With provisional estimates for the full year 2005 now available, we estimate that global shipments of fibre were 74.7 mfkm, 19 percent higher in 2005 than in 2004. In the US and some European we have raised our estimates of fibre production in 2005 compared to those in the last issue. Global shipments in Q4 05 were 18.8 mfkm, down by 3 percent on Q3 05, but 17 percent higher ton Q4 04. The main reason for the downturn in sequential terms is lower activity in the European and US markets during Q4 05. Partly this reduction was a normal seasonal effect, but demand from Verizon in the US also slowed. We expect fibre demand in the US to recover in 2006 but we are not optimistic that there will be much improvement in Europe. Japanese demand picked up in Q3 and Q4. We have also substantially raised our estimates for Chinese fibre production in 2005, as demand in China has been strong in 2005 and cable exports have also grown.
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