is expected to require at least a further 170M roubles (US$5.6M) in 2012. RMK stated that it will invest 19.0B roubles (US$627M) in the Chelyabinsk region in 2012.

Airen Metals announced plans to develop a 10,000t/y copper wirerod plant in the Shree Khatushyamji Industrial Area in Rajasthan. The project is expected to be commissioned in December 2013.

From Nexans' Q1 2012 financial report, we can infer that the European wirerod market was supported by a very strong automotive sector, driven by demand from German premium auto manufacturers, as well as increased infrastructure investment in France and Scandinavia, and a rebounding construction sector in Northern Europe. Demand in Southern Europe, meanwhile, continues to be subdued.

The Rio de Janeiro State Government has introduced a tax incentive plan to initiate and promote the growth of the downstream copper industry. A reduction in the VAT on copper products from 19% to 2% (only eligible for companies investing over R$40M) has already led to a decision by Ibrame, the Brazilian manufacturer of copper cathode, wirerod, bar and other products, to construct a copper rod mill in Itatiaia. Upon commissioning in early 2013 the facility is initially expected to produce 70,000t/y of wirerod, processed mainly from direct-use scrap, with capacity rising to 100,000t/y in subsequent years.

Aurubis AG reported that its production of copper wirerod was down by 22% y-o-y and 14% q-o-q to reach 155,000t in Q2 2012, marking a faster decline from the 17% y-o-y fall in Q1 2012. The company said that the decrease in volumes was driven by slower demand from cable and enamelled wire producers. This came despite stronger demand from the automotive sector and signs of a pick-up in demand from the infrastructure sector in late Q2. Aurubis also produces copper and copper-alloy shapes, pre-rolled products, finished flat rolled products and speciality wire. Output of shapes fell by 25% y-o-y and 13% q-o-q to reach 41,000t in Q2, due to weak demand from semi-fabricators. However at Schwermetall, the company's 50%-owned subsidiary, production of pre-rolled strip decreased by only 5% y-o-y to reach 49,000t in Q2, as demand from semi-fabricators for this product held-up better. The year-on-year change in finished flat rolled products output was distorted by the acquisition of Luvata's rolled products division (RPD). However, volumes in the division did fall by 5% q-o-q reaching 57,000t in Q2, contributing towards across-the-board sequential declines for Aurubis' copper products output in Q2.

It was reported that Shandong Xiangrui Copper Semis Co. Ltd. bought a new 320,000t/y copper semis production facility into full operation during late August. The plant produces a variety of products. It's capacity includes 95,000t/y of copper wirerod, 100,000t/y of copper strip, 20,000t/y of overhead railway conductors and 10,500t/y of bare copper wire. Contirod continuous casting technology from Germany will be used for the process.

Taewoo Metals, a South Korean, wirerod producer, announced that it plans to invest KRW50B (approximately US$44.25M) in replacing its outdated production facilities with new ones. Once complete, the new production facilities will provide 120,000t of wirerod production capacity and 50,000t of copper billet production capacity.

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.

Hengyuan Copper Co. Ltd., based in Shandong province, has started up commercial production of a newly installed 20,000t copper tube line. The company invested RMB380M in the line and expects to invest a further RMB581M to initially add a 10,000t/y copper wire line and then follow this with 170,000t/y of new copper products capacity for low oxygen copper wirerod and bar lines. The project is expected to reach completion by the end of 2014.

General Cable announced that it will acquire a 60% stakeholding in Procables S.A. for US$45M subject to terms and regulatory approval. Procables offers a wide range of cable products including energy cables, communication cables and bare aluminium conductor. The company also operates copper and aluminium wirerod mills at its manufacturing sites in Bogota and Barranquilla, Colombia.

China's Zhengteng Group, based in Guangdong province, will begin construction of a 150,000t/y copper products project in H2 2012. The operation will produce oxygen-free copper wirerod, copper busbars, tubes and wires beginning in H2 2012 from a facility located in Yushan County, Shangrao City in Jiangxi province. Investment capital for the project is expected to total RMB 1.5B.

Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) reported that the average operating rates of copper cablemakers in China rose by 10 percentage points to reach 78.7% in August. Newly tendered contracts from the State Grid Corporation of China during July and August led to the production increase. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics also indicate that cable output rose by 2.5% m-o-m to 3.53M km in August. In addition to this, an August survey of Chinese copper wirerod fabricators by SMM showed a 2 percentage point increase in the industry's average utilisation rate from the previous month, reaching 75%.

"Iran's demand for refined copper is small, amounting to just 155kt in 2014. Any easing of trade sanctions is likely to result in a healthy boost to domestic copper demand as the country catches up after its years of isolation. There is also the possible added bonus of increased exports to its neighbours which have wirerod capacity constraints. However, the overall effect on global refined copper demand growth will be limited. "

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.

Chinalco Luoyang Copper Co., Ltd. is working on a 100ktpy high-precision copper plate, sheet and strip (PSS) project. According to a survey carried out by Antaike, the project is expected to start operations at the end of 2009. Upon completion of the project, the company will have 200ktpy copper PSS output capacity. In 2008 Luoyang Copper produced 70,000 tonnes of copper PSS and 20,000 tonnes of copper wirerod and copper tube.

KGHM, Europe's second largest copper producer, reported financial results for the second quarter ended 30 June 2009. The company announced revenue for the second quarter was PLN2.7b (US$935m), 10% lower than the same period a year ago. Operating profit for the quarter was PLN969m (US$335m), versus PLN1.0b (US$346m) for the same period in 2008. Net profit for the second quarter was PLN845m (US$293m), 2% higher than the same period in the previous year. Poland-based KGHM's main products are copper cathode, copper wirerod and copper round billets.

Aurubis, a leading European copper semis fabricator, said that it saw product demand and production recover in mid-May in the wire and cable industry and in some other copper semis sectors. The wirerod market, especially the automotive wiring industry, is supported by government stimulus packages. It said orders for continuous cast shapes also stabilised in May then rose slightly in June. The company reported pretax profit in the third quarter to June fell to 51m euros (US$72m). Product output was 479,000t of wire rod and 111,000t of continuous cast shapes for the first nine months.