OREANDA-NEWS. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd agreed to a partial transfer of equity interest in air conditioner copper tube manufacturer Shanghai Sunshine Copper Products Co., Ltd. (48.825% owned by Furukawa Electric and 48.825% by Hitachi Metals, Ltd., hereinafter SSC, in Shanghai, People's Republic of China) to Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group Inc. (hereinafter GD) and conducted a signing ceremony for the joint venture agreement.

The air conditioner market is expanding in China, and it is increasing in rural as well as urban areas. Air conditioner manufacturing, which is a major user of copper tubes, also has the largest scale in the world.

Furukawa Electric and Hitachi Metals (Hitachi Cable, Ltd at the time) founded SSC in December of 2000 as an internally grooved copper tube manufacturing and sales base for air conditioner manufacturers in China, and launched full-scale operations in 2002.

At this time Furukawa Electric and Hitachi Metals have decided to transfer part of the equity interest of SSC to GD, which is the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of copper tubes.

Going forward, SSC aims to further expand sales to new customers utilizing its network as well as further enhancing cost competitiveness, by leveraging GD's raw materials procurement capability and factory management expertise in China.