光纤预制棒作为光纤制造的原材料，因其制造工艺技术含量较高，生产厂商主要集中在日本和欧美，其他国家主要通过进口光纤预制棒来生产光纤光缆。随着发展中国家光纤需求量的大增，日本和欧美光纤厂商也加大了在相应地区合资建厂的步伐。目前亚太和北美地区光纤预制棒的需求已经占到了全球需求的80%以上。
目前中国是世界使用光纤光缆最多的国家，已占全球光纤光缆需求的近一半。2010年中国光纤预制棒产量约为1400多吨，远不能满足国内3000多吨的需求，中国光纤光缆生产厂家大部分依赖从日本和欧美进口光纤预制棒。2010 年中国进口光纤预制棒2003.6 吨，主要供应商有日本信化工、日本藤仓和日本住友，以及美国康宁和荷兰德拉克等。
2010年中国光纤预制棒进口地及进口数量
来源：中国海关；整理：水清木华研究中心
中国光纤预制棒生产企业有长飞、亨通、中天、烽火、富通和法尔胜6家，除了长飞产能释放比较充分，其他几家都还在产能释放期。未来，随着中国光纤预制棒企业产能的完全释放，到2013年中国光纤预制棒产量预计将达到2895吨左右，比2010年产量实现翻番，将基本满足国内企业需求，有望摆脱中国光纤预制棒依赖进口的局面。
本报告除了分析全球和中国光纤预制棒供需情况以及发展前景外，还重点研究了美国康宁、住友化工和日本藤仓等7家全球企业以及长飞、亨通光电和富通集团等6家中国企业。
康宁公司的光纤光缆业务归属于电信业务部，2010年电信业务部销售额占到康宁总销售额的26%。目前康宁在北卡罗莱纳州有两个光纤制造基地，另外在中国也有几家分公司。康宁的光纤产品很大一部分是卖给子公司，如康宁光缆系统有限责任公司，北京CCS光纤电缆有限公司，成都康宁光缆有限公司和康宁光缆系统POLSKA SP。
长飞光纤光缆有限公司是荷兰德拉克与中国电信和长江通信的合资公司，是中国最早实现光纤预制棒自给自足的企业。2010年长飞的光纤产能超过康宁，在全球光纤市场占据第一，同时光纤预制棒的产量也在逐年提升。长飞光纤预制棒的年产量从2008年的300吨到2009年的750吨，， 2010年达到850吨。
As a kind of raw material for optical fiber production, optical fiber perform features the comparably high technical content of its manufacturing techniques, and the manufacturers are primarily concentrated in Japan, Europe and America, while other countries rely upon importing optical fiber preform to produce optical fiber and cable. With the soaring demand of optical fiber in developing countries, Japanese, European and American producers also accelerate their pace of setting up joint ventures in corresponding areas. Currently, the demand of optical fiber preform in Asia-Pacific and North America accounts for over 80% of the world’s total.
At present, with nearly half of the world’s total demand, China is the largest consumer of optical fiber preform in the world. In 2010, the output of optical fiber preform approximated 1,400 tons or more, which was far from satisfying the domestic demand of over 3,000 tons. In this sense, most of Chinese optical fiber and cable manufacturers depend on importing optical fiber preform from Japan, Europe and America. In 2010, China imported 2,003.6 tons of optical fiber preform from overseas suppliers, including Shin Etsu, Fujikura, Sumitomo Electric, Corning and Holland Drake etc.
Importers and Imported Volume of China-made Fiber Preform , 2010
Source: ResearchInChina
Six Chinese manufacturers of optical fiber preform include Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Company Ltd., Jiangsu Hengtong Photoelectric Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Zhongtian Technologies Co., Ltd, FiberHome Telecommunication Technologies Co., Ltd., Futong Group and Fasten Group. Among them, only YOFC has fully released its capacity and others are still in the period of capacity release. In the future, with the full capacities release of Chinese optical fiber preform manufacturers, it is predicted that, compared to 2010, the output will be doubled and achieve roughly 2,895 tons in 2013, which will basically meet the home demand of optical fiber preform and hopefully get rid of dependence on imports.
This report not only analyzes the global and China’s supply and demand of optical fiber preform and its prospect, but also highlights key enterprises including 7 international manufacturers and 6 Chinese counterparts.
Regarding Corning, its optical fiber and cable business is subordinated to the telecom department. In 2010, revenue of telecommunication department occupied 26% of the total revenue of Corning. Currently, Corning owns two production bases in North Carolina and several branches in China. A large portion of Corning’s optical fiber products are sold to its subsidiaries, such as Corning Cable Systems (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Beijing CCS Optical Fiber Cable Co., Ltd., Chengdu CCS Optical Fiber Cable Co., Ltd. and Corning Cable Systems POLSKA SP.
Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Company Ltd., a joint venture of China Telecom, Wuhan Yangtze Communications Industry Group Co., Ltd and Draka Holding N.V., is the earliest enterprise that realized self-sufficiency of optical fiber preform in China. In 2010, YOFC’s capacity of optical fiber exceeded those of Corning and ranked No.1 in the optical fiber market worldwide. In the meantime, its output of optical fiber preform keeps increasing year by year. Specifically, the YOFC’s output of optical fiber preform rose from 300 tons in 2008 to 750 tons in 2009 and 850 tons in 2010.