Overseas expansion has always been an important part of domestic optical fiber and cable companies' industrial development and profit growth. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, my country's exports of optical rods, optical fibers, and optical cables will also experience certain fluctuations in 2023.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, my country's optical fiber preform export volume in 2023 was RMB 1,124,042,793, and in 2022 it was RMB 902,141,218, a year-on-year increase of approximately 24.60%; optical fiber export volume was RMB 4,830,337,972 in 2022. It was 5,000,799,019 yuan in the year, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 3.41%; the optical cable export volume was 16,466,418,617 yuan for the whole year, and it was 18,172,936,192 yuan for the whole year of 2022, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 9.39%.
Regarding such export data, industry insiders gave several different voices:
An industry insider said that the decrease in domestic and foreign orders was an important reason for the decrease in exports of optical fiber and cable products last year. Coupled with overseas anti-dumping investigations, exports were subject to certain restrictions; in contrast, as the optical fiber and cable industry chain has high technology content and As an upstream product that is in short supply, optical fiber preform has achieved certain growth in exports despite poor sales of optical fiber and cable products.
An industry insider said that his company will increase its efforts to expand overseas markets in 2023. Despite the decline in my country's overall export volume of optical fiber and cable, the company itself has achieved certain growth in exports.
Another industry insider revealed that one of the main reasons for the decrease in exports last year was the increase in localized production of overseas optical fiber and cables, including local companies and my country's companies building factories overseas. This situation has led to a decline in exports. ; The overseas optical fiber preform industry is smaller than that of our country, so a considerable part of the optical fiber preform needs to be imported from my country, which also explains the reason for the increase in my country's optical fiber preform export volume in 2023.
From the exchanges with people in the industry, the following information can be summarized:
First, the supply and demand problem is still the biggest obstacle faced by fiber optic cable companies. The reduction of domestic and foreign orders makes companies need to find more profit growth points in their operations;
Second, as one of the core products of the optical fiber and cable industry chain, optical fiber preform has considerable demand at home and abroad;
Third, the demand for overseas optical fiber and cable has not weakened, but whether it is subjective reasons or objective reasons affected by local policies, locally produced products are preferred.
The Asia-Pacific region is one of the largest consumer regions in the global optical fiber and cable market, and its demand for optical fiber and cable accounts for more than 40% of the global market. In addition to my country, India, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries have invested heavily in 5G construction, cloud computing, Internet of Things and other fields, and their demand for optical fiber and cable will continue to grow.
In North America, the demand for FTTx optical cables in North America has been on an upward trend since 2017. The increase in demand for optical cables in North America will drive an increase in the demand for optical rods. The United States is one of the world's major optical rod markets.
In Europe, from 2018 to 2021, the demand for FTTx optical cables in Europe is on an upward trend. As optical rods are the main upstream product of optical cables, the demand for optical cables in Europe is rising, and the demand for optical rods is bound to also be on the rise.
In the African region, South Africa's communications and network construction industry is developing rapidly. Compared with other regions in Africa, South Africa has a superior geographical location, a stable political and economic situation, a relatively complete domestic financial and legal system, and a good foreign investment environment. With the continuous development of emerging industries such as e-commerce, mobile banking, and social media in South Africa, the market's demand for interconnected backbone transmission networks and basic communication facilities such as IDC has become increasingly strong, which has greatly stimulated the domestic optical fiber and cable market in South Africa. development momentum.
Market agency CRU predicts that global optical cable demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 4% between 2023 and 2027, and will exceed 650 million core kilometers by the end of 2027.
In general, the overseas optical fiber and cable market still has good development prospects, but factors such as national policies, development, and logistics costs are still the key points that domestic companies need to consider when entering overseas. Judging from the current situation, light rods have good demand in the global market. The advancement of network construction around the world will bring certain demand for optical fiber and cables, and the continued growth of these demands will also drive the demand for optical rods. Of course, in addition to this, scientific research and innovation are still the focus of corporate development. After all, with the demand for computing power increasing by leaps and bounds, the demand for optical fiber products with higher performance and greater transmission rates is also rising.