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Five major Japanese wire and cable producers recently announced financial results for FY2010-2011, all but one of which showed positive signs of growth in profitability. Sumitomo Electric Ltd. and Furukawa Electric Co.'s profits rose while Showa Cable Systems Co. returned to positive net profit. Hitachi Cable Ltd. suffered losses, although they decreased y-o-y. Fujikura Ltd. saw its profits decrease. The results of all companies were said to have been constrained by weak demand from the construction sector, which has not fully recovered. However, those companies producing automotive wiring harnesses benefited from strong auto demand.

Data released by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association indicated that China's output of copper semis increased by 5% m-o-m to 935,350t in August. The rise has been linked to increased demand for power generation equipment, wires and cables and AC motors. However, demand is likely to be offset by seasonally weak demand for air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.

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.

"BHP warns over sustainability of demand for raw materials BHP Billiton, the miner that sells 19 different commodities from...materials had returned.In its quarterly production report, BHP noted that China, the driver of the rally in metals prices...offset this, such a sequence of events should not be expected, BHP said.It added: "In spite of the low metals inventories in... Oct 22 2009, By William MacNamara in London and Peter Smith in Sydney, Financial Times"

Japanese rolled copper product output fell by 3.7%y-o-y to 68,620t in March. This was mainly attributed to disruption to automotive supply chains following the March 11 disaster. The full impact of the decline of Japanese carmakers is expected to hit copper producers in the forthcoming months due to the expected two month time lag in copper demand. There is, however, optimism about the medium term demand outlook due to growing demand in air conditioner and housing utensil production in addition to the positive effects of the country's forthcoming rebuilding work. Company operations are expected to ramp up after factory repairs are anticipated to be completed towards the summer.

Leader Universal Holdings Bhd expects its wire and cable business to benefit from increased demand as a result of stronger activity in the domestic and overseas infrastructure industry. demand is expected to stem mainly from Asia and Australia, and also from reconstruction projects in New Zealand and Japan. Currently, orders amount to RM800M, with one-third coming from overseas markets. The company also realised strong demand from the Middle East. In the financial year ended 31st December 2010, the company recorded a turnover of RM2.49B, an increase of 27.6% compared to RM1.95B in 2009.

"Fish farming holds tremendous promise in responding to surging demand for food which is taking place due to global population growth, the report says."

"The giant Chilean Escondida mine produces more copper than anywhere on earth. Some 1.2m tonnes emerge from the BHP Billiton-run facility each year. For the largest miners, Escondida also serves as a key measure for world copper output. To meet global demand over the next decade, the industry "will have to add the equivalent of a new Escondida every 15 months", says Jean-Sebastien Jacques, head of copper at Rio Tinto, which owns a minority stake in the mine. First Quantum, a mid-tier copper miner, says that if China, India and Brazil were to reach EU levels of copper use by 2020, it would imply nine new Escondidas."

"This demonstrates that copper is much more valuable than you may have thought; we need to urgently develop alternative materials to replace it in some common applications (e.g., electronics), as even with improved recycling there will be insufficient copper resources in a few decades."

Some of the UK's largest landlords have united to demand a larger stake in Sir Philip Green's retail empire, as part of the Arcadia Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).