Copper Cable Shipments in Japan Gain 1% in December as Economy Recovers

Blomberg Jan 20--Japan’s copper wire and cable shipments increased 1 percent in December from a year earlier, rising for a second month as the economy recovered, an industry group said.

Shipments, including exports and domestic business, increased to 56,500 metric tons last month from 55,926 tons a year earlier, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers’ Association said today in an e-mailed statement. Shipments in November totaled 60,656 tons.

Japan will escape its economic slump sometime in the first half as exports improve and consumer and corporate spending recovers, Kazuo Momma, the Bank of Japan’s top economist, said yesterday. Copper, used in wires and pipes, advanced to a record $9,781 a ton yesterday after gaining 30 percent in 2010 as the world economy recovered.

“The electric machinery and construction sectors showed a gradual recovery in recent months,” said Nobuyuki Goto, deputy general manager at the association’s research department. Shipments for electric machinery climbed 3.6 percent in the month from a year earlier and for the construction sector they jumped 5.6 percent, he said.

Annual shipments rose last year for the first time in four years, gaining 4.9 percent to 680,702 tons, the data showed.

Momma joined other BOJ officials in expressing optimism about the economy this week, as government reports showed industrial production rose for the first time in six months in November and retail sales increased more than forecast.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Jan. 17 the economy will regain momentum after a temporary slowdown as emerging economies lead a global expansion. Hideo Hayakawa, head of the central bank’s Osaka branch, said on the same day that Japan’s rebound from a slump “isn’t that far away.”