Rampant theft
Takizawa Yoshiki is the president of an electrical service company in Saitama Prefecture's Misato City. He says the firm recently lost a 40-meter roll of wiring to thieves.
The company has had electric cables stolen three times this year alone. The loss amounts to roughly 1 million yen or about 6,700 dollars. Takizawa says thieves target electric cables because they're mainly made of copper.
The firm says it used to receive electric cables about a week after placing an order. But now takes more than six months in some cases due to the supply shortage.
It has now strengthened its anti-theft measures, storing cables in sturdy, locked containers and posting security guards overnight at construction sites. The additional measures cost more than 2 million yen.
The shortage is nationwide.
At Toyama Prefecture's Tonami Technical High School, improvement work on old buildings was partially suspended for about two weeks due to the wire shortage. The work was supposed to end March 15, but it is now extended until the 26th.
Large orders exacerbating shortage
The industry ministry says one factor prolonging the shortage is that companies are now placing larger orders than actually needed.
NHK visited Ibaraki Prefecture's Sumiden HST Cable, which is operating around the clock at full capacity on weekdays to fill orders.
The firm temporarily stopped taking new orders last year, saying it couldn't keep up. Now it has resumed accepting orders and expects the shortage to be resolved going forward.
President Okada Hisatomo says while it still takes longer than usual to fill orders, the firm is striving to get back to business as usual.
Mihara Hitoshi of the Institute of Technologists points out a difficulty unique to the construction industry.
Mihara says the thicknesses, lengths and amounts of electric wires need to be tailored to each construction site. Noting the balance between supply and demand is disturbed when many projects take place at the same time, he says measures should be considered to prevent construction jams.
