2011年8月20日土曜日

Businesses look to cash in on winter power shortage

Businesses and consumers are doing everything they can to weather the simmering summer while minimizing power use to cope with the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.

As a result, sales of such energy-saving goods as Cool Biz clothing and electric fans have been booming. Some companies are expecting another boom to occur this winter when power demand rises to heat homes and extra efforts will be needed to avert power outages during the frigid weather.

Fast Retailing Co., operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain, started marketing its Heattech thermal underwear line on July 25, three weeks earlier than last year.

The company moved up its schedule to oblige customers eager to stock up on winter goods ahead of time to cope with potential power shortages.

"We have concluded that we can boost sales by front-loading marketing," a Fast Retailing official said. "We want customers to pick their purchases at a leisurely place before (the Heattech sections of our stores) get too crowded."

Major retailer Ito-Yokado Co. has begun selling its Body Heater line of undergarments, but has substantially broadened its lineup to 112 kinds of products, compared with 30 last year. New products made of lighter fabric are also available this year.

The retailer is projecting that this year's sales will reach 10 million pieces, up from 4.5 million last year.

While consumers rushed to buy electric fans earlier this year to cut down on air conditioner use during the summer, oil heaters will likely become the appliance of choice this winter.

At Corona Corp., heater production entered full swing two months earlier than usual, in early June.

"We are swamped with inquiries from home improvement retailers and others. Orders this season will likely be 40 to 50 percent higher than usual," said an official with the air conditioner and heating equipment producer.

The company has hired extra factory hands so its plants can operate on Saturdays as well.

Hakugen, a Tokyo-based maker of daily chemical products, has decided to raise the output of disposable body-warming packs, called Hokkairo, and Yutapon, another line of microwavable body warmers for use in and outside the bed.

"Sales of these products are expected to climb particularly at drugstores just as personal cooling gel sheets proved popular among commuters and office workers," an official of the company said.

Utilities, excluding Okinawa Electric Power Co., are expected to be able to supply a maximum of 156.98 million kw this winter, 1.13 million kw short of demand, according to government estimates.

The estimates are based on the assumption that nuclear power plants that are undergoing or are scheduled to undergo routine checks will remain shut down.


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