A thermoplastic resin pellet is columnar. A cross-sectional shape taken along a plane orthogonal to a height direction of the thermoplastic resin pellet has a longer diameter represented by “a” and a shorter diameter represented by “b”. A ratio a/b is greater than or equal to 1.0, and the ratio a/b is less than or equal to 2.6. A ratio α of a unit height volume of a cylindrical portion of a hopper of a molding machine, into which the thermoplastic resin pellet is loaded, to a volume of the thermoplastic resin pellet is greater than 16. A method for manufacturing an electric cable includes supplying the thermoplastic resin pellet to the hopper, melting the thermoplastic resin pellet in the cylinder to supply molten resin to the die, and extruding the molten resin from the die to form a sheath on a core wire.