OFS Responds to Increasing Energy and Raw Material Costs

Tag : Raw Materials
OFS today announced it will raise the price of its optical fibercable products immediately by up to 10 percent depending on theirexposure to rising materials, energy, and transportation costs.

OFS continues to experience dramatic price increases of rawmaterials used in the manufacture of fiber cable such as polymerresins, aramid yarn and steel.

"Materials and energy costs have increased over 15 percent yearover year, while transportation costs are up 7 to 10 percent," saidBill Kloss, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, NorthAmerica and CALA, at OFS. "These price increases are required topartially offset these unprecedented costs that we have absorbedover the last year."

In addition to implementing energy conservation programs, leanmanufacturing and process improvements, OFS continues to reviewalternative sourcing of raw materials and transportation tominimize the impact of these increases.

About OFS

OFS is a world-leading designer, manufacturer and provider ofoptical fiber, optical fiber cable, FTTX, optical connectivity andspecialty photonics products. Our manufacturing and researchdivisions work together to provide innovative products andsolutions that traverse many different applications as they linkpeople and machines worldwide. Between continents, between cities,around neighborhoods, and into homes and businesses of digitalconsumers we provide the right optical fiber, optical cable andcomponents for efficient, cost-effective transmission.

OFS' corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and included technologypowerhouses such as AT&T (NYSE: T) and Lucent Technologies (nowAlcatel-Lucent, NYSE: ALU). Today, OFS is owned by FurukawaElectric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in opticalcommunications.

Headquartered in Norcross (near Atlanta), Georgia, U.S., OFS is aglobal provider with facilities in Avon, Connecticut; Carrollton,Georgia; Somerset, New Jersey; and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, aswell as in Denmark, Germany and Russia.