Japan’s electric wire manufacturers are shifting production to Asia for region’s growing electric car market.
Japanese wire companies are investing in new plants in China & South East Asia to meet an expected surge in demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
EV sales in China are expected to roughly quintuple to about 2.46 million vehicles in 2035, compared with 2017.
Many Asian countries are promoting EVs under government initiatives.
The Chinese government is promoting the spread of ecologically friendly cars like EVs to help address environmental problems due to auto emissions. The Thai government is also pursuing “Thailand 4.0,” and next-generation automobiles such as EVs have a prominent place in the place.
Jaxing Showa‘s two existing plants, which currently make products like copper wire for consumer electronics, will be combined into a new plant that due online in July 2020. The new plant will be double the size of the existing two factories’ 10,000 sq. meter area, and will include automated facilities to increase productivity.
In Southeast Asia Hitachi Metals is building its capacity to produce wire for electric parking brakes (EPB) in Vietnam and Thailand. The company will expand production capacity at its existing plants and build new facilities during the first half of fiscal 2020. It will also open new production facilities at its plant in Hai Duong Province in northern Vietnam and beef up the capacity of existing facilities at its plant in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok.
There are also moves to establish charging infrastructure for EVs in Asia, which is also encouraging Japan’s electric wire makers to expand their operations in the region. In Vietnam, for example, conglomerate Vingroup and state-owned oil company PetroVietnam are separately building charging stations.
