Copper prices skyrocketing companies are miserable
The wire and cable industry was shocked by the rapid growth rate of copper prices that had never existed in history.
On the same day, the Electric Wire and Cable Branch of the China Electrical Appliance Industry Association responded to calls from relevant departments in Beijing and the price of copper soared all the way. The company has been miserable. In view of this phenomenon, an industry resolution will be formed next week. The proposed topic will be reported to the Federation of Machinery Industry and the National Development and Reform Commission, and the relevant government departments are strongly urged to suppress the rise in copper prices.
It is said that due to the mad increase in copper prices, wire and cable manufacturers have already incurred a certain amount of money and will lose a lot. Some companies have thus lost a large amount of money and have simply stopped work. At present, some enterprises in Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other places have allowed employees to take vacations.
As a matter of fact, the National Development and Reform Commission, the national economic macro-control institution, had thrown out the State Reserve’s copper as early as the end of 2005, in the hope of suppressing the price of copper, but the price of copper has gone soaring.
The electrical appliance industry is a large copper company, which uses almost 60% of the country's copper each year. At present, hardware companies and building materials companies that use copper, aluminum and steel as their main raw materials have been greatly affected.
According to reports, 70% of the price of cable products is the price of copper. “Now it is not about how much profit it is, but whether it can save costs.†said Qi Yijie, general manager of China's Xingle Group, which is one of the leading cable manufacturers. According to reports, the Xingle Group will consume 1,500 tons of copper every month. In the past three years, the price of copper has increased by 4 to 5 times, but the price of the product has only been raised by 70%. In general, the period for completing an order is between three and five months to one year. "We have received an order and have two points of profit. However, after the delivery, it is difficult to maintain the cost."
For many suppliers of copper products, shortening the billing cycle and accelerating the flow of funds is also a way to reduce risks. They used to have a 4 to 6 month billing cycle, which is now reduced to 2 to 3 months.
At present, wire and cable companies and many hardware companies are partially resolving cost pressures through technological innovations, and gradually "decompressing" production links by strengthening quality control and reducing waste. Some companies are considering making more efforts on product styles and functions, attracting customers with unique products, and then appropriately raising prices, and partly relieve the pressure caused by raw material price increases.
Aluminum substitute copper is a trend
It is understood that China's wire and cable industry has been inhibited by high copper prices since 1995. Due to the recent rapid rise in the price of copper, people have to seriously consider such a question after how to run through the nervous call sign: How to overcome difficulties? Many companies plan to use alternatives to ease.
Some companies are actively taking measures, such as the use of black bars instead of light bar; copper-clad aluminum conductor; aluminum substitute copper, such as aluminum enameled wire and so on. If aluminum wire is used, prices can drop by two-thirds.
“We believe that the current price of copper is far from the traditional fundamentals, or that the price of copper has subverted the traditional fundamentals. Low market inventories, capital mobility, fund hedging, and institutional game have become the new fundamentals of the copper market.†According to senior experts from the Nonferrous Metal Industry Association.
Out of the current predicament, experts believe that aluminum-based copper power cable is a development trend.
However, there is still a long way to go to achieve good application results. This is because some users cannot accept the change of aluminum-based copper.
One view is that the resistivity of aluminum conductors is greater than that of copper conductors, and aluminum metal materials are used as conductors of power cables. The energy loss during transmission should be greater than that of copper materials. In fact, this view has no theoretical basis. Because the energy loss during transmission depends on the conductor resistance rather than the resistivity. According to national recommendations, at 20°C, the DC resistance of a copper conductor cross-section is comparable to the corresponding DC resistance of two large-size aluminum conductors. That is to say, a certain copper conductor is considered in terms of energy loss during transmission. Power cables can be completely replaced by aluminum conductor cables corresponding to two large specifications, and their current carrying capacity is equivalent. In addition, from the perspective of cable cost, under the same current-carrying capacity, the raw material cost of the metal conductor of the aluminum conductor cable is much lower than that of the copper conductor cable, which is about a quarter of that.
The industry believes that in the case of such a high price of copper, whether it is a cable user or a design unit, it is entirely feasible to select the aluminum core cable under the condition of ensuring the same ampacity. This will not only allow cable manufacturers to avoid risks, but also It will benefit the healthy development of the industry and will also play a role in restraining the rise of copper prices. There are cases in which it is estimated that the copper core cable designed by a project design institute for a certain project will cost more than 2 million yuan. After the owner of the project changed the copper core cable into an aluminum core cable, it only spent more than 500,000 yuan. Just solve the problem.
It is understood that in 2004 the amount of copper used for power cable products was about 860,000 tons. In 2005, the amount of copper used for power cable products was about 1 million tons. According to relevant data, in 2005, 150,000 tons of aluminum conductor material was used as a substitute for copper conductor material. In other words, if 30% of aluminum metal material is used for power cable products, then the amount of copper used in power cable products will be reduced by 300,000 tons in 2005. Imagine if the copper market reduced the demand for 300,000 tons last year, the price of copper will change.
Industry insiders believe that the use of copper clad aluminum wire in the wire and cable industry is also a good way to ease the pressure on the current business. The aluminum wire has a double metal wire drawn from a layer of copper and has a small specific gravity and good transmission properties. It is particularly suitable for use as an inner conductor of RF coaxial cables. Compared with pure copper wire, the density is About 40% of pure copper. The transmission characteristics are better than pure copper wire, and it is an ideal RF coaxial cable branch line inner conductor. Assume that China's wire and cable industry has realized the replacement of aluminum with copper, which can save a large amount of limited copper resources.
The wire and cable industry was shocked by the rapid growth rate of copper prices that had never existed in history.
On the same day, the Electric Wire and Cable Branch of the China Electrical Appliance Industry Association responded to calls from relevant departments in Beijing and the price of copper soared all the way. The company has been miserable. In view of this phenomenon, an industry resolution will be formed next week. The proposed topic will be reported to the Federation of Machinery Industry and the National Development and Reform Commission, and the relevant government departments are strongly urged to suppress the rise in copper prices.
It is said that due to the mad increase in copper prices, wire and cable manufacturers have already incurred a certain amount of money and will lose a lot. Some companies have thus lost a large amount of money and have simply stopped work. At present, some enterprises in Beijing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other places have allowed employees to take vacations.
As a matter of fact, the National Development and Reform Commission, the national economic macro-control institution, had thrown out the State Reserve’s copper as early as the end of 2005, in the hope of suppressing the price of copper, but the price of copper has gone soaring.
The electrical appliance industry is a large copper company, which uses almost 60% of the country's copper each year. At present, hardware companies and building materials companies that use copper, aluminum and steel as their main raw materials have been greatly affected.
According to reports, 70% of the price of cable products is the price of copper. “Now it is not about how much profit it is, but whether it can save costs.†said Qi Yijie, general manager of China's Xingle Group, which is one of the leading cable manufacturers. According to reports, the Xingle Group will consume 1,500 tons of copper every month. In the past three years, the price of copper has increased by 4 to 5 times, but the price of the product has only been raised by 70%. In general, the period for completing an order is between three and five months to one year. "We have received an order and have two points of profit. However, after the delivery, it is difficult to maintain the cost."
For many suppliers of copper products, shortening the billing cycle and accelerating the flow of funds is also a way to reduce risks. They used to have a 4 to 6 month billing cycle, which is now reduced to 2 to 3 months.
At present, wire and cable companies and many hardware companies are partially resolving cost pressures through technological innovations, and gradually "decompressing" production links by strengthening quality control and reducing waste. Some companies are considering making more efforts on product styles and functions, attracting customers with unique products, and then appropriately raising prices, and partly relieve the pressure caused by raw material price increases.
Aluminum substitute copper is a trend
It is understood that China's wire and cable industry has been inhibited by high copper prices since 1995. Due to the recent rapid rise in the price of copper, people have to seriously consider such a question after how to run through the nervous call sign: How to overcome difficulties? Many companies plan to use alternatives to ease.
Some companies are actively taking measures, such as the use of black bars instead of light bar; copper-clad aluminum conductor; aluminum substitute copper, such as aluminum enameled wire and so on. If aluminum wire is used, prices can drop by two-thirds.
“We believe that the current price of copper is far from the traditional fundamentals, or that the price of copper has subverted the traditional fundamentals. Low market inventories, capital mobility, fund hedging, and institutional game have become the new fundamentals of the copper market.†According to senior experts from the Nonferrous Metal Industry Association.
Out of the current predicament, experts believe that aluminum-based copper power cable is a development trend.
However, there is still a long way to go to achieve good application results. This is because some users cannot accept the change of aluminum-based copper.
One view is that the resistivity of aluminum conductors is greater than that of copper conductors, and aluminum metal materials are used as conductors of power cables. The energy loss during transmission should be greater than that of copper materials. In fact, this view has no theoretical basis. Because the energy loss during transmission depends on the conductor resistance rather than the resistivity. According to national recommendations, at 20°C, the DC resistance of a copper conductor cross-section is comparable to the corresponding DC resistance of two large-size aluminum conductors. That is to say, a certain copper conductor is considered in terms of energy loss during transmission. Power cables can be completely replaced by aluminum conductor cables corresponding to two large specifications, and their current carrying capacity is equivalent. In addition, from the perspective of cable cost, under the same current-carrying capacity, the raw material cost of the metal conductor of the aluminum conductor cable is much lower than that of the copper conductor cable, which is about a quarter of that.
The industry believes that in the case of such a high price of copper, whether it is a cable user or a design unit, it is entirely feasible to select the aluminum core cable under the condition of ensuring the same ampacity. This will not only allow cable manufacturers to avoid risks, but also It will benefit the healthy development of the industry and will also play a role in restraining the rise of copper prices. There are cases in which it is estimated that the copper core cable designed by a project design institute for a certain project will cost more than 2 million yuan. After the owner of the project changed the copper core cable into an aluminum core cable, it only spent more than 500,000 yuan. Just solve the problem.
It is understood that in 2004 the amount of copper used for power cable products was about 860,000 tons. In 2005, the amount of copper used for power cable products was about 1 million tons. According to relevant data, in 2005, 150,000 tons of aluminum conductor material was used as a substitute for copper conductor material. In other words, if 30% of aluminum metal material is used for power cable products, then the amount of copper used in power cable products will be reduced by 300,000 tons in 2005. Imagine if the copper market reduced the demand for 300,000 tons last year, the price of copper will change.
Industry insiders believe that the use of copper clad aluminum wire in the wire and cable industry is also a good way to ease the pressure on the current business. The aluminum wire has a double metal wire drawn from a layer of copper and has a small specific gravity and good transmission properties. It is particularly suitable for use as an inner conductor of RF coaxial cables. Compared with pure copper wire, the density is About 40% of pure copper. The transmission characteristics are better than pure copper wire, and it is an ideal RF coaxial cable branch line inner conductor. Assume that China's wire and cable industry has realized the replacement of aluminum with copper, which can save a large amount of limited copper resources.