On February 13th, it was reported from the official website of the General Administration of Customs that in 2024, the total export value of fiber optic cables in China's fiber optic cable industry was RMB 21.976 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.94%; The total import value was 3.995 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.26%.

In terms of export volume, in 2024, the cumulative export of rod fiber cables was 407900 tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.14%; The total import volume was 4848.20 tons, a year-on-year increase of 18.99%.

(Note: Rod fiber cables refer to: optical fiber prefabricated rods with product code 70022010; optical fibers, fiber bundles, and optical cables with product code 90011000, except for products under item 8544; optical cables consisting of each coated optical fiber with product code 85447000.)

In terms of fiber optic prefabricated rods, the total export volume in 2024 was 1444.19 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 34.51%, with an export value of 560 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 50.14%; The total import volume was 257.53 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 10.42%, and the import value was 329 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 46.83%

In terms of fiber optics, the total export volume in 2024 was 27293.41 tons, a year-on-year increase of 24.76%, with an export value of 4.588 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.92%; The total import volume was 1118.65 tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.02%, and the import value was 2.371 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.35%.

In terms of optical cables, the total export volume in 2024 was 379126.27 tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.32%, with an export value of 16.827 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.23%; The total import volume was 3472.01 tons, a year-on-year increase of 29.06%, and the import value was 1.295 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.93%.

Data source: General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China

Looking back at the changes in China's import and export of fiber optic cables over the past six years, 2019 was a trough period for the fiber optic cable industry, especially with the completion of 4G construction in the domestic market and the gradual improvement of FTTH, resulting in a significant decline in demand for fiber optic cables. From the above chart, it can be seen that since 2019, the export volume of fiber optic cables has entered a growth cycle, and the overseas layout of leading fiber optic cable manufacturers in earlier years has entered a harvest period, with the proportion of overseas business revenue continuously increasing.

However, the European Union, India, Brazil and other countries have successively launched anti-dumping investigations against Chinese manufacturers. In order to avoid related risks, leading manufacturers have begun to establish fiber optic cable production plants overseas and provide convenience for serving customers nearby. CRU also pointed out that in this context, China's fiber optic cable exports are declining, while fiber optic cable exports are increasing year by year.

Facing 2025, CRU stated that the annual growth rate of global fiber optic cable demand is 6.2%, reaching 568 million core kilometers, mainly due to the rebound of the US market, the recovery of the European market, and the stabilization of the Chinese market. Especially in overseas markets, CRU points out that the North American market will have a growth rate of 15.9%, the Western European market will have a growth rate of 2.3%, the Asia Pacific region (excluding China) will have a growth rate of 10.3%, and the Middle East region will also have relatively positive growth.

Therefore, for Chinese manufacturers, while the domestic market stabilizes, there will be greater potential in overseas markets, and the export volume and value will further increase.