The daily news bulletin for the informed wire & cable executive. Reaching a regular audience of 7733 readers in 101 countries. Wire & Cable Industry news Subscribe here for your automatic email   RESOURCES... - Exchange Rates - Info Links - Forex TV - Publication Policy - Email the Editor - Advertising November 20th, 2009  - Projects Seoul Korea - Kiswire plans to expand investment in Qingdao South Korea Company Kiswire Ltd is plans to invest around USD 5 million to 10 million in the export processing zone of Qingdao, building a 20,000 square meter plant expanding capacity of all products made in China for export. The vice mayor of the city met the mission of Kiswire recently and said they will strongly support the investment. As per a report from MySteel.net, the company has already set up three subsidiaries in Qingdao so far. November 17th, 2009  - Projects Mumbai India - Essar, Dhabi Group sign deal on Warid stake in Uganda, Congo The Dhabi Group and India's Essar group have signed the definitive agreements for an investment by Essar into Warid in Uganda and Republic of Congo. Essar will acquire a majority stake in both the operators, while the partnership is also expected to bring operational efficiencies to the African operations. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in Uganda and Republic of Congo. The move is in line with Essar's plan be a part of the growing telecommunications market in Africa. Essar Telecom earlier launched mobile services in Kenya under the brand 'yu'. November 14th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins 35 million euros submarine power cable project for the French island of La Réunion Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a 35 million euros turnkey contract by EDF to construct a new submarine power cable for the French island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The cable link will take a subsea route along the coast to connect the power production area located at Le Port in the West of the island to the capital city of Saint-Denis which requires much of the energy. By choosing this subsea cable route, the construction of 20 km of aerial power lines across a natural environment made of rugged, steep and mountainous terrain was avoided. See Extended Story.. November 11th, 2009  - Projects Milford New Hampshire - Hendrix Wire and Cable adds new drawing and stranding capacity to Milford facility Hendrix Wire & Cable, a provider of high-quality underground and overhead distribution products, announces the addition of new drawing and stranding capacity to the Milford Facility. Hendrix has provided primary cable to the utility industry for over 50 years and is a major supplier of 35 kV TRXLP cable to the wind power industry. See Extended Story.. November 10th, 2009  - Projects Mumbai India - Finally, Tata Steel gets land in Vietnam for $5-billion project After two years of waiting, Tata Steel will get alternative land in Vietnam for building a 4.5 million tonne a year steel plant with an investment of $5 billion. The board of Vung Anh Economic Park has proposed allocation of 725 hectares to Tata Steel and its Vietnamese partners in the central province of Ha Tinh. Tata Steel’s spokesperson told Business Standard the proposal had been accepted by the company. Under the proposal, 700 hectares would be used for construction of a steel plant with a designed capacity of 4.5 million tonnes a year, Indronil Sengupta, Tata Steel’s executive manager of projects in Southeast Asia told Vietnamese media. The Indian steel maker has a 65 per cent stake in the venture, while Vietnam’s Steel Corporation and Vietnam Cement Industries Corporation hold 30 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. See Extended Story.. November 10th, 2009  - Projects Stockholm Sweden - Sweco bags consulting contract to connect Lithuania to European grid Sweco Sweden, a technology consulting company, has bagged a contract worth over EUR 0.86m ($1.3m) to develop a transmission line in Lithuania. The company will plan a new 400kV power transmission line between the Lithuanian city of Alytus and the Polish border. Eva Nygren, president of Sweco Sweden, said: "The transmission line will have the highest voltage ever built in Lithuania, and will also create an interconnection to the European grid and facilitate the exchange of power with other EU member states. This will be a critical step towards Lithuania's goal to increase its energy independence." See Extended Story.. November 5th, 2009  - Projects Linz Austria - Zenith Steel expands rod mill capacity and product range with two new rod finishing lines. Zenith Steel (Changzhou Zhongtian Iron & Steel) in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China, has signed multiple contracts for two rod mills for the company’s new rod mills that will be located in Changzhou. The contracts are valued at more than €10 million. After the new equipment’s installation, the mills for this privately-owned, midsized steelmaker will produce up to 150 tons per hour on each line. Each rod outlet will have the capability to produce plain rod (5.5mm to 20mm) and rebar (6mm to 16mm) products, which include carbon steels, cold heading steel, spring steel, welding wire, bearing steel, tire cord and PC strand steel grades. See Extended Story.. November 4th, 2009  - Projects Mumbai India - KEC to invest 1 bln rupees in new cable plant. Power transmission contractor KEC International, which approved merging RPG Cables with itself on Friday, plans to invest 1 billion rupees in 3 years to set up a new cable plant, a senior official said. The merger will lead to backward integration, wherein KEC will be able to consume the entire output of RPG Cables, Ramesh Chandak, KEC's managing director and chief executive officer, said at a press conference. "Merger will help in operational synergies and help us grow project management businesses," he said. RPG shareholders will get 1 share of KEC for every 20 held following the merger, which is expected to take effect from March 1, 2010. Merger would raise equity base of the company by 4.2 percent to 514.2 million rupees, reducing founders' share to 41.59 percent from 41.94 percent. KEC, which currently consumes cables products for project management businesses like distribution, telecom and railways, also wants to double RPG Cables current turnover that stood at 4 billion rupees, Chandak said. RPG Cables, with current accumulated losses of 1.5 billion rupees, has three plants in India. KEC's current year capex is 750 million rupees, he said. The capital expenditure, to be funded through a mix of internal accruals and debt, would go into project equipment, a tower-testing station and machinery in existing plants. November 3rd, 2009  - Projects Mumbai India - ArcelorMittal eyes new sites for steel plants The world’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, which registered a net profit of $ 903 million after posting losses for three consecutive quarters, said on Wednesday that it is looking at alternative sites in Orissa and Jharkhand for its steel projects. Lakshmi N Mittal, chairman and CEO, ArcelorMittal, during a conference call to announce the company’s third quarter results, said, “We being a global company, would not limit ourselves from exploring options in other states. However, as of now, we are focusing only on Orissa and Jharkhand.” When asked whether the company will look at other states like Karnataka and if talks were held with the state government, Mittal replied, “I wouldn’t know as the company’s officials in India would be dealing with it.” See Extended Story.. November 2nd, 2009  - Projects Jamshedpur India - Wire rod mill also part of Jindal Steel Patratu greenfield unit Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) which is setting up a 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) greenfield unit in two phases of 3 mtpa each at Patratu in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand at an estimated investment of Rs 18,000 crore has started acquiring land for the project. JSPL had acquired the closed plant of Bihar Alloy Steel Ltd (BASL) located at around 550 acre to start setting up the steel plant and needs a total of around 2,500 acre land for the entire project. “We are engaged in direct purchase of land for the project and have already acquired around 600 acre,” said SP Sharan, deputy general manager (corporate affairs). The company is also setting up a wire rod unit of 0.6 mtpa capacity at the site. “The wire rod mill which was to commence production in October would now go on stream in December (2009),” said Sharan October 31st, 2009  - Projects Havana Cuba - Cuba wary of first US-Cuba fiber line A top Cuban communications official said Monday that the communist government is wary of a Miami company's plan to run a fiber optic cable to the island and it hasn't yet even been asked for permission. TeleCuba Communications Inc. announced on Oct. 13 that it had received U.S. Treasury Department approval to lay about 110 miles (175 kilometers) of cable from Florida to Cuban territory -- seemingly a significant dent in the U.S. embargo against the island. But Francisco Hartmann, director of strategy for Cuba's national Office of Information, said his government has "no official knowledge that there is interest to negotiate" such a project, and he indicated they may frown on it if asked. "If all the information that we have passes by cable to Florida, that technological independence, the sovereignty that for us is so important, what will happen to it?" he asked at a news conference. TeleCuba said the cable, following the route of a defunct 1950s copper telephone cable from Key West, Florida, to the Havana suburb of Cojimar could be operational by the middle of 2011. See Extended Story.. October 30th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins a 6 million Euros ice-resistant cable contract from Sevmash to equip an oil production platform in the Barents Sea Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a contract worth around 6 million Euros by Sevmash, Russia’s largest shipbuilding company, to develop, manufacture and supply low-temperature and ice-resistant control, instrumentation and power cables for the marine ice-protected Prirazlomnaya stationary oil production platform in the Barents Sea. The Prirazlomnya platform has been constructed specially for the development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field and is the first oil production project on the Russian Arctic shelf. This area is characterized by extremely low temperatures and high ice loads. It is ice-free for only 110 days a year, the annual average temperature is -4ºC and winter temperatures can fall as low as -50ºC. The severe climate and harsh operating conditions presented by the high ice loads require unique marine cable technologies to provide the optimum combination of low-temperature resistance and fire resistant, low smoke halogen free properties. See Extended Story.. October 30th, 2009  - Projects Nuremberg Germany - Leoni obtains first order from Nissan Leoni, a leading provider of cable systems to the European automotive sector and other industries, has won its first project for a Japanese car manufacturer: Beginning end of 2010, Leoni will supply cable harnesses for the Nissan X-Trail to be produced locally for the Russian market. The contract amounts to a double-digit million Euro volume per year. See Extended Story.. October 27th, 2009  - Projects Mönchengladbach, Germany - Tianjin pipe commissions new wire rod mill ITA reported that in July 2009, the Chinese copper wire producer TCICO, Tianjin of China commissioned its second CONTIROD CR 3500 continuous copper wire rod plant. The plant with an annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes of rolled wire rod was supplied and erected by SMS Meer, Mönchengladbach, Germany. SMS Meer supplied the entire technical equipment for this plant which was commissioned within just 17 months after signing of the contract. The new CONTIROD plant was installed in the immediate vicinity of the first line that was commissioned in 2001. It has a casting capacity of 25 tonnes per hour with a casting cross section of 5,400 square millimeters and a casting speed of approximately 10 meters per minute. The standard finished size is 8.0 millimeters diameter. See Extended Story.. October 26th, 2009  - Projects Colombo Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka cable maker expands to meet post-war demand Cable manufacturer Alucop Cables, a fully-owned unit of the listed Sierra Cables, said it was getting new machinery and expanding production to meet the anticipated increase in demand in post-war Sri Lanka. It said in a stock exchange filing that it forecast more demand for cables in the north and east where much of the infrastructure was either destroyed or neglected by war. The firm also said it launched aerial bundle conductors (ABC) which it said were better than traditional cables. ABC has relative immunity to short-circuits caused by external forces such as wind or falling branches, reduced transmission losses and simpler installation, Alucop said. ABC are overhead power lines which use insulated conductors bundled tightly together in contrast with the traditional practice of un-insulated conductors separated by air gaps, the company said. See Extended Story.. October 26th, 2009  - Projects Mumbai India - KEC to improve power transmission network in Saudi Arabia and Chad KEC International, engaged in the power transmission, engineering, procurement and construction business, has won orders, worth INR4.7 billion, to design and build power transmission lines in Saudi Arabia and Chad. In Saudi Arabia, the company has won two orders totaling to INR4 billion. The scope of the orders includes survey, design, engineering, planning, construction, erection, testing and commissioning of 163km of 380kV DC transmission line to be executed in Riyadh. This order is worth INR3 billion and was secured from the Saudi Electricity Company. The company has also won an order in Saudi Arabia to build 69km of 132kV transmission line between two substations, and 37km of 33kV transmission line on steel poles to be executed in Najran. The order is worth INR1 billion and was secured from the Ministry of Water and Electricity of Saudi Arabia. These orders will be executed through the Saudi joint venture of the company. In Chad, the company has won an order worth INR0.7 billion for rehabilitation, reinforcement and extension of the electricity distribution network for the city of N'djamena. Execution of the order will be done through the wholly owned Middle East subsidiary of the company. October 26th, 2009  - Projects Ottawa Ontario - Power project clears “not in my back yard” hurdle Three southern Alberta landowners have lost a bid to bring a fight against a major international power transmission line to the Supreme Court. Tonbridge Power Inc., the developer of the $213-million Montana-Alberta Tie Line, or MATL, said Friday that Canada's highest court has decided against hearing an appeal by the landowners. "We're excited about getting on with the development of this project," said Bob Williams, with Calgary-based MATL, a subsidiary of Tonbridge. "We hope to start construction in December, with commerciality by the beginning of 2011." With the last legal issue now resolved, the merchant transmission developer said construction work on the 230-kilovolt line will begin shortly on both sides of the border, but noted agreements still need to be signed with the bulk of 360 landowners on the route. A number of the Alberta landowners were holding back from discussions with MATL until the top court decision was handed down, Williams said. "Now it's time to sit down and work through the issues," he said. "Our goal is to negotiate 100 per cent of the agreements." See Extended Story.. October 24th, 2009  - Projects Kobe Japan - Kobe Steel to improve the wire rod output in China Japan's Kobe Steel Ltd. is planning to increase the spring material output for automobile in China. In a bid to satisfy the rising demand in suspension spring of auto manufacturing industry in Japan, Kobe Steel would improve the production of a wire rod mill in Guangdong Province. It is noted that the aforesaid mill named Kobe Wire Rod Processing (Foshan) is co-financed by Kobe Steel, MetalOne and Shaft, mainly involving the production and sales of suspension spring as well as CR bar and cold heading wire used in high-strength screw. October 23rd, 2009  - Projects Port Kembla Australia - MMK future looks positive: millions to be spent on machinery Port Kembla copper manufacturer MM Kembla will invest in $11.6 million worth of new machinery, signalling its plans to continue its Illawarra operations long-term. The company presently leases older versions of the equipment, a copper billet caster and furnace, on an adjacent site owned by Japanese company Furukawa. But the lease is expiring and Furukawa plan to demolish the equipment and remediate the site for sale. MM Kembla's board has approved the company's contribution of the majority of the funds for the new billet caster and furnace, while the State Government announced yesterday it will fund the balance. The office of State Development minister Ian Macdonald declined to reveal the amount to be contributed by the Government through its Industry and Investment program, for reasons of commercial confidentiality. "The new billet caster will allow MMK to produce billets for copper tube manufacturing and to also recycle scrap copper," Mr Macdonald said. "This project will retain 199 direct existing jobs at MMK and bring $11.6 million in new investment to Port Kembla. MM Kembla employs 199 people in the tube mill which utilises the machinery. Another 100 are employed in its rod and wire division at Port Kembla. See Extended Story.. October 22nd, 2009  - Projects Abbeville South Carolina - Prysmian debuts first extra high voltage power cable plant in North America Prysmian Cables & Systems, a major global supplier of power and telecommunication cable, marks the launch of the first extra high voltage, vertical continuous vulcanization (VCV) power cable factory in North America. The 16-story, $46 million (31 million Euro) plant in Abbeville, S.C., reduces the need for North American imports of extruded extra high voltage technology, paper oil impregnated cable types and overhead power lines - critical goals of both U.S. and Canadian energy policy. See Extended Story.. October 22nd, 2009  - Projects Christchurch New Zealand - $1.8 million fiber optic cable project to connect Akaroa Chorus, Telecom's new network access business, has commenced work on a $1.8m project to lay about 35 kilometres of fiber optic cable from Little River to Akaroa. The project is scheduled to be completed by April next year and is part of the 2,500 kilometres of fiber optic cable Chorus is deploying nationally to deliver fast broadband to towns with 500 phone lines or more by the end of 2011. Chorus' GM Product Management, Chris Dyhrberg, says the Akaroa fiber project will provide the platform for increased telecommunications capacity into Akaroa. October 21st, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans to supply 500km of cable for airfield lighting system Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, is supplying Cairo Engineering Equipment with approximately 500km of cable to be used in the new third runway being constructed at Cairo International Airport in Egypt. Construction of the new runway has already started and it will be 4,000 metres long and 65 metres wide. It will replace the current cross runway after it becomes operational, increasing the capacity of the airport to 120 movements per hour. The 500km of cable supplied by Nexans will comprise 340kms 5kV primary cable that will provide power to the lighting transformers and 80kms of H07RN-F standard secondary cable which will connect the transformers to the airfield lights. The system will also include 80km of H07V-U standard earth cables. See Extended Story.. October 17th, 2009  - Projects Nairobi Kenya - $66m credit facility for Nairobi, Mombasa transmission project The European Investment Bank (EIB) has extended a $66-million credit facility to Kenya for the construction of a 450-km 400-kV double-circuit electricity transmission line connecting its two major cities, Nairobi and Mombasa. The funds will be channeled through the newly established Kenya Electricity Transmission Company. The project will also entail the construction of a 19-km 220-kV double-circuit line in the Nairobi area and the expansion of substations.The project will enable Kenya to transfer power generated at the coast to the main load centre around Nairobi and to connect more people to the national grid.“The Kenya government aims to add one-million consumers to the grid over the next five years, and this will require substantial investments in both generation and transmission,” says the EIB. See Extended Story.. October 17th, 2009  - Projects Rio de Janeiro Brazil - Vivo expects to share 12,000km of fiber with other operators by 2012 Brazil's largest mobile operator Vivo (NYSE: VIV) expects to share a total of 12,000km of fiber optic networks with other telecoms operators by 2012, company president Roberto Oliveira de Lima told reporters. The executive said that the transmission network Vivo is deploying in association with mobile operator Claro and telco Embratel will be operational next year. This transmission network covers the southern states of Parana, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. The network has a total extension of 4,500km. Each operator is deploying 1,500km and will be responsible for the administration and maintenance of that part of the network, Lima said at the Futurecom telecoms industry conference being held in São Paulo this week. The executive added that Vivo expects to deploy two additional fiber optic networks of 4,500km and 3,000km under a similar setup. However, the executive was unable to confirm which other operators will participate in these initiatives. Operators need to expand transmission networks due to increasing demand in the 3G segment, Lima said. October 13th, 2009  - Projects Danyang China - Lihua International announces production capacity expansion Lihua International Inc. a Chinese developer, designer, manufacturer, marketer and distributor of low cost, high quality alternatives to pure copper superfine and magnet wire, announced the new production capacity expansion following the recent completion of the company's initial public offering of common stock. The company said it has begun production on four new proprietary high speed manufacturing lines. The new lines increase Lihua's copper wire capacity from 1,000 metric tons per month to 1,500 metric tons per month and CCA wire capacity from 500 metric tons per month to 600 metric tons per month. See Extended Story.. October 10th, 2009  - Projects Fort Wayne Indiana - Superior Essex announces second expansion this year. Superior Essex Inc is again expanding operations in Fort Wayne. The magnet wire and cable manufacturer will invest nearly $1.3 million in a new facility, co-located with its primary Midwest distribution center, and create up to 15 positions. It is Superior Essex's second expansion in Fort Wayne in six months. In April, the company announced it would consolidate its Columbia City and Kentucky distribution centers, creating 15 new jobs by 2010 See Extended Story.. October 10th, 2009  - Projects Jakarta Indonesia - Composite Technology announces ACCC projects Composite Technology Corporation is pleased to announce two new orders for ACCC(TM) core for its subsidiary CTC Cable Corporation. These orders are from CTC Cable's stranding sources in Indonesia, PT KMI Wire and Cable Tbk and PT Tranka Kabel. These projects represent the first ACCC(TM) conductor projects that will be installed in Indonesia. See Extended Story.. October 8th, 2009  - Projects Baltimore Maryland - Senator Cardin Watches Marlin Steel Wire Manufacture for European Buyer A large European multinational manufacturer has awarded Marlin Steel Wire Products a large custom wire basket order. Marlin was manufacturing the baskets when Senator Cardin of Maryland visited the Marlin Steel Wire plant on October 2, 2009. Marlin was manufacturing the metal baskets when Senator Cardin of Maryland visited the Marlin Wire plant on October 2, 2009. He took the opportunity to praise the significant financial investment in the most modern bending equipment and the technological ingenuity of Marlin Wire. It was an extra bonus in his eyes that the product was being exported from the US, thanks to Baltimore workers. See Extended Story.. October 5th, 2009  - Projects Baoshan China - Baosteel to supply cable ropes for Yangtze River No 4 Bridge SteelGuru reports that Baosteel has announced that it won the bid to supply zinc coated steel wire used in Yangtze River No 4 Bridge China first three span suspension bridges in Nanjing. Baosteel will provide 17,000 tonnes coil rod and zinc coated steel wire for making bridge cable ropes. The release said with investment amounted to CNY 6.75 billion and overall length of near 29 kilometer, the 4th Yangtze River Bridge is important constituting part of Nanjing ring expressway as well as national highway from Shanghai to Chengdu. Foundation laid and construction started in January last year it is estimated that the bridge will complete construction and be ready for traffic in 2013. October 1st, 2009  - Projects Seoul Korea - LS Cable wins $12 Million. order from Siemens LS Cable, South Korea's biggest cable and wire manufacturer, has won a $11.7 million order from Germany's Siemens to provide cables for railroads. Under the deal, the local cable maker will supply electricity and telecommunications cables for a railway being constructed to link the Saudi Arabian cities of Mecca and Jeddah by the end of November, a company spokeswoman said, Tuesday. The deal is the first time for the Korean cable maker to export cables for railroads. LS officials say the partnership will pave the way to expand its client base to Alstom of France and even Canada-based Bombardier, the world's largest train maker. See Extended Story.. September 23rd, 2009  - Projects Brantford Ontario - Province of Ontario bets billions on wind power. Ontario's power grid is getting a $2.3 billion makeover as part of an ambitious, three-year effort to create 20,000 jobs and bring more green electricity to homes and businesses across the province. Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman said yesterday that Crown-owned Hydro One has been told to move quickly on a plan to expand and fortify the province's vast network of power-carrying transmission and distribution lines, many of which run through aboriginal territories and reach as far north as Kapuskasing and Kenora.In all, 20 projects are slated to go ahead. Some will boost capacity of existing transmission corridors, while others involve construction of "enabler lines" that branch out from corridors and tap into areas with rich wind and hydro potential. See Extended Story.. September 19th, 2009  - Projects Helena Montana - Financing set for Montana -Alberta transmission line A Canadian energy company and an arm of the U.S. Department of Energy have reached a deal to finance a proposed 214-mile Montana-Alberta power transmission line that would carry power from the region's emerging wind industry. The 230-kilovolt line planned by Tonbridge Power Inc. of Toronto would run from a substation outside of Lethbridge, Alberta, to a substation near Great Falls, Mont., and would carry power in both directions. The Department of Energy's Western Area Power Administration said Tuesday it will loan up to $161 million of the estimated $215 million cost of the Montana-Alberta Tie Ltd. line, using federal economic stimulus money. See Extended Story.. September 19th, 2009  - Projects Nuremberg, Germany - Leoni obtains contract to equip the world’s second largest solar power plant Leoni, the leading provider of cable systems to the automotive sector and other industries, is equipping the Lieberose solar farm in Brandenburg, which is the world’s second largest photovoltaic plant with output of 53 megawatts, with special cables. These will carry the current from about 700,000 solar modules. Leoni is currently expanding its capacity for further growth in the renewable energy market. The Company will shortly be presenting its portfolio at the 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition in Hamburg. See Extended Story.. September 18th, 2009  - Projects Montevideo Uruguay - Alcatel-Lucent, IT Telecom win Antel submarine cable deal. Uruguayan state-run telecom carrier Antel has selected a consortium comprising Alcatel-Lucent and IT Telecom for the deployment of a submarine fibre-optic cable linking the Uruguayan city of Maldonado with Las Tonnes in Argentina. With an ultimate design capacity of 3.84 Terabit, this new 250 km-long submarine cable system is expected to provide Antel in Uruguay and Telecom Argentina with greater capacity, faster connectivity and bandwidth availability to support innovative, IP-based services, while reducing the cost of broadband access in the region. Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will design, manufacture and commission the submarine cable system, based on its DWDM technology and cables. IT Telecom will design the route and perform marine surveys and installation of the submarine cable system. The submarine cable deployment is scheduled for completion at end-2010. September 18th, 2009  - Projects Vancouver British Columbia - Ottawa commits funding for B.C. $404millian power line. The province promised it will push ahead with construction of the $404-million transmission line through northwestern B.C. following Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement Wednesday that the federal government would cover up to $130 million of the cost. Harper made the announcement during his visit to Washington, heralding the line as a step towards building “a more efficient electricity grid, [and] increasing our use of clean and renewable sources of energy generation.” Gavin Dirom, CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C., said the electricity provided by the line has the potential to unlock $15 billion in private investment for the region and thousands of jobs. The funding, Harper said, would come out of the federal government’s green infrastructure fund and serve as a possible first move in establishing a power link between Canada and Alaska. See Extended Story.. September 15th, 2009  - Projects Riyadh Saudi Arabia - Al-Toukhi ties up with Turkish firm A Saudi company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Turkish company to form a joint venture for constructing overhead transmission line projects in the Kingdom. The agreement was signed between Mazin Al-Alami, president of Al-Toukhi Al-Toukhi Company for Industry, Trading & Contracting Ltd. and Hayrettin Ozdil, chairman Ozdil Energy, Contracting, Trade, and Industry Inc. at the Faisaliah Hotel on Monday. “The two companies will own equal shares in this joint venture which is geared to implement contracts for Extra High Voltage (EHV) transmission line projects,” Al-Alami told newsmen following the signing ceremony. He pointed out that the Kingdom had a long list of such projects with 3,355 km expected to be tendered by 2014. See Extended Story.. September 15th, 2009  - Projects Colombo Sri Lanka - NEC to build fiber cable between India and Sri Lanka NEC Corp. will install an undersea fiber-optic cable between India and Sri Lanka, it said Monday. The company signed a contract with Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. to construct the 320km telecommunications cable, which will be called the Bharat Lanka Cable System. Installation work is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of next year and the cable will offer an initial capacity of 40G bps (bits per second). It will be expandable to 960G bps should demand increase, said NEC. In addition to linking the two countries, the cable will also provide links from India to other destinations in Asia, Europe and the Americas as Sri Lanka serves as a gateway point for several other undersea telecommunications networks, said NEC. September 9th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins major cable contract for new Mumbai Metro trains Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a contract by Nanjing SR Puzhen Rail Transport (NPRT) of China as the exclusive supplier of all the onboard power, control and data cables for a fleet of 16 trains currently under construction for Phase 1 of the new Metro system in Mumbai, India. Over a 12-month contract, Nexans is supplying NPRT with a total of 932 kilometres of specialised rail cables for installation on 16 4-car Mumbai Metro trains. The cables which belongs to the FLAMEX® range of special cables for the rolling stock industry will be manufactured to the international NFF standard, and will be used to distribute power throughout the new trains. They will also provide control and data communication services for a variety of high-tech ancillary systems such as signalling and passenger information. See Extended Story.. September 8th, 2009  - Projects Stockholm Sweden - Cavotec MSL wins major cable reel equipment order for Brazilian mining group Vale Global engineering group, Cavotec MSL, has won a major order with Chinese industrial equipment specialist Dalian Huarui, to supply Brazilian mining group Vale with advanced cable reel systems for stacker/reclaimers. “This order boosts Cavotec’s presence on the Brazilian market and consolidates the group’s position in China, where Cavotec enjoys a long-standing relationship with Dalian Huarui,” says Cavotec Shanghai Managing Director, Gustavo Miller. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the general contractor for the deal, and the end user is global mining company Vale. See Extended Story.. September 5th, 2009  - Projects Charlottetown Prince Edward Island - P.E.I. seeks federal help for N.B. transmission line Prince Edward Island has requested federal stimulus funding for a new energy transmission line to New Brunswick so the Island can export more wind power to New England. Energy Minister Richard Brown said yesterday he made the request this week during a meeting of energy ministers in Newfoundland. Federal Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt attended some of the meetings and Brown said he made his request to her. "She is very interested in the project and she understands it's a major component in order for P.E.I. to achieve its objective of 500 megawatts of wind," he said. The current transmission line between New Brunswick and P.E.I. has only enough room for 222 megawatts of energy for import into P.E.I. and only room for 124 megawatts for export. That transmission line is operating close to capacity. But last year, the P.E.I. government announced a plan to increase the province's wind power production to 500 megawatts by 2013. The Island's current energy system can't accept this much wind energy, so the province wants to sell the surplus to New England. A new transmission line is one of the major components needed to make this plan possible. It's estimated it could cost between $75 million and $100 million, or more. September 4th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins a 39 million Euros power cable contract Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has won a contract worth approximately 39 million Euros to supply the subsea power export cables for phase I of the Belgian Belwind Offshore Windfarm project, located on the Bligh Bank, 46km off the coast of Zeebrugge. On project completion, Nexans’ cable technology will transmit environmentally friendly power to some 165,000 households in Belgium. Belwind NV is owned by Colruyt, Rabobank Project Equity, SHV, Meewind and Participatie Maatschappij Vlaanderen. See Extended Story.. September 4th, 2009  - Projects Abu Dhabi UAE - Emirates Steel to tap markets for $600 mln in Q1 Emirates Steel, owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, will tap markets for about $600 million in the first quarter of next year to fund expansion and consolidate debt, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday. The company, which is held by Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corp., also expects to complete a $700 million bridge loan extension by mid-October, pushing it back to next August. Emirates Steel took up the $700 million loan in May 2008 to fund the first phase of development at its Mussafah factory. The second phase, expanding the plant, is due for completion by 2011. See Extended Story.. September 4th, 2009  - Projects Montpelier Vermont - Hydro-Quebec gets okay for new transmission line Hydro-Quebec has won preliminary approval for another major transmission line through northern New England. Utilities say the line will offer another source of electricity for southern New England and potentially Vermont. By bringing more power into the region, the project could help lower costs. Vermont now gets about a third of its power supply from Quebec, but those contracts expire by the middle of the next decade. The state's utilities are negotiating new contracts with the provincial utility. And they say the power line, which is planned to run through New Hampshire, offers new options. September 1st, 2009  - Projects Fort Wayne Indiana - Rea Magnet Wire Co. is putting $3.5 million into its plant on Lafayette's south side The investment has allowed Rea Magnet Wire Co. to add four employees and a new product to its manufacturing lineup, install additional equipment for existing product lines and do some modernization work at the plant. The new product is a specialty wire that is used in magnetic resonance imaging and other medical equipment. It represents Rea Magnet Wire's initial entry into the growing health care industry. "We have a flexible, cross-trained work force who are able to adapt to what's required by the market," plant manager Eric Foster said during an announcement of the company's plans last week. See Extended Story.. August 29th, 2009  - Projects Irvine California - Composite Technology announces significant ACCC Conductor order in South America Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) is pleased to announce an order for its patented and proprietary ACCC(TM) conductor issued to our subsidiary, CTC Cable Corporation. The order is significant as it represents another repeat order for ACCC conductor from the utility in Chile after a long period of evaluation of the previous installation. The order provides 112 kilometers of ACCC conductor with hardware for the replacement of a 110kV double circuit power line in Santiago, Chile. The contract was awarded by Enersis on behalf of Chilectra S.A, who operates the line. Enersis and Chilectra are majority-owned by Endesa of Spain. The conductor will be delivered in the fourth calendar quarter of 2009 and installation will take place in the first quarter of 2010. See Extended Story.. August 18th, 2009  - Projects Menomonee Valley, Wisconsin - RAD-CON, Inc. announces commissioning of a 100% hydrogen annealing furnace system, at Charter Wire’s new manufacturing facility in, is now operational. Last year, when Charter Wire, a division of Charter Manufacturing Company (Milwaukee, WI), decided to move its manufacturing facility to a new location, they called on RAD-CON, Inc. to replace the company’s batch annealing capacity with 100% hydrogen annealing, the latest technology available. Now, with full production set for August, the new furnace system is the first production unit operating in the new facility, allowing Charter to take advantage of the higher quality hydrogen annealing process. During the commissioning of the equipment, Charter’ Project Manager, Greg Volovsek, stated, “RAD-CON’s portion of the project has gone very well.” See Extended Story.. August 8th, 2009  - Projects Zurich, Switzerland - ABB wins $540-million order in Brazil for world's longest power transmission link ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, has won orders worth over $540 million from the Abengoa Group to deliver the key technology for the world’s longest power transmission link to be constructed in Brazil. The power highway will link two new hydropower plants in the northwest of the country with São Paulo, Brazil's main economic center, over a distance of 2,500 kilometers. Power will be transmitted at very high voltage (600 kilovolts) to minimize transmission losses. This will be the second transmission project in Brazil using HVDC (high-voltage direct current) at 600 kV. The Itaipu project, with two transmission lines built by ABB in 1984 and 1987, is the world’s highest-voltage DC power transmission system currently in operation. ABB pioneered HVDC transmission technology more than 50 years ago and remains the world leader in this domain. See Extended Story.. August 6th, 2009  - Projects Novi, Minnesota - ITC Midwest to invest more than $20 million to connect wind farm with grid. ITC Midwest, an independent energy transmission company, will invest more than $20 million on a line that will connect NextEra Energy’s wind farm near Colo to the power grid. “I think there’s going to be a significant amount of investment in Story County in the next few years,” Area Mananger Troy Weary said. Weary introduced ITC Midwest, which purchased the wind farm’s transmission lines in December 2007 from Alliant Energy, to the Story County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The company is upgrading more than 45 miles of transmission line from Marshall to Boone counties – including about 25 miles north of 190th Street in eastern Story County – from 115 kV to 161 kV. ITC Midwest built one substation in Story County last year, and plans a “significant” investment into a second, he said. “The system that came online 50 to 70 years ago didn’t have in mind to have a wind farm in Story County,” Weary said. The line will eventually extend from Boone County to Grand Junction in Greene County, he said. ITC Midwest, based in Cedar Rapids, a subsidiary of ITC Holdings owns more than 7,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and substations in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri. July 31st, 2009  - Projects Ankara Turkey, - Turkey and Georgia establish 1000 MW power line. Turkey and Georgia will establish an electricity transmission line, the Turkish energy minister said on Wednesday. Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said that Turkey and Georgia would establish 1,000-megawatts of "Borchka-Meskhetian" electricity transmission line. Yildiz signed the related agreement with his Georgian counterpart Alexander Khetaguri in the Turkish capital of Ankara. "130 kilometers of the line will be in Turkey, and 25 kilometers will be in Georgia," Yildiz said during the signature ceremony. Yildiz said the two-way transmission line would cost about 140 million USD, and each country would be responsible for the investment within its territories. "We aim to conclude the project in 2012," Yildiz said. Also speaking in the ceremony, Khetaguri said that this line would help transmitting excessive electricity generated in Georgia to Turkey and then to Europe via Turkey. Khetaguri also said electricity from other Caspian countries and Azerbaijan could be transferred through the line. July 30th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins 15 million Euros contract to supply power underground cables to reinforce Mumbai’s power transmission infrastructure Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a 15 million Euros contract by the Tata Power Company Ltd, India’s largest private sector power utility, for a project to design, manufacture and supply high voltage underground cables to reinforce the power infrastructure in Mumbai, India’s financial capital and the second most populous city in the world. In a two-year ‘total supply and service’ contract for Tata Power, starting in 2009, Nexans will deliver five complete circuits of 220 kV cable and associated accessories to provide an extra 300 MVA of power carrying capacity for the underground network linking various EHV (Extra High Voltage) substations across Mumbai. See Extended Story.. July 28th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins a 33.5 million Euro subsea umbilical contract from Petrobras Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a 33.5 million Euro contract by Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro SA) to develop, manufacture and supply the electro-hydraulic control umbilicals for development of the Tambau and Urugua deepwater natural gas and oil fields, located in the Santos Basin around 130 miles offshore from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The umbilicals will connect the FPSO Cidade de Santos MV20, serving the Tambau and Urugua gas and oil fields, to the subsea manifolds and then connect the manifolds to the production wells. Nexans’ specialist umbilical facility in Halden, Norway, will produce a total length of over 65 km of umbilicals, in 16 lengths, to be installed in water depth reaching 1,500 meters. See Extended Story.. July 25th, 2009  - Projects Kolkata West Bengal India - KEC International secures domestic orders worth Rs 471 crores KEC International Ltd (KEC), a global leader in the power transmission EPC business, has won four orders totaling to Rs 471 crores in the domestic market. The two orders from North East Transmission Co. Ltd. (a Joint Venture of ONGC, IL&FS and Govt. of Tripura) are for supplyof towers, hardware, line materials and construction of: 1. Package A3: 400 kV D/C Khelerihat - Byrnihat Transmission line - route length 119 kms - to be constructed in the State of Mehgalaya. 2. Package A4: 400 kv D/C Byrnihat - Bongaigaon Transmission line - route length 203 kms - to be constructed in the State of Assam. The transmission lines are associated with 726.6 MW gas based power plants at Pallatana in Tripura. Both the orders are scheduled to be completed by February 2012. See Extended Story.. July 24th, 2009  - Projects Hobart Tasmania - Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett explains his vision for a broadband enabled Tasmania. Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett says his government's foresight in keeping electricity in state hands provides the access to the infrastructure to make this possible, and that's why Tasmania is first cab off the rank with the new NBN. Leapfrog is certainly the right term — until now, for a service provider, delivering broadband to Tasmanians has been an expensive exercise and that has certainly restricted competition and consumer choice. The expense came in the cost of backhaul from the Apple Isle across to the mainland. Although there were two links, they were both owned by Telstra. See Extended Story.. July 24th, 2009  - Projects New York City/ Morristown New Jersey - SEACOM and Tyco Telecommunications connect East Africa to the World SEACOM, Ltd, and its supplier, Tyco Telecommunications, a business segment of Tyco Electronics Ltd. and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology and marine services, today announced they have completed the installation, testing and commissioning of Phase 1 of the SEA Cable System. This milestone marks the conclusion of a comprehensive test program, which verified connectivity and compliance with all transmission requirements, while moving South and East Africa a significant step closer toward achieving increased international connectivity. See Extended Story.. July 20th, 2009  - Projects Livermore California - Massive Northern California transmission line project tanked The plug has been pulled on a controversial power line project that would have cut through Livermore Valley farms and vineyards to deliver renewable energy to Santa Clara and other parts of Northern California. Transmission Agency of Northern California , the consortium of cities and agencies that spearheaded the project , voted today to terminate it after the withdrawal of several key investors, TANC spokesman Brerndan Wonnacott said in a press release. Last week, the Sacramento Municipal Utility abruptly backed out of the project. On Monday, the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts followed suit. "Without the financial support of key TANC utility members to proceed with this process, TANC cannot undertake a detailed environmental analysis ... As such, the (project) and the proposed alternative routes are no longer being considered," the press release reads. Many of the environmentalists, property owners and others who opposed the plan said that while they were supportive of renewable energy sources, they took issue with the TANC project's potential health, aesthetic and economic impacts. Opponents argued that better options, such as state-of-the-art underground transmission lines, needed to be explored. July 18th, 2009  - Projects Beijing China - Jinchuan to complete copper nickel alloy plant by 2009 end Platts reported that China's Jinchuan Group expects to complete a new 60,000 tonnes per annum copper nickel alloy pipe, rod and extrusion plant by end of 2009. Of the 60,000 tonnes per annum of new output, 32,500 tonnes per annum will be copper alloy rods and wire rods, 15,800 tonnes per annum white copper pipes, 10,700 tonnes per annum brass and purple pipes and 1,000 tonnes per annum extrusion products. A Jinchuan official said that "Installation of new production facilities are underway that are scheduled to be completed by year end and future output will be both for sales within China and for export." He added that the output will be used in shipbuilding, desalination, galvanizing, electrical appliances, automobile and military applications. See Extended Story.. July 15th, 2009  - Projects Milan Italy - Prysmian secures a set of Extra High Voltage projects in the Netherlands and Germany worth a total €20.3 million Prysmian, a leading worldwide player in the energy and telecommunications cables markets, has been awarded - through its Dutch subsidiary - three new contracts for the upgrade and development of Extra High Voltage power transmission systems in The Netherlands and Germany. The projects’ value amounts to total €20.3 million. See Extended Story.. July 14th, 2009  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite Technologies wins Rs.372 crore BSNL contract Sterlite Technologies Limited a leading global provider of transmission solutions today announced that it has won a contract from BSNL, valued at Rs 372 Crores (US$ 77 Million), for enabling a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Network based on Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology. Sterlite was awarded a major share of the total outlay of project, amongst competition from global players. Sterlite has streamlined its efforts to ensure that the contract is executed within FY10. See Extended Story.. July 10th, 2009  - Projects Beijing China - China Unicom accelerating FTTx broadband network deployment China Unicom, one of the Big Three integrated telecom operators in the country, is speeding up FTTx-based broadband network deployment nationwide. The provincial branches of China Unicom are preparing to kick off bidding invitations for the procurement of FTTx equipment, said an executive for the China Unicom Shandong branch. China Unicom will upgrade the existing broadband networks and set up FTTx networks in areas without a broadband coverage, in its bigger-than-ever broadband network expansion project. The telecom operator is about to pump around CNY 15 billon into the network deployment in north China. June 27th, 2009  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite Technologies announces aggressive plan to catapult into global top three manufacturers of optical fiber. Sterlite Technologies Limited (“Sterlite”) a leading global provider of transmission solutions for the telecom and power industries, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved the enhancement of the Company’s optical fiber annual manufacturing capacity to 20 Million-km, which would position Sterlite amongst the Top 3 manufacturers globally. Sterlite’s current facility of 6 Million-Km is already under expansion to 12 Million-Km, which would get established in the current fiscal. The enhanced capacity of 20 Million-Km that would be functional by 2011, would require a capex outlay of Rs. 250 Crores (US$ 52 Million). The expanded facility would be capable of manufacturing the Company’s existing range of optical fiber products, as well as have the intrinsic capability to manufacture new products that would cater to high bandwidth applications required by global markets. The expansion would be done by through a combination of brown-field expansion at its existing facility in Aurangabad, and a green-field setup at a location that would soon be finalized. For full press release use this link June 18th, 2009  - Projects Sao Paulo, Brazil - New $4 Billion Steel Mill in Northeastern Brazil Brazilian miner Vale SA says it plans to work with South Korean steel maker Dongkuk Steel Mill Co. to build a $4 billion mill in northeastern Brazil. The two companies signed a preliminary agreement on Wednesday. A statement from Vale Wednesday said the mill will be able to produce 6 million tons of steel slabs, but a spokesman for the company could not say when production would begin. Vale is the world's biggest producer of iron ore, a key ingredient in steel and one of the country's top exports.The mill will be built in Sao Goncalo do Amarante, in the northeastern state of Ceara. See Extended Story.. June 18th, 2009  - Projects Vancouver, B.C. - Yalian Steel to Construct Production plant with a C$27.5 million credit Steel pipe producer Yalian Steel Corp. has secured a C$27.5 million credit line that will help in the construction of a plant in Yangzhou, located in Jiangsu province in China. The Vancouver-based company said Wednesday the deal is a three-year term and carries an interest rate of 5.4 per cent with the Agricultural Bank of China. It will be secured by land use rights and/or other physical assets, as required. Yalian Steel has drawn an initial $6.5 million to fund the final phase of the production plant. It will produce welded steel pipe used for the energy pipelines market in China. The plant is designed to produce 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes of steel pipe a year, but is expected to have an annual output of only 110,000 tonnes during its first year. See Extended Story.. June 15th, 2009  - Projects Irvine, CA - CTC Cable Corporation To Supply Four 88kV transmission Lines in South Africa Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) is pleased to announce a new order for its subsidiary CTC Cable Corporation. The order, issued by Allteck Line Contractors, a Quanta Services company , is comprised of ACCC(TM) conductor and associated hardware to be used for reconductoring four 88kV transmission lines for City Power Johannesburg in South Africa. The reconductoring project will help to significantly improve the capacity and reliability of the transmission grid serving the Johannesburg area. This is the first use of ACCC(TM) conductor in South Africa and demonstrates penetration of a new geographic market for CTC Cable. ACCC(TM) conductor is the most broadly accepted composite core conductor technology in the industry with over 130 installations with 5,000 miles in service to date including thousands of miles of transmission lines in China, Mexico, South America, Europe and the US. Demand growth in Johannesburg and the region has led to severe strain on the electrical grid which has driven the need to increase capacity. Quanta Services teamed with Edison Jehamo Power to reconductor approximately 70 kilometers of the grid without interrupting electrical service to the users. Quanta has a patented technique to safely replace the conductor while it is energized, meaning no interruption of electrical service or rerouting of the electrical load is required. Allteck will provide the technical expertise needed for the energized reconductoring project and it will be supported by other Quanta teams in Kansas City and Houston. Edison Jehamo Power will provide local manpower and equipment. See Extended Story.. June 15th, 2009  - Projects Taipei - Submarine Cable to be Installed by Chunghwa, China Telecom Chunghwa Telecom Co and China Telecom Corp yesterday announced plans to jointly build a submarine cable between Kinmen and Xiamen. Construction of the submarine cable is estimated to cost less than 100 million yuan, or NT$476 million, with the two telecom operators sharing the cost, company executives said yesterday on the sidelines of a two-day meeting on Cross-Strait Telecommunications Cooperation and Exchange in Taipei. The submarine cable project is still subject to approval by Taiwanese and Chinese authorities and will begine once it has recieved the green light. Leng Rongquan, chief engineer of China Telecom, said the company was still in talks with Taiwan’s largest telecommunications operator about the project. He said that construction of the cable would be beneficial to the telecommunications industry on both sides of the Strait, as it would increase efficiency and reduce costs. See Extended Story.. June 13th, 2009  - Projects Rochester MN - Project to Strengthen Wind Power Transmission System A $20 million upgrade has begun on transmission lines that carry electricity from wind turbines near Adams to a substation 27 miles away in Bolan, Iowa. "It is an existing line that we are rebuilding to have a larger capacity, primarily to meet the needs of the turbines in that area," said Tom Peterson, spokesman for Independent Transmission Co. Midwest. The nine-month upgrade started May 18 and is scheduled to be completed in February 2010. "This project is part of our continued commitment to invest in the electric transmission grid to enhance electric reliability for the region and to support the connection of renewable resources to the grid," Doug Collins said in a statement. Collins is executive director of ITC Midwest. "As we continue to see our demand for the renewable energy resources available in Minnesota and Iowa, our teams are busy keeping up with that demand." See Extended Story.. June 12th, 2009  - Projects NorthEast, U.S.A. - $1B Investment in Upstate National Grid National Grid is prepared to invest approximately $1 billion in projects in upstate New York, with the addition of 500 New York jobs. National Grid said Wednesday it has signed a five-year contract with NorthEast Power Alliance to help provide part of its U.S. electricity transmission investment program. NorthEast Power Alliance, a joint venture between AMEC, R.G. Vanderweil Engineers and Michels Corp., will work on transmission projects throughout National Grid’s upstate service territory. The contract is part of National Grid’s network investment program. The company has hundreds of thousands of electric customers across upstate New York. See Extended Story.. June 11th, 2009  - Projects Hattersheim Germany - Several hundred kilometres of safety cable, installed in the five motorway tunnels of the West Bypass at Zurich by Datwyler Cables. Since 2007, Datwyler Cables delivered copper and fibre-optics cables, as well as the corresponding components, to several working committees and manufacturers of circuits in the frame of the construction.The safety cables, with extended insulation and functional integrity (FE 180/E30-E60) contribute to the reliable function of the aeration, ventilation, signalling and lighting. The pre-tested systems made by Datwyler Cables fulfil the European guidelines and guarantee high system availability, even in case of a fire. June 8th, 2009  - Projects Liaoyang City,Liaoning,China - Liaoyang Steel launches high speed wire rod production line It is reported that Liaoyang Steel Co. funded CNY 200 million early this year in introducing a 500,000 tonne high speed wire rod production line from Italy, which has succeeded in test run and started to service. The products of the newly settled line are special steel products exclusively used in railway and automobile, hopefully to be showing evident dominance. By the time the capacity runs fully, it will create output value of CNY 2 billion with 100 million turned in as profit as tax. Liaoyang Steel Co founded in February 2003 is comprehensive steel company, concentrating on iron and steel smelting, sintering, pellet, high speed wire rod production. Its registered capital is CNY 200 million. Now, it has developed into the biggest non-government steel company in Liaoyuan city with annual capacity of 800,000 tons and total assets of CNY 1 billion. (Source www.ln.gov.cn via SteelGuru) June 3rd, 2009  - Projects Milan Italy - Prysmian awarded 47 Million Euro contract in Qatar for a power trasmission project by Qatar General Electricity & Water Corp. Prysmian, a worldwide leading Group in the sector of cables and systems for energy and telecommunications, has been awarded a new contract worth €47 million by Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) for the development of a power transmission turnkey project serving Doha, Qatar’s capital city. This new agreement follows the similar €168 million contract secured in 2008 by a Prysmian led consortium for the construction of a high voltage underground cable system, and further confirms the strategic role Prysmian is playing in the Middle East as a major utilities partner for the current power transmission network expansion program. See Extended Story.. June 3rd, 2009  - Projects Kanagawa Japan - JAXA selects OKI Electric Cable FPC for IKAROS OKI Electric Cable announced Tuesday that its 14 meter Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) was selected by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), to be used for their probe, “IKAROS*1,” which is a small-sized solar-powered sail. Using OKI Electric Cable’s 14 meter FPC, JAXA will conduct field tests of solar energy driving power in space, which will be the first time in the world that such power will be put to practical use. OKI Electric Cable will showcase its FPC at the JPCA Show, which will be held in Tokyo from June 3-June 5. (Booth number: 3E-10) See Extended Story.. June 1st, 2009  - Projects Seoul Korea - Gaon Cable Ltd contracted to supply Signal Cables for Seoul-Pusan TGV Trial-Section. Gaon Cable Ltd. has recently succeeded to develop Signal Cables for TGV And contracted to supply for Seoul-Pusan TGV Trial-Section,which is under construction as a national policy project of Korean government. About Three years and USD half a Million have been invested in developing such high-shielded Signal cables for TGV for the First Time in Korea. According to Korea TGV Management Corporation on the July 23, 1998, Gaon awarded the first international Tender for the supply of Trial-control and Signal cables to be installed at Seoul-Pusan TGV trial Section,after successful pass of strict qualification screening process imposed by the tender Authority. See Extended Story.. May 30th, 2009  - Projects Zurich, Switzerland, - ABB cables to strengthen Danish power grid ABB a leading power and automation technology group, has won an order from SEAS-NVE, a leading Danish energy company, to provide a cable solution. This will help strengthen the existing transmission grid and enable the integration of more wind power from the Rødsand II offshore wind park, expected to be commissioned in late 2010. ABB will supply, install and commission 116 km of underground cable and 56 km of submarine cable, both rated at 145 kV. The cable technology being deployed is designed to manage overload and has a double circuit option, which helps secure transmission even if the cable gets damaged . This also facilitates the transmission grid's efficiency and flexibility. See Extended Story.. May 29th, 2009  - Projects Chesterfield, Derbyshire U.K - Tratos produce 18km continuous lenght of subsea fiber cable. Tratos recently supplied a 24 Optical Fibers cable suitable for subsea installation up to 200 meters in depth for the ADRIATIC LNG Terminal which required a continuous length of 18km. The Adriatic LNG terminal is a liquid natural gas offshore terminal nine miles offshore near Rovigo, Italy in the northern Adriatic. It is the world's first offshore LNG terminal. When the terminal becomes fully operational, it is expected to store and regasify 21.8 million cubic meters (770 million cubic feet) per day, enough to meet 10% of Italy~{!/~}s natural gas needs. May 28th, 2009  - Projects Auckland New Zeeland - Transpower cleared to build 200km transmission line Transpower has been cleared to build a highly controversial 200 km transmission line from the South Waikato to Auckland. The upgrade has drawn numerous objections to the board of inquiry, which was set up under the Resource Management Act. The board said, in a draft decision, that the benefits of the transmission line outweigh the disadvantages. The project has been very controversial among residents in the area Mr Sexton a farmer made one of 1200 submissions to the board of inquiry. He says Transpower has got everything it wanted from the process and still is not playing fair. "Transpower has totally underestimated the cost of land issues and access, they will end up beating landowners into submission," he says. Transpower says it will be as open as possible with landowners May 27th, 2009  - Projects Cairo Egypt - Sewedy Cables to build new plant in Yemen El Sewedy Cables said yesterday it would establish a $42 million low-voltage power cable plant in a joint venture in Yemen, making it the first cable producer in the country. In a press release the company, the largest Arab cable maker by market value, said the plant would produce a maximum of 12,000 tonnes of copper and aluminium and would reach full capacity in its fourth year of operation. El Sewedy would own 70 percent of the venture, while 30 percent would be owned by Hassan & Masoud Abo Gaig, the group said. The plant will be built on land leased from the government and will be tax-exempt for five years from the start of production, according to the statement. May 27th, 2009  - Projects Seoul Korea - Taihan Electric Wire secures US $140 million power project order in Kuwait Taihan has announced on that the company has secured a new power order for supplying 400kV extra high voltage transmission grid worth US $140 million with the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) of Kuwait. It was a quite competitive bid among Taihan and 5 other global companies from Europe and Japan. By getting this turn-key base order, Taihan will design and install 400kV underground power transmission system using newly developed ‘Enameled Cable’ including accessories. Taihan recently developed this 400kV enameled cable which has 20% higher efficiency in electric power than existing cables. After 2-years development process, it succeeded to produce this new cable. Despite the global economic crisis, Taihan’s sales in overseas power cable market has been increasing more than 30% annually during last several years. May 22nd, 2009  - Projects Erlangen, Germany - Siemens equips hydropower plant in China with gas-insulated high voltage transmission line Siemens Energy is constructing a high voltage gas-insulated transmission line (GIL) for China’s second largest hydropower plant "Xiluodu", currently under construction in the southwest of the country on the Jinsha Jiang river. The total tube length for this line is 12.5 kilometers. The project involves seven three-phase systems, each with a length of approximately 600 meters. For Siemens, this is the most comprehensive GIL installation to date. The gas-insulated transmission lines provide the vertical connection between the gas-insulated high voltage switchgear (GIS) in the power plant cavern at the foot of the dam and the overhead line at the edge of the dam wall. The gas-insulated high voltage transmission line is designed for a power capacity of 3900 megavolt ampere (MVA) at a voltage of 550 Kilovolt (kV) and a rated current of 4500 ampere (A). The order, which was placed by China Three Gorges Project Corporation, Yichang, has a value of about EUR 30 million. Commissioning of the GIL link is planned for June 2013. See Extended Story.. May 22nd, 2009  - Projects Erlangen, Germany - Siemens to install high-voltage direct-current transmission system for private investor in India For the private investor Adani Power Limited (APL) Siemens Energy is to install a bipolar 500-kilovolt high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system with a capacity of 2,500 megawatts (MW) in India. Starting in February 2011, the HVDC system is scheduled to provide low-loss transmission of electrical energy over a distance of approximately 960 kilometers from a coal-fired power plant near the port city of Mundra on India~{!/~}s west coast to the industrial regions of the state of Haryana in the vicinity of New Delhi. See Extended Story.. May 20th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins an airfield lighting cable contract for King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Nexans, has won a contract from Almabani to supply special airfield lighting cables for King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Almabani is the general contractor for the current airfield facilities upgrade project at KAIA that forms part of a major redevelopment of the airport to expand its capacity to 80 million passengers per year, including the capability to handle the new Airbus A380 Superjumbo aircraft. The Nexans contract includes the supply of some 1,500 km of 5 kV easy-to-install and watertight primary cables to connect the airfield power network to the lighting transformers located on the runways that power the airfield lights. See Extended Story.. May 20th, 2009  - Projects Moscow Russia - Mechel launches welded Mesh production line in Moscow region Steel Guru reports that Mechel OAO one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces the launch of welded mesh production by its Mechel Service OOO service and sales subsidiary in Moscow Region. In the beginning of May 2009, Mechel Service has commissioned an automated line to manufacture welded meshes in the Town of Vidnoye, Moscow Region. The production was set up on the territory of a reconstructed workshop of Mechel's Moscow Coke and Gas Plant OAO. The procedure of certification of the product has already been completed thus enabling Mechel Service OOO to supply the product to the market immediately. See Extended Story.. May 15th, 2009  - Projects Fort Wayne, Indiana - Fort Wayne Metals unveils expansion plans Fort Wayne Metals Research Products Corp. announced today plans for an expansion at its Labeca facility. The company says it will invest $2.3 million to make improvements and add equipment to its Labeca plant, which processes titanium wire and rod. The project is expected to be completed in November and create 20 full and part-time jobs. The company will make real estate improvements and add new equipment to the 3401 McArthur Drive location. The project is expected to be completed in November and will create 20 full and part-time jobs. See Extended Story.. May 13th, 2009  - Projects Nairobi Kenya - ADB to finance 400 kV power transmission line between Mombasa and Nairobi African Development Bank ADB is all set to offer a KES5.8 billion loan to the Kenya government to fund the construction of a 450 km, 400 kV double-circuit transmission line between Rabai (Mombasa) and Isinya (60 km from Nairobi) that will reduce power shortages in Kenya. The project will help the evacuation of power produced in the Mombasa area to Nairobi and ultimately into the national grid. The loan covers building of new transmission lines from Isinya till the Embakasi substation in Nairobi. The loan will also cover a portion of the expenditure for erection of shunt reactors at Rabai as well as expansion of a 19 km 220 kV double-circuit power line connecting the Rabai and Embakasi substations. See Extended Story.. May 13th, 2009  - Projects Santa Fe Springs, California - Philatron Wire & Cable expands line to electric vehicle market The most extensive UL Listings for EV cable is deciding factor for BMW to partner with Philatron Wire and Cable. BMW, the German manufacturer of fine automobiles, found a US Manufacturer of Electrical wire and cable, Philatron, to power the new Electric MINI E. This discovery came by finding that Philatron has the most extensive UL listing for EV cable than any other wire and cable company in the world. The Electrical Vehicle market is on the rise, and Philatron is adept to offer extensive engineering assistance to auto manufacturers on this design. In fact, BMW's decision to partner with Philatron is due to extensive engineering design assistance, fast response, and quick production of the cable, which is manufactured in 3 ½ weeks (the fastest in the business). See Extended Story.. May 8th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins 7 million Euro topside cable contract for Usan FPSO offshore Nigeria Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has received a 7 million Euro order from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to manufacture and supply the topside power, control, instrumentation and telecommunications cables for the FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel currently under construction for the Usan deepwater oilfield, off the coast of Nigeria. The cables will be delivered and installed between October 2009 and March 2010. See Extended Story.. May 6th, 2009  - Projects Malolos City, Bulacan, Philippines - NGCP commits implementation of Mindanao transmission projects The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will continue to develop and improve the power transmission network in Mindanao to keep up with growing power demands in the area. NGCP is investing as much as P10.32 Billion for various transmission projects in the Mindanao grid for the period 2009-2012. Dr. Walter W. Brown, president of the recently privatized utility corporation, made this announcement at a recent gathering of the Zamboanga del Norte Press Club members in Dipolog City. "NGCP has taken over a government corporation. While we are privileged to operate it as a private corporation, we are still responsible for providing a public service. We believe that providing service is a public trust which we intend to uphold at all times," Dr. Brown told journalists. See Extended Story.. May 5th, 2009  - Projects Beijing China - UHV lines may be ideal for bringing electricity from remote areas. All eyes are on a big test in China. China wants to use melting snow on the Tibetan Plateau to power neon lights more than a thousand miles away in Shanghai. And to make that vision a reality, planning the use of ultra-high-voltage power lines. China is betting that UHV can solve its massive energy dilemma. Most of the nation's resources, such as coal and hydropower, are located far from the booming cities that need electricity most. And trucking coal across the country, or building more power plants near cities, would make China's pollution even worse. The developments are being closely watched around the world. Densely populated India and Brazil see the UHV technology as a way to secure future energy supplies. In the U.S. and Europe, meanwhile, utilities need to build high-voltage transmission lines to carry electricity from remote regions rich in solar and wind power. See Extended Story.. May 5th, 2009  - Projects Minneapolis Minnesota - Wind Power superhighway gets go-ahead Wind power may be one of the most important alternative energies in the United States, but it's useless if we don't have transmission lines to transport the energy from wind-rich rural areas in the Midwest to cities with large power demands. That's where the Green Power Express a 3,000 mile wind power superhighway designed to transmit 12,000 megawatts of power from the Upper Midwest to Midwestern and Eastern states comes in. See Extended Story.. May 4th, 2009  - Projects Kuala Lumpur - Tenaga aims to raise ringgit-denominated loan for power line. Malaysia's biggest power producer, Tenaga Nasional, plans to raise ringgit-denominated loans to finance a $2 billion submarine transmission line carrying electricity from Sarawak on Borneo to the peninsula, a senior company official said. "We are looking at ringgit financing for the transmission line," CEO Che Khalib Mohamad Noh told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday, but said financing was not expected in the next 12 months. "We will raise it tranche by tranche because the Bakun project will be spread out over seven years. We certainly don't need financing over the next 12 months," he said. The cable project involves laying a 730-kilometre high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line and a 670-km undersea cable for the 2,400-megawatt Bakun hydroelectric dam. See Extended Story.. May 1st, 2009  - Projects Shanghai China - Baosteel goes ahead with Nantong wire rod Project SteelGuru reports that Baosteel Group has released official approval days ago to its Nantong wire rod project and set up a subsidiary to deal with it. The subsidiary, Baosteel Group Nantong Wire Rod Product Co Ltd, will be built on the basis of Baosteel Group Shanghai Ergang Co Ltd. Ergang is reported as the only one in China, who owns integrated manufacturing technologies in producing galvanized steel wire for large-size bridge cables. See Extended Story.. April 28th, 2009  - Projects Atlanta Georgia - Superior Essex announces Fort Wayne expansion Superior Essex announced Monday plans for expansion of its distribution operations in Fort Wayne. The project involves an investment of $485,000 by the company and is expected to create 15 new jobs in the area by 2010. Superior Essex will also continue to employ 30 full-time workers from its Columbia City, Indiana warehouse."We are pleased with the cooperation, support and interest from local, county, and state officials regarding our investment in the local economy. Dating back to the earliest days of our company, we have had operations in Fort Wayne," said Ronald Harris, Vice President of Distribution for Superior Essex. "It is exciting to further build our ties to the area by growing distribution operations here." See Extended Story.. April 27th, 2009  - Projects Seoul Korea - KEPCO to install new 22.9 kV superconductor power cable system. Follow-up story see news item April 22 Devens, Massachusetts - American Superconductor wins order for about 80K meters of 344 superconductors LS Cable Ltd.has ordered 80,000 meters (50 miles) of 344 superconductors, American Superconductor Corp.'s second generation high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire. LS Cable will use the wire to manufacture a 22.9 kV cable system that it will install in Korea Electric Power Corp.~{!/~}s (KEPCO) commercial power delivery network near the city of Seoul in 2010. Founded in 1962 and based in Anyang, South Korea, LS Cable is Korea~{!/~}s largest power cable manufacturer with nearly 8,200 employees worldwide and annual sales in excess of US$6 billion. This is the single largest commercial order for 2G HTS wire in the world, according to AMSC. See Extended Story.. April 25th, 2009  - Projects Mumbai India - Mukand plans Rs 300cr steel wire mfg facility at Nashik Speciality steelmaker Mukand Ltd is planning to set up a stainless steel wire manufacturing facility near Nashik, at a total investment of Rs 300 crore. The proposed facility, which will be set up at Sinnar area of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), is expected to be operational by October November this year "With an aim to meet the market demand, the company is setting up a steel wire manufacturing facility at Sinnar, 30 kms from Nashik. The company has already acquired 44.65 acre of plot from MIDC at Sinnar and will shortly commence construction there. The proposed facility will cover a built-up area of 15,000 sq mt and company~{!/~}s investment in this project will be around Rs 300 crore," the company sources said. See Extended Story.. April 25th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins a 2 million Euro contract to supply power cables for Tunisia's new Enfidha Airport Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a contract worth approximately 2 million euros by Tepe AkfenVentures (TAV), the leading airports operator in Turkey, to supply the power cables for the terminal building at Tunisia~{!/~}s new Enfidha Airport. TAV, the global contractor responsible for the construction of Enfidha airport, has ordered both low voltage (LV) and medium voltage (MV) power cables for the terminal building from Nexans in Turkey. Cables will be supplied by different production units of Nexans Group. See Extended Story.. April 24th, 2009  - Projects Anshan, Liaoning, China - Ansteel and Bekaert open new production plant in Chongqing Ansteel and Bekaert has officially opened a new production plant for steel cord products in Chongqing (China). Ansteel, a leader in the Chinese steel industry and one of the top steel producers in the world, and Bekaert, global market and technological leader in advanced metal transformation and in advanced materials and coatings, concluded a strategic partnership in May 2008 and subsequently set up a 50/50 joint venture named Bekaert Ansteel Tire Cord (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. Bekaert, global market and technological leader in advanced metal transformation and in advanced materials and coatings, concluded a strategic partnership in May 2008 and subsequently set up a 50/50 joint venture named Bekaert Ansteel Tire Cord (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. See Extended Story.. April 24th, 2009  - Projects Mumbai India - Bekaert's Indian wire joint venture to start up next month. Phase one of the 50:50 stainless steel wire joint venture between global steel wire products maker Bekaert and India's Mukand will be operational by May the company told reporters Tuesday. Mukand, a leading speciality steel producer, and NV Bekaert SA, Belgium, world~{!/~}s largest steel wire manufacturer, signed an agreement September 6 2007 for the formation of a joint venture company to produce stainless steel wires in India to feed markets across the world. The 50:50 joint venture has been set up in Lonand, district Satara, Maharashtra, and in a press release when the J/V was announced the companies said the project would entail an investment of Rs. 100 crore. See Extended Story.. April 22nd, 2009  - Projects Devens, Massachusetts - American Superconductor wins order for about 80K meters of 344 superconductors American Superconductor Corp. said Monday that LS cable has ordered approximately 80,000 meters of 344 superconductors, which is AMSC's proprietary brand of second generation high temperature superconductor wire. LS Cable would utilize the wire to manufacture a 22.9 kilovolt cable system that it would install in Korea Electric Power Corporation's commercial power delivery network near the city of Seoul in 2010. As per the contract, AMSC would deliver the wire to LS Cable by the end of 2009. LS Cable would then strand the wire into a superconductor cable system capable of carrying 50 megawatts of power. It is scheduled to be installed by the middle of 2010 and energized by the end of 2010. April 21st, 2009  - Projects St. Paul Minnesota - Minnesota Wire clinches Iraq cable deal St. Paul-based Minnesota Wire, which also has a manufacturing facility in Eau Claire, recently was chosen as the exclusive provider of cables for the Ekeel backplane assemblies on the first of the U.S. Army's M-ATV vehicles (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle). The vehicles are a follow-up design to the original MRAP and will play a key role for combat forces in Afghanistan. Minnesota Wire's pre-production cable sets already have gone to test vehicles in use by the U.S. Army in Iraq. The company is now bidding on a Pentagon order for cable assemblies that may eventually reach 2,000 of the vehicles, a contract worth about $10 million. April 20th, 2009  - Projects Jebel Ali Qatar - Qatar Steel to start production at new rebar mill next month Mohammed Al Saadi, Marketing Manager, Qatar Steel speaking to Emirates Business on the sidelines of Arab Steel Summit 2009, said: "We have been producing at full capacity despite the present crisis. The demand in Qatar continues to remain stable. During the last quarter of 2008, we had to suspend exports to other countries to meet the local demand." Qatar Steel will also start production at its new expanded rebar mill starting from next month he said. The company will now operate two primary facilities at its 60,000 square meter Jebel Ali Free Zone facility. The new modern facility with a capacity from VAI-Pomini will have a capacity of 300,000 metric tonnes annually. The rebar mill in Jebel Ali will only cater to the demand in the country. "The new facility was commissioned two years back and will replace the old rebar mill with an annual capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes," he said. Qatar Steel's other facility is an upgraded wire rod mill with an installed capacity of 240,000 metric tonnes per annum. See Extended Story.. April 18th, 2009  - Projects Salt Lake City Utah - At long last Rocky Mountain Power is building new transmission line With most of the controversy over the route now behind it, Rocky Mountain Power has launched construction of its new high-voltage transmission line that will run from Downey in southeastern Idaho to an existing substation west of Salt Lake City International Airport. The 135-mile-long project known as the "Populus to Terminal" transmission line will cost approximately $600 million and is scheduled to be completed in 2010. It is part of a massive $6 billion project of approximately 2,000 miles of new transmission lines that PacifiCorp, the Oregon-based utility that does business as Rocky Mountain Power and Pacific Power, hopes to complete in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and possibly Colorado by 2014. See Extended Story.. April 16th, 2009  - Projects Rio de Janeiro Brazil - SMS Meer commissions new wire rod and bar mill at Brazil Siderúrgica Norte Brasil SA Brazil has commissioned the wire rod and bar mill for an annual production of 250,000 tonnes supplied by SMS Meer. The plant is located in the district of Maraba, Para State, Brazil. The main components of the mill are eight cantilever and six housing less stands in horizontal/vertical arrangement, a ten stand wire rod block with new drive equipment, a loop laying head, a loop cooling conveyor, the complete coil transport facility, a high speed delivery system and a cooling bed with bundling and tying facilities. See Extended Story.. April 9th, 2009  - Projects Sydney Australia - Australia to build $30 billion broadband network The government of Australia launched an ambitious plan Tuesday to make Australia one of the world's most wired countries, shunning private bids and announcing that a new state-controlled company would build a 43 billion Australian dollar ($30 billion) network from scratch. The decision stunned observers, who said the plan was far more ambitious in scope and capacity than had previously been signaled, and could reshape Australia's telecommunications landscape. See Extended Story.. April 9th, 2009  - Projects Dubai UAE - Water Utilities join hands with cable company in cable manufacturing venture. In a landmark agreement, the two major UAE utilities, ADWEA and DEWA, have joined forces with leading cable company Ducab in a new joint venture to manufacture high voltage cable systems. The new company, Ducab – HV, will operate from a 22,000 square meter manufacturing factory that will be built next to Ducab’s facility in Jebel Ali. The joint venture was announced at a press conference on the 30th of March at WETEX 2009, attended by top officials from all the 3 companies. Work on the new facility being built in Jebel Ali has already commenced and scheduled to be operational in late 2010. See Extended Story.. April 7th, 2009  - Projects Monchengladbach Germany - SMS Meer receives order for World's largest rod and tube extrusion press. SMS Meer, Mönchengladbach, an SMS group company in Düsseldorf, received an order for the supply of a total of four extrusion presses to the People's Republic of China from Shandong Yankuang Light Alloy Co. Ltd. In the presence of Chen Deming, the Chinese Minister for Trade, a contract was signed by Yan Jitai, the President of Shandong Yankuang Light Alloy Co.Ltd., and Ulrich Vohskämper, Head of the Hydraulic Presses Division, SMS Meer, within the framework of the German-Chinese Economic Forum held at the Haus der Deutschen Wirtschaft in Berlin. SMS Meer will be supplying four extrusion presses for the manufacture of aluminum sections and seamless aluminum tubes to Shandong Yankuang Light Alloy Co. Ltd. The presses will work with press forces of 36 MN, 55 MN, 82 MN and 150 MN. The latter will be the world's largest modern rod and tube extrusion press. The facilities are to be installed in the aluminum extrusion plant currently under construction in Jining, approx. 200 km south of Jinan in the Province of Shandong. Upon completion, the plant will have a production capacity of approx. 130,000 t of aluminum sections per year. April 4th, 2009  - Projects Brantford Ontario - As if there was not enough wire rod capacity already. Shougang Fenghui plans to invest 120million Yuan for the construction of special steel wire rod boron which annual production is 500,000 tons .The project has been started and expected to put into production in October 2009. Lengshuijiang Steel announced the investment of 1billion Yuan for a high-speed wire rod project and on March 26, Shandong Xiwang held special steel opening ceremony of 1.5 million tons annual production capacity, to create ultra-high power electric furnace of 80T and 1.3mln tons steel wire production line. SteelGuru reported yesterday that the movement of steel prices in China has bellied all prophecy by veterans of this industry. The prices of steel nose dived from its peak in July 2008 by 40% in January 2009. The gigantic decline coerced manufacturers globally as well as in China to prune their capacity by an average of 30%. April 3rd, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins 12 million Euro infield cable contract for Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm Nexans, a major global cable producer, has been awarded a 12 million Euro contract by the Norwegian Groups StatoilHydro ASA and Statkraft for the supply of 81 km of infield cables and equipment for the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm. This major contract, which further reinforces Nexans’ position in the renewable energy sector, follows a 24 million Euro contract awarded in 2008 for the power export cables for the same wind farm project, located around 20 km offshore from the north Norfolk coastal town of Sheringham, England. The infield cable contract comprises the design, manufacture and supply of 81 km of 36 kV XLPE submarine power cable, including 3x1x185 mm2 and 3x1x400 mm2 designs. They are due for delivery from Nexans’ submarine cable factory in Halden, Norway in June 2010 and will also incorporate optical fibers manufactured at Nexans’ factory in Rognan, Norway. “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Scira Offshore Ltd*“, says Yvon Raak, Nexans’ Chief Corporate Officer, in charge of the Europe Area. “This latest major contract further strengthens our position in a key market where Nexans is now the leading actor.” See Extended Story.. March 31st, 2009  - Projects Santiago Chile - Anglo American starts giant expansion of its Los Bronces copper mine Anglo American has sufficient cash flow to fund giant multibillion-dollar copper projects in Chile. In an interview with Reuters ahead of the annual CRU/CESCO copper conference in Chile, Anglo American Chile Chief Executive Miguel Angel Duran said copper prices, slightly recovered from a sharp drop late last year, should hold current levels for the rest of the year. Duran said, however, that copper prices, near $1.80 per lb compared to levels over $4 in July last year, were in line with company expectations on the heels of the global economic crisis that sent demand plummeting. "We have no special concerns about cash flow requirements," Duran said at his offices in the Chilean capital Santiago. "We more or less planned for scenarios like the ones we have today for the rest of the year." Anglo American will start work on a giant expansion at its Los Bronces copper mine in Chile later this year. The company sees the cost of the expansion at between $2.2 billion and $2.5 billion, up from $1.74 billion when it was first proposed. Duran said Anglo American will likely start to boost copper output around 2011, largely thanks to new output from Los Bronces and from Collahuasi, the mine it owns in conjunction with Xstrata Copper.. See Extended Story.. March 30th, 2009  - Projects Zurich, Switzerland - ABB wins power transmission order worth $550 million from Irish grid operator ABB, the power and automation technology group, has won an order worth $550 million to connect the Irish and U.K. power grids using technology that will strengthen the reliability and security of electricity supplies in each country, and enable Ireland to expand its wind power capacity. Eirgrid, the Irish transmission system operator, has ordered a 500-megawatt (MW) transmission system using HVDC Light (high-voltage direct current), an ABB technology with environmental benefits that include neutral electromagnetic fields, oil-free cables, low electrical losses, and compact converter stations. The solution also provides features such as ‘black start’ capability, a way of restoring power after a blackout without the aid of external energy sources. ”We are delighted to partner Eirgrid for this project,” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “ABB’s HVDC Light technology will enhance the stability of both the Irish and U.K transmission grids, and also expand capacity for the use of renewable power.” See Extended Story.. March 27th, 2009  - Projects Salt Lake City Utah - Work is under way on planned transmission line In 2007, Rocky Mountain Power announced that it would build more than 1,200 miles of high-voltage transmission lines to carry electricity from Wyoming to Utah, Idaho, Oregon and parts of the Southwest. The $4 billion project involves two 500-kilowatt lines with construction beginning this year and completion planned for 2014. After nearly two years of planning, Utah's largest electric utility announced Tuesday that crews had begun constructing a $600 million, 135-mile high-voltage transmission line from a new substation near Downey, Idaho, to an existing substation near the Salt Lake City International Airport. Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen told News media that work on the Populus to Terminal transmission line is now under way, with the first segment in PacifiCorp's Energy Gateway transmission expansion scheduled for completion in 2010. March 27th, 2009  - Projects Kathmandu, Nepal - NEA to Build N-S Power Transmission Lines The government has come up with plans to construct north-south corridor transmission lines in nine major river basins and corridors, upgrade the existing east-west national power grid from 132 KV to 400 KV and connect the national grid with India within 10 years. The cabinet meeting on March 18 decided to construct 845 km main transmission line for which it has earmarked Rs 2.25 billion. The main transmission lines of 400 KV from Hetauda-Dhalke, Dhalke-Duhabi and Hetauda-Butwal are targeted to complete within three years. While the Butwal-Lamki, Lamki-Mahendranagar and Duhabi-Anarmani lines are slated to complete by 2019. See Extended Story.. March 18th, 2009  - Projects Kampala Uganda - Uganda Telecom extends fiber cable to the Rwanda border Uganda Telecom has started work on a fiber-optic link from the western town of Mbarara in Uganda to the Rwanda border-crossing point at Katuna - essentially giving a major boost to the long-awaited regional fiber project, wirenews has learnt. When completed in November this year, a significant section of what has come to be known as the East African Backhaul System (EABS) will be in place, giving Uganda end-to-end fiber coverage, the telecommunications news outlet IDG News Service reported on Monday. See Extended Story.. March 18th, 2009  - Projects Kampala Uganda - Construction of the $650m (about sh1.1 trillion) undersea SEACOM optic fiber cable project to be completed in 2009 The SEACOM project, a consortium of Venfin Limited (South Africa), Herakles Telecom LLC (US), Convergence Partners (South Africa), and the Shanduka Group (South Africa), will connect East Africa with to international broadband cables in South Africa, India and Europe. The 15,000 kilometre-long cable connecting Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania, is expected to be ready by 2009. The project will provide faster and cheaper broadband capacity for Africa for the growth of service industries like call-centres, back officers, media and research institutions. Already MTN and Uganda Electricity Transmission Company are using the underground cables for communication and data reading. March 7th, 2009  - Projects New York City - 7Nokia to invest $150 million in India Nokia Growth Partners, a global equity fund set up by the Finnish telecom giant, has decided to invest an additional $150 million and this time for financial support to enterprises focused on India and China. "Building on a track record of successful investments, Nokia Growth Partners, launched in 2004, will now establish direct operations in India and China and augment investment activity in the US and Europe," the company said. "With the additional investment, Nokia Growth Partners will continue pursuing investments that are of strategic relevance to Nokia, and or complementary to their strategy," it added. See Extended Story.. March 3rd, 2009  - Projects Nairobi Kenya - The long awaited SEACOM fiber-optic cable arrived at Mombasa yesterday. The arrival of the cable at Mombasa signals the onset of a whole new era in the telecommunications industry, especially the data services in the East African region. The project cost is estimated at US$ 700 million upon completion. Over-reliance on satellite based data solutions is blamed for the high cost of communication in the region.Local companies that will buy bandwidth from SEACOM have already made groundwork to ensure they start business as soon as the cable becomes operational. These companies will resell the extended bandwidth to users both corporate and individual. SEACOM senior vice president Jean Pierre de Leu confirmed to journalists in Naivasha that the cable that will provide broadband solutions, will be fully operational by July. It is expected that telecommunications costs could go down by 60 percent as the cost of bandwidth will crush significantly. High speed data solutions, especially internet are expected with the increased bandwidth.This will be the first undersea fiber-optic cable to land on Kenyan soil even as many players promise to come up with such cables. March 2nd, 2009  - Projects Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam - Furukawa start construction on a new factory for automotive wire The Japanese industrial company Furukawa Electric is investing in a project to produce electrical wire systems for automobile. The factory, which is estimated to cost totally US$16 million. The construction started in January, and will be finished in September and put into operation in November, 2009. Once gone into operation, the Furukawa factory will need up to 3,000 workers to fill its production lines. The factory sits on a land area of 35,400 square metres in the Giao Long Industrial Park in Ben Tre Province. March 2nd, 2009  - Projects Dalian China - Fushi Copperweld Raises $1.92 Million to fund Fayetteville Tennessee expansion Fushi Copperweld, Inc., the leading global manufacturer and innovator of copper-clad bimetallic wire used in a variety of telecommunication, utility, transportation and other electrical applications, today announced that the Company sold in a private placement 400,000 shares of its common stock for a total purchase price of $1,920,000. Mr. Li Fu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fushi Copperweld, commented, "We raised this money to support the growth expansion in our Fayetteville, TN facility. While we believe our cash flow from operations in Fayetteville will be largely self-sufficient moving forward, we are seeing an increase in orders and have the opportunity to pursue new business opportunities for some of our latest market applications. See Extended Story.. February 27th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans supplies innovative superconducting fault current limiter to Applied Superconductor Ltd for pilot UK installation. Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has supplied a superconducting fault current limiter to Applied Superconductor Limited (ASL) for a pilot installation in the UK. ASL, a UK company based in Blyth, Northumberland is currently installing and commissioning the innovative component into a medium voltage (11 kV) substation in Lancashire, where it will aid optimizing performance and safety of the local power network. The pilot installation will provide a practical demonstration of the benefits provided by these specific limiters. Thanks to their almost instantaneous response to fault currents, they indeed prevent overload of switchgear and other network components which can occur during short-circuits, and can in the end help avoid blackouts. As a consequence, they are expected to play an increasing role in meshed networks, in the connection of renewable generation and in future Smart Grids. See Extended Story.. February 26th, 2009  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins major contract for Caribbean submarine fiber optic connection Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a major contract by Global Marine Systems Ltd., one of the world’s leading providers of submarine cable installation and services, to supply 1,300km of repeatered fiber optic submarine cable to connect the islands of Trinidad & Tobago to Suriname via Guyana. The cable system will help enhance communication links between the three countries. The 1300km cable will be produced at Nexans’ factory in Rognan, Norway and comprise 21 segments, with amplifiers integrated every 70km, and will be delivered to Global Marine Systems in October 2009. Behind this next generation of repeatered fibre optic submarine systems are Nexans, Global Marine Systems Ltd. and Huawei Marine Networks, a Chinese manufacturer of telecom accessories. For full press release use this link February 25th, 2009  - Projects Nairobi Kenya - East African Cables set for further regional expansion East African Cables is set to further enhance its continental market reach with an ambitious expansion plan in the next three years. The firm's expansion plan to be spearheaded by the firm’s newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Mr. George Mwangi will see East African Cables establishing a solid market presence in more than 12 African countries up from its current five countries market footprint by the year 2012. Alongside market expansion, the firm is gearing up for the commissioning of a new copper cables production line and major upgrade latter in the year within its recently commissioned Kshs 1billion integrated manufacturing facility in Nairobi’s Industrial area. The commissioning of the new copper production line is expected to boost East African Cables production capacity by more than sixty percent. See Extended Story.. February 20th, 2009  - Projects Nuremberg, Germany - Leoni to supply engine maker Cummins for another five years Leoni has won a large order from engine manufacturer Cummins. The agreement states that Leoni will equip a variety of diesel engines with wiring harnesses for five years. Cummins is a global power leader that designs, manufactures, sells and services diesel engines and related technology around the world. Leoni has been supplying the company headquartered in Columbus, USA, with several types of wiring systems for more than 10 years. Recently, both companies signed a new sourcing agreement. According to this, Leoni will supply engine wiring harnesses globally for several Cummins product series until 2012. For full press release use this link February 20th, 2009  - Projects Irvine California - Composite Technology announces new order for transmission conductor business. Composite Technology Corporation is pleased to announce a new ACCC(TM) conductor order for its subsidiary, CTC Cable Corporation. The order issued by Far East Composite Technology Company, a subsidiary of Jiangsu New Far East Cable Corporation (Far East), is made up of a single core size with associated hardware to be used on a critical transmission line in China. The order represents conductor for the first segment of an important reconductor project for a major transmission corridor. The order is valued at approximately $3.1 million and is composed of 750 kilometers of ACCC(TM) core and associated hardware. The transmission line is designed to use a bundle of 4 Dove sized ACCC(TM) conductors. The hardware provided by CTC Cable will be its standard design with spacers provided by Far East. The core will be stranded by Far East in China under terms of the established Manufacturing and Distribution Agreement. The line is planned for installation in mid-2009. See Extended Story.. February 18th, 2009  - Projects Cleveland, Ohio - Radcon lands Bokaro Steel contract for hydrogen bell-type batch annealing facility Rad-con, Inc. has been selected to provide Bokaro Steel Plant (Jharkhand, INDIA), a Steel Authority of India (SAIL) company, with a turnkey hydrogen bell-type batch annealing facility. The facility will process 860,000 tons per year of cold rolled steel, primarily destined for the automotive market. This contract is part of Bokaro Steel’s cold rolling capacity expansion of 1.3 million tons per year. The project is being managed under the supervision of Bokaro Steel Plant and MECON Ltd. (Ranchi, Jharkhand, INDIA) is the design consultancy. Under the project contract, Rad-con will oversee the complete production and turnkey installation of the company’s H2SHC™ (100% Hydrogen Super-High Convection™) annealing system consisting of 47 bases, 26 furnaces and 20 forced coolers, with associated controls. Production activities are being managed by CAPS™, the industry-leading level-2 annealing software system. The project also includes a post-cooling facility with 49 bases for de-humidified air cooling. February 14th, 2009  - Projects Pretoria South Africa - Industrial Development Corp to build steel mill Bloomberg reported that South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation plans to build a USD 3 billion steel mill and may start production in 2014. Mr Abel Malinga head of mining at IDC said that "We are looking at a reasonable size steel mill, about 3 million tonnes or 4 million tonnes a year." He added that the plant would cost a minimum of USD 1.5 billion. Mr Malinga said that Maputo in Mozambique and Coega in South Africa are among possible sites for the plant. He added that it is also considering a mini steel mill producing about 500,000 tonnes a year. He said that "We would be guided by where we can find suitable iron ore and other inputs. We are looking at about 2014. That would give us sufficient time to pin down the technology and partners." The mill would compete with ArcelorMittal South Africa Limited, which is fighting an antitrust penalty for excessive pricing. It may be noted that South Africa's government asked IDC, which funds projects to foster economic growth, to investigate building a plant to lower steel prices and boost the country~{!/~}s manufacturing industry. February 12th, 2009  - Projects Beijing China - China moves ahead with economical ultra-high voltage transmission lines Despite the chilly wind, the erection of electricity pylons and the building of converter stations on one of China's most remarkable technological achievements goes ahead full swing across the mountains and plains from southwest China's Sichuan Province to east China's coastal Shanghai. Even the Spring Festival does not hold up work on the electricity power line, the world's only 800kv. direct current UHV-line. "We cannot suspend our work even in the week-long Spring Festival holidays, which began on January 26. We must complete the project by 2010," said Li Wenyi, general manager of the Direct Current Engineering Construction Co. Ltd. under the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), in Yibin, Sichuan, on Tuesday. Construction kicked off on Dec. 12, the pilot project will wind 2,000 km eastward over eight provinces and municipalities to join up Yibin, in Sichuan with Shanghai. It will transmit hydropower generated at Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station and Xiluodu Hydropower Station on Jinshajiang River, the country's second and third largest hydropower projects, after the Three Gorges project. "When the transmission line is completed in 2010 as scheduled, we will deliver cheaper hydropower in an endless stream from the southwest hinterland to the energy-thirsty economic powerhouse in the east and essentially solve electric power shortage that puzzled the region for decades," said Li. Editors note: UHV, defined as voltage of 1,000kv. or above in alternating current, and 800 kv. or above in direct current, is designed to deliver large quantities of power over long distances with power losses less than the most commonly used 500kv. lines. See Extended Story.. February 12th, 2009  - Projects Washington D.C. - US Department of Agriculture awards $ 356 million in utility loans for transmission lines. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today said that 16 rural utilities and cooperatives in 10 states have been selected to receive $356 million in loans to build and repair 3,830 miles of distribution and transmission lines and make system improvements that will affect more than 45,000 rural customers. "Investing in core rural infrastructure is a priority for the Obama Administration," Vilsack said. "These loans will provide affordable power by financing improvements for key generation, transmission and distribution systems to rural residents and businesses. These funds are an investment in rural America that will help strengthen rural communities." The funding announced today is being provided through USDA Rural Development's Electric Programs, which Congress authorized under the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide loans and loan guarantees to help utilities, cooperatives, states and local governments provide or improve electric service in rural areas. The Electric Programs also help finance energy conservation and renewable energy systems. February 7th, 2009  - Projects New Orleans Mississippi - Possible new federal environmental regulations makes Nucor reconsidering US iron plant project. Steel manufacturer Nucor Corp. is reconsidering whether it will build a $3 billion iron plant in either St. James Parish or Brazil, a prize industrial development that Gov. Bobby Jindal has hoped to win for the state, Bloomberg News is reporting. Drop in demand for steel and possible new federal environmental regulations, which could impact the plant's emission of carbon dioxide, are among the company's concerns about moving forward. "We started this thing several years ago, before the economic crisis hit," Chief Executive Officer Dan DiMicco said today in an interview in Washington, according to Bloomberg. "That has caused everyone to re-evaluate each project and the cost of the projects and whether the projects still make economic sense." See Extended Story.. February 6th, 2009  - Projects Paris F - Nexans wins 11 million Euro contract for BP’s Skarv field Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded an 11 million Euro contract by BP Norge to supply a direct electrical heating (DEH) system for the Skarv field subsea production pipeline in the Norwegian Sea. Nexans is the only supplier with experience of this unique technology and has already supplied this type of system for 17 subsea pipeline installations. "DEH is a reliable, eco-friendly and cost-effective method of maintaining flow in production pipelines and there is increasing interest in electrical pipeline heating from a variety of companies and projects", says Patrick Barth, High Voltage Activities Managing Director. See Extended Story.. January 31st, 2009  - Projects Dallas Texas - Oncor will build $1.3 billion worth of wind transmission lines Oncor Electric Delivery, the operator of most of North Texas’ electric grid, has been tapped to build about $1.3 billion worth of transmission lines to connect West Texas’ huge wind-power farms with users in the rest of the state. On Thursday, the Public Utility Commission of Texas identified nine organizations to build various segments of about 2,400 miles of power lines in the nearly $5 billion project. Transmission capacity now barely covers half of the state’s 8,000 megawatts of wind power, leading to curtailments among wind farms roughly half the days of the year. Still, wind provided nearly 5 percent of the state’s electricity last year, the operator of the state’s biggest electric grid reported last week. See Extended Story.. January 28th, 2009  - Projects Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's Tenaga JV to build Bakun undersea cable Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia's largest power firm, will be part of a consortium to build a $2 billion submarine cable carrying electricity from Sarawak on Borneo to peninsular Malaysia, Tenaga said on Wednesday. "A joint venture company owned by Tenaga, Sarawak Energy , and Minister of Finance Inc. will undertake the development of the undersea transmission facilities," said Tenaga in a filing with the stock exchange. "While the on-land transmission systems for Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak will be developed by Tenaga and Sarawak Energy, respectively." he added. The parties have not yet finalized the shareholding structure of the joint venture, it said. In a separate deal, Tenaga would team up with Sarawak Energy to take over the operation of the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam which will be linked to the undersea cable. Tenaga said in October it would not enter the market to raise funds for the cable project until 2010. The undersea cable job was scheduled for completion by 2014. January 27th, 2009  - Projects Tokyo Japan - Fujitsu and NSW win order for Indonesian submarine optic-fiber network. Fujitsu Limited announced today that it and partner Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke GmbH (NSW) of Germany have won a turnkey contract from PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tbk. (PT TELKOM) worth more than US$100 million to install a submarine optic-fiber cable system for the Indonesian islands Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, Bali and Lombok. The "JaKa2LaDeMa" ring will provide the first direct, high-bandwidth optic-fiber submarine cable system for these Indonesian islands, and is scheduled to be completed in the January-March quarter of 2010. JaKa2LaDeMa will deliver the capacity to provide upgradeable transmission facilities that support Internet, e-commerce, video, data and voice services. See Extended Story.. January 26th, 2009  - Projects Shimla India - Steel Authority to set up plant in Himachal's Kangra district Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal Friday said Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will set up its proposed steel plant in Gangath village in Kangra district There had been uncertainty over the location of the project for the past six months after the state government turned down SAIL's proposal to set up the plant in Sirmaur district. The state government cited its inability to provide land and power to SAIL in Sirmaur. The Rs.455.5-billion steel behemoth has plans to invest Rs.1.06 billion (Rs.106 crore) in the hill state. Using thermo-mechanical treatment technology, the proposed plant is scheduled to produce 120,000 tonnes of steel rods, wire drawings and corrugated sheets annually and is expected to provide direct employment to more than 200 people January 26th, 2009  - Projects Bangalore India - Financial turmoil curtails ArcelorMittal's $20 billion Indian investment The worldwide financial turmoil and the consequent liquidity crunch and slackening demand for steel have caused steel giant ArcelorMittal Luxembourg to slow the pace of ambitious steel projects in India's eastern states of Jharkhand and Orissa. ArcelorMittal had identified the land for its mega 12 million tonne steel project in Jharkhand and applied for necessary approvals soon to acquire the same. In a press release February 12 last year Chief ArcelorMittal India Executive Officer Sanak Mishra said at the time "We have selected the land in Jharkhand and will apply for necessary approvals soon for land acquisition," He said his company's proposed projects in both Jharkhand and Orissa were progressing fast. Torpa-Kamdara site has been selected for the project in Jharkhand, he said adding "We will be shortly going for the Detailed Project Report," he said. Mishra said his company has received provisional nod from the Orissa government to acquire 7,500 acres of land at Keonjhar, of which 6,000 acres would be used to put up a 12 MT steel plant, 1,000 acres for setting up the 1,500 MW power plant and the remaining for developing a township. ArcelorMittal plans to invest at least USD 20 billion in the two projects, which would be build up in two equal phases. Mishra said first phase of these projects of 6 MT capacities would be completed within 48 months of preparation of the DPR. January 23rd, 2009  - Projects Nuremburg Germany - Leoni lays foundation for more growth in Western Europe Leoni, the specialist in wire, cable and wiring systems, has established the Leoni WCS Benelux BV company. The Wire & Cable Solutions division is, with this business unit, taking the company's first step of a regional concept intended to facilitate developing of growth markets across its business segments. By having registered the new Leoni WCS Benelux company, Leoni has provided the organisational basis for synergies and increased efficiency in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Setting up this company is part of a regional concept with which several business units of Leoni’s Wire & Cable Solutions division (WCS) will concurrently start or step up their activity in markets transcending national boundaries. The new company is based in the Dutch town of Amersfoort, where, Yesterday , a New Year reception was held and business operations officially commenced. See Extended Story.. January 20th, 2009  - Projects Beijing China - State Grid earmarks RMB 100 bln to build UHV lines State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) plans to inject RMB 100 billion into the construction of ultra-high-voltage power transmission lines in the next three or four years, sources reported. China's first ultra-high-voltage power transmission line from Shanxi to Hubei has gone to operation. This 640-km 1000-kv line involves a total investment of RMB 5.9 billion and ranks the first in the world in terms of capacity. State Grid has also started working on two other ultra-high-voltage projects with a combined investment of RMB 40 billion, according to Shu Yinbiao, executive vice president of the company. The new power transmission lines, featuring energy efficiency compared with conventional cables, aims to link the coal-rich inland areas to the coastal regions, where electricity demand is high. January 17th, 2009  - Projects Johannesburg South Africa - MTN, Neotel to build 5 000km fibre-optic network Africa's biggest cell phone operator MTN and South Africa's second biggest fixed-line operator Neotel will build a national long-distance fiber-optic network for between R1,7-billion and R2-billion. MTN's head of Southern Africa Tim Lowry told a news conference that having its own cable would save the company R200-million in operating costs in 2009, and more in the future, once the whole cable is rolled out. The network will cover a distance of 5 000km, connecting the major centers across South Africa. This co-build agreement with Neotel marks the biggest collaboration in the South African telecommunications industry, and is a defining moment in the history of the country, said Lowry. The first route of the national fiber network will extend from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal, incorporating Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Construction of the first leg is expected to commence in the first week of March 2009 with a completion date scheduled before the 2010 Fifa World Cup. January 16th, 2009  - Projects Copenhagen Denmark - NKT Cables lands sub-sea project NKT Cables has entered into a contract at a value of around 750 mDKK (100 mEUR). The contract includes armored high- and medium voltage sub-sea cables and underground cables. Also the laying and installation work of cables and accessories is part of the solution that NKT Cables has been chosen for. The cables will be manufactured at the new production facilities in Cologne. “Winning this order confirms the strategic direction of NKT Cables with its emphasis on providing solutions to ensure reliable and sustainable transmission networks and power supply onshore and offshore. And the order is a perfect example of the capabilities and opportunities embedded in our new high voltage factory in Cologne”, says Thomas Hofman-Bang, President and CEO of NKT Holding A/S. The order will positively contribute to NKT Cables’ earnings in 2010. January 12th, 2009  - Projects Miami Florida - Countries to invest $60 million in phone cable The Miami Herald reports that Guyana and Suriname plan to invest a combined $60 million in an undersea fiber optic cable to improve phone and Internet service. The 746-mile cable will run north through Trinidad to Florida, backing up an existing cable that often experiences service disruptions.Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo said construction will begin in 2010. Atlantic Tele-Network last year announced plans to build a separate $35 million cable linking Guyana and Trinidad. January 7th, 2009  - Projects Pingxiang, Jiangxi province, China - Jiujiang Steel first stage project starts production Steel Guru reported that Pingxiang Iron & Steel Company Limited has bucked the trend amid the world financial crisis and steel industry downturn, successfully putting its Jiujiang Steel first stage technologic innovation project into production on January 2nd 2009, with the annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of pig iron, crude steel and steel products each. The new innovation project, launched after it merged with Jiujiang Steel, is one of the national industrial energy saving & emission reduction project and is planned to be finished before 2010 within two stages. At the same time, Pingxiang Steel plans to build a national first class wire rod and rebar production base with 8 million tonnes per year of crude steel in 2 years. The project will provide more than 5,000 jobs and bring at least CNY 0.7 billion of tax after it put into production. January 5th, 2009  - Projects Montreal Quebec - CAF to partially finance SIEPAC project The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) has announced it will partially finance construction of the Central American power interconnection project the Sistema de Interconexion Electrica de los Paises America Central (SIEPAC). CAF will provide USD16.7 million of the USD405 million required to complete the project. See Extended Story.. December 31st, 2008  - Projects Brantford Ontario - Will this transmission line ever come to pass or will this project also be buried in a legal morass. Northeast Utilities Inc. and NSTAR Inc. are seeking approval from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a $700-million (U.S.) transmission line from a substation near Sherbrooke, Que., to southern New Hampshire where it would join the New England grid. The transmission line would carry 1,200 megawatts of Quebec power to hungry urban markets such as Boston. The 250- to 350-kilometre line would boost the amount of power that Hydro-Québec can currently export to New England by more than 50 per cent."This generation can provide a competitively priced, reliable supply of large quantities of energy from a resource that does not burn fossil fuels, does not expand the requirement to import oil or natural gas, and is a low greenhouse-gas-emitting source of energy," Northeast and NSTAR say in their Dec. 12 FERC filing. December 29th, 2008  - Projects Mexico City Mexico - Spain's Abengoa lands $11.5 Million Mexico Power line deal Spanish infrastructure and energy technology company Abengoa said it won an $11.5 million contract to build three 109-kilometer (68-mile) transmission lines in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE, signed the contract with Abengoa for construction of the three power lines and a 115 KW substation. The CFE said the project would help meet demand for electricity from both industrial and residential customers, helping boost employment in the region. The transmission lines are expected to go online in November 2009 and will be paid for in several installments with public financing, the CFE said. Abengoa has developed other electric infrastructure projects for the CFE and sells fiber-optic cable, electronic equipment and management systems in Mexico. December 29th, 2008  - Projects Wuxi China - Dongbei Special Steel sees CNY 50 billion income by 2010 It is reported that Dongbei Special Steel Group is ambitious to build a first class steel production base in the world by carrying out products mix adjustment during the 11th five year plan. Mr Zhao Mingyuan board chairman of Dongbei Special Steel said that it will realize CNY 50 billion of the annual operating incomes and CNY 5 billion of profits by 2010, with the special steel products and steel products' output posting at 5 million tonnes and 4 million tonnes respectively, and vaulting into the world top 5 special steel producer by then. The project will build 5 production lines as alloy steel large coils, alloy steel large spec & fine-quality profiles, alloy steel products, silver steel and alloy wire. It is estimated that the annual sales revenue and the total profits will come at CNY 8.5 billion and CNY 0.8 billion respectively after its completion. See Extended Story.. December 24th, 2008  - Projects Irvine California - Composite Technology says order flow resumes in Chinese market Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) is pleased to announce a new conductor order for its subsidiary CTC Cable. The order, issued by Far East Composite Technology Company, a subsidiary of Jiangsu New Far East Cable Corporation (Far East), is made up of a single core size with associated hardware to be used on a 240 kilometer transmission line in Hubei province in China. The 220KV line supports the expansion of the Ezhou power plant. The order is significant as it signals the resumption of order flow for new projects in China. The second half of 2008 noted a drop off in orders due to the impact of the Summer Olympics in China and the subsequent holidays. Projects were suspended during this time. Starting in mid-October transmission line projects resumed and the backlog of suspended projects was addressed. The resumption of orders signals Far East is working through the end of the backlog projects and is looking ahead to new projects for 2009. The core will be stranded by Far East in China under terms of the established Distribution Agreement. The line is planned for installation late in the first quarter of 2009. December 24th, 2008  - Projects San Diego California - State PUC approves $1.9-billion Sunrise Powerlink Regulators gave a San Diego utility the go-ahead Thursday to build a $1.9-billion transmission line that it says is needed to move nonpolluting geothermal, wind and solar power from inland deserts to energy-hungry coastal cities. If you thought this means that the San Diego Gas & Electric Co can start stringing 123 miles of new high-voltage lines think again. Opponents, who denounce Sunrise as too costly and unneeded, now vow to file lawsuits challenging the Public Utility Commission's decision. This is the case with thousands of powerline projects that are bogged down in court challenges. This also why we do not report on US transmission lines project. December 20th, 2008  - Projects Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam - Furukawa Automotive Systems (FAS) establishes new wire harness manufacturing base in Southern Vietnam Furukawa Automotive Systems Inc. (Head Office: 1000 Amago Koura-cho Inukami-gun Shiga Prefecture; President: Michitoyo Kurokawa; Status: a wholly owned subsidiary of The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., “FAS”) has established Furukawa Automotive Systems Vietnam Inc. (“FASV”), a company that manufactures wire harnesses for automobiles, in Ben Tre Province, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as its wholly owned subsidiary. FAS has established FASV as its second subsidiary in Vietnam after FAP, which operates as a manufacturing base for its wire harnesses. The new company is scheduled to start operating in November 2009. December 17th, 2008  - Projects Santo Domingo Dominican Republic - Wind Telecom chooses Wimax technology for US$88million expansion Dominican Republic based Wind Telecom has asked for a US$20million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help fund the US$88.5million extension of its telecoms and TV network, according to the IFC's website. The company's services - broadband internet access, IP telephony, pay TV and corporate connectivity - are provided through a mix of technologies including WiMax, point-to-point microwave, fiber optics and MMDS, the IFC said. Wind has a 20-year national spectrum license and is keen to expand its services beyond Santo Domingo and Santiago to provide nationwide triple play coverage. The company targets residential, corporate and institutional customers. The total project cost is estimated at US$88.5mn. So far, Wind's operations have been financed fully by local businessman José Clase. Wind is currently 98.5% owned by Clase and Luis Veras has a 1.5% stake. See Extended Story.. December 16th, 2008  - Projects Moscow Russia - Libya-Russia joint venture to build power plant in Ghana Ghana is to benefit from a Russia-Libya joint venture project to build power plants, Russia's state-owned Technopromexport has announced in Moscow. The Russian power plant builder and Libya's African Investment Portfolio have teamed up to form Laptechno-Power, which will build and operate power facilities in Ghana, Libya, Uganda, Algeria, Egypt, Yemen and Namibia, Technopromexport said in a statement. Construction of the facilities will be financed by Libya African Investment Portfolio, which will manage $6.73bn for the projects in total, the company said. "Top priority projects for Laptechno-Power will be the construction of a 1250km electric transmission line with a capacity of 400 kW in Libya and a 300 MW hydro power plant on the Blue Nile River in Uganda," a Technopromexport spokesman said. Technopromexport builds hydroelectric, thermal, geothermal and diesel power plants, and power transmission lines in 50 countries. December 15th, 2008  - Projects Tunis, Tunisia - Leading Japanese cable and wire group to invest in Gafsa Yasaki, one of the leading cable and wire groups which dominates 35%*) of the world’s cable and wire market, will open a major plant in the southern town of Gafsa, located some 350 kilometres from the capital. Yasaki, which will also open a plant in le Kef, in western Tunisia in 2009, is tabling on the region’s competitiveness, in terms of human potential and infrastructure. The project which will be operational in 2009, will be carried out in two parts. The first part concerns the direct investment by the group of 43 million dinars in order to set up a 23,000 square meter plant which will generate some 3000 jobs, including 500 destined to university diploma holders. Editors note The claim of 35%*) market share must be an error by Tunisia .com December 15th, 2008  - Projects Beijing China - China plans new optic fiber network combining TV, phone and Internet China on Friday announced that it will build its first high-capacity optic fiber network nationwide, which is able to carry Internet, TV and phone services through one network. The Ministry of Science & Technology signed an agreement with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) on building the national network. The backbone network of the new one will have a bandwidth of 1,000 G bits, comparing with the current one of 1 G bits. It will allow every user in the network to have a 100-M-bit per second access to the Internet than the existing 1-M-bit access, said a ministry press release. Insiders here said the SARFT was interested in the new network as the existing copper cable network for TV programs was of low capacity and needed updating. But Internet and telecom service providers might not be so eager to give up the existing network and invest much in a new one. December 12th, 2008  - Projects Irvine California - CTC Cable enters into manufacturing agreement in Indonesia Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) is pleased to announce that its CTC Cable subsidiary has signed agreements with an overhead conductor manufacturer in Indonesia. In addition to setting out the process for the qualification of the manufacturer of ACCC(TM) conductor by stranding aluminum wire around ACCC(TM) core made by CTC Cable, the agreement with PT KMI Wire and Cable governs the commercial aluminum stranding of ACCC(TM) conductors for the Indonesian market and establishes terms to provide stranding services for CTC Cable to export to other markets. See Extended Story.. December 10th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins a 42 million Euro subsea umbilical contract for Usan oilfield in Nigeria Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a 42 million Euro contract by EMC B.V, a subsidiary of Saipem S.p.A., to develop, manufacture and supply umbilicals and associated equipment for the subsea development of Usan deepwater oilfield, off the coast of Nigeria. The contract is one of the largest umbilical orders ever received by Nexans and confirms the company~{!/~}s position as a market leader in the subsea umbilical sector. Nexans~{!/~} specialist umbilical facility in Halden, Norway will produce 30 individual lengths of umbilical for the Usan project, to be delivered on 17 reels. The umbilicals, which will supply vital control functions and chemicals for the subsea systems, will connect the wells and the FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading unit). Delivery should start in the autumn of 2009. For full press release use this link December 10th, 2008  - Projects Tashkent Uzbekistan - Uzbekenergo begins extending power line to Afghanistan Uzbekistan has begun the construction of a 500-kV high-voltage power transmission line from the Guzor and Surxon [substations in southern Uzbekistan] to the border town of Hayratan. The Uzbekenergo [Uzbek energy] state joint stock company has launched the US$ 93 million project. The company's press office reported on Friday that the Islamic Development Bank had loaned out US$ 42 million in October 2008 to purchase the necessary equipment for the project. The press office went on to say that the company was going to spend an amount of US$ 93 million to install additional 501-megavolt-ampere transformers at the Guzor and Surxon substations and to build the 500-kV power transmission, extending 197 km. November 25th, 2008  - Projects Devens, Massachusetts - AMSC ships HTS wire for HYDRA prototype power cable American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, announced today that it has manufactured and shipped approximately 17,000 meters (56,000 feet) of its proprietary second generation (2G) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire, branded as 344 superconductors, from the company's manufacturing facility in Devens, MA for use in Project HYDRA. This is the single largest shipment of 2G HTS wire by any company worldwide. Project HYDRA relies upon the development of new fault current limiting technology, which is partially funded by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate. The project focuses on the development and deployment of AMSC's Secure Super Grids™ technology in the power delivery network of Manhattan operated by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. DHS is providing up to $25 million of the $39 million project. AMSC is both the wire supplier and the prime contractor for the project. Ultera™, a joint venture between Southwire Company and nkt cables, is the cable manufacturer. November 25th, 2008  - Projects Kigali Rwanda - Rwanda to lay 2 300km fiber-optic cable costing $38-million in 2009. Rwanda is positioning itself to be a regional ICT hub and is seeking to revolutionize its economy after the trauma of the genocide in 1994. Antoine Sebera, director of infrastructure at the Rwanda Information Technology Authority, said that Kigali had contracted South Korea's KT Corporation for the work. "Now the cables are being manufactured and shipped. The physical laying will start in February," he told Reuters in an interview. The fiber extension will connect to one of Africa's planned undersea telecommunications cables, he said. The authorities in Kigali hoped to complete the laying of fiber by September 2009 when one of the sea cables should be completed, Sebera said. Kigali has another $24-million project, funded by the World Bank, to connect Rwanda to the coast where the undersea cable is expected to land, according to the body. The 2 300km of fibre will connect with 35 main nodes throughout the country and 350 sites. November 24th, 2008  - Projects Shanghai China - Baogang to commission big size wire rod line It is reported that China~{!/~}s Baotou Iron and Steel Co Limited just put into production its world top class big size wire rod line. With total investment of Yuan 100 million, products range of this line covers almost all bar and rod products, such as 12mm to 52mm round (including rebar), square and angle bars, with designed total output capacity of 800,000 tonnes per annum. The advanced technology involved allows wire rod be packed in coil and out of traditional limited length production, thus efficiently reduce loss in production. November 24th, 2008  - Projects Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates - Borouge in expansion mode. Abu Dhabi Polymers Company also known as Borouge a producer of ethylene and polyethylene founded in 1998 is a joint venture in which the government-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) owns 60% of Borouge while Borealis owns the remaining 40%. Borouge 2 is an expansion of the company~{!/~}s existing petrochemical plant, valued at UAED20.2 billion (USD5.5 billion) and expected to be completed in 2010. Other projects will include Borouge 3, to expand both polyethylene and polypropylene production capacities to add approximately 2.5 million tons per year of capacity, by 2014. Included in the Borouge 3 development scheme is a Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) unit to produce high performance material for wire and cable applications. It will be located alongside the existing Borouge 1 and Borouge 2 petrochemical complex at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. It will be located alongside the existing Borouge 1 and Borouge 2 petrochemical complex at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. November 22nd, 2008  - Projects Kuala Lumpur Malaysia - Cable maker Hi-Essence boosts investment to RM85m Plastics wire and cable manufacturer Hi-Essence Cable Sdn Bhd has increased its investment at the Kertih Plastics Park (KPP) in Terengganu by 70 per cent to RM85 million. The company had earlier announced an investment of RM50 million at the park. Hi-Essence Cable managing director Mohamed Nor Abu Bakar said the additional investment was due to the increasing cost and foreign exchange rate in procuring the machine and setting up the facilities. See Extended Story.. November 14th, 2008  - Projects Corning New York - Corning's Ultra-Low-Loss Optical Fiber chosen for du's High-Capacity, Pan-Emirates Network Corning Incorporated has announced that du, the United Arab Emirates's (UAE) new integrated telecommunications service provider, will deploy Corning® SMF-28® ULL optical fiber as the foundation of its Pan-Emirates, high-capacity network. du is the first telecom operator in the Middle East to deploy this sophisticated fiber. This new network will support du's fast growing business, 3G cellular and fiber-to-the-home customers, with seamless, high-speed connectivity. It will span the seven Emirates and link du's network with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. See Extended Story.. November 13th, 2008  - Projects London U.K. - Corus completes upgrade of pilot plant caster Corus Process Engineering (CPE) has completed the upgrade and reconfiguration of a purely vertical billet plant caster at Corus~{!/~} Teesside Technology Centre (TTC) Pilot Plant. The reconstructed caster, which is of a vertical/bending configuration, enables TTC to offer an extended range of investigative procedures and compliments the recently installed increased melting and refining capacity of the Pilot Plant. The previous vertical billet caster was able to cast 150mm square by 6m long billets from a ladle charge of around 3 tonnes of steel. The new caster is fed from a ladle charged with 7 tonnes of steel and is able to cast a wide range of billet sizes, as well as a mini slab 142mm x 300mm, which is cast through a plate mould. The casting floor of the reconfigured caster is 1.2m higher than the previous floor. The caster has a horizontal run out and storage bed, which enable products to be cast under steady state conditions. This is critical for TTC because it needs to simulate full scale casting production. See Extended Story.. November 12th, 2008  - Projects Rotterdam The Netherlands - JDR Marine Cables To Supply Airgun Umbilicals and Lead-in Cables for Polarcus' Fleet of Six Ultra-Modern 3D Seismic Vessels JDR, a global provider of custom designed and manufactured marine cables, has been awarded the contractby the Polarcus Group based in Dubai U.A.E. for the supply of Airgun umbilical systems and Lead-in cable systems for their entire fleet of six new build, ultra-modern 3D seismic vessels. The scope awarded to JDR includes the supply of 35 kilometres of Airgun umbilicals and 65 kilometres of Lead-in cable systems. The cable systems will be supplied from JDR's new quay side facility located at Krimpen near the port of Rotterdam. The new facility, built in 2008, provides state-of-the-art manufacturing, coupled with industry leading research and design. November 12th, 2008  - Projects Inverness Scotland - Scotland to embark on large cabling project The Scottish government has lodged plans to create an underground cabling network between Lewis and the mainland. If the planning application, which was submitted by a subsidiary of Scottish & Southern Energy, is given the go ahead the island could become a future site for renewable energy. The cabling would run from Gravir, in South Lochs, underneath a salmon farm and out to sea via Loch Odhairn. It would end up in Inverness on the Scottish mainland and the multi-million pound undersea cable would carry electricity from Feiriosbhal wind farm. November 11th, 2008  - Projects Kingston Ontario - $15-million submarine cable hooks wind project into electricity grid A team of Norwegian engineers and divers have finished installing the most powerful extension cord in the world. The 7.3-kilometre-long submarine cable being run along the bottom of Lake Ontario connects the Wolfe Island wind project to the provincial electricity grid. On the windiest day, the Wolfe Island project will generate enough electricity to power 75,000 homes. About 40 experts were involved in laying the cable on the bottom of the lake. "It's actually buried in a channel of up to 10 feet at which point it comes out of the channel and lies right on top of the lake bed," project site supervisor Jablonicky said. The $15-million submarine cable is a critical part of the infrastructure required for the Wolfe Island wind project, expected to be operational by April 2009. Calgary-based Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. awarded the contract for the Wolfe Island cable in January 2007 to Nexans, a Norwegian cable company that does installations around the world. The cable was designed, manufactured and delivered via a special cable-laying barge pulled by a tugboat to Kingston during the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend from a plant in Halden, Norway. The cable is about 25 centimetres in diameter and is really three cables wrapped into one with three current-carrying conductors and 32 fibre optic conductors -all wrapped inside a lead sheath. "It is a very well-protected cable," Jablonicky said. November 8th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Technip to manufacture umbilicals in Malaysia Technip announces an expansion of its Asiaflex Products manufacturing facility to include the production of subsea umbilical(1) systems as of 2010. In January 2008(2), Technip announced the creation of Asiaflex Products that will manufacture Technip’s complete range of flexible pipes. The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is currently under construction in Tanjung Langsat, Malaysia, and is on schedule to deliver flexible pipe, plus umbilicals in 2010. Asiaflex Products will complement Technip’s existing manufacturing facilities in the umbilicals market: DUCO Ltd. located in Newcastle, UK, Technip’s umbilical center of excellence for research & development, engineering and manufacturing activities, DUCO Inc. located in Houston, Texas, a major manufacturer of steel tube umbilicals for deepwater markets worldwide, Angoflex Ltda., a joint venture between Technip and Sonangol, strategically located in Lobito, Angola, to serve the Angolan deepwater market. The new facility benefits from a strategic location to serve the emerging deepwater oil and gas markets in the Asia-Pacific, India and Middle East regions. Asiaflex Products will also create specialized training and long term employment opportunities locally. Technip is a long-standing leader in oil & gas engineering in the Asia-Pacific region with more than 3,400 employees located in key operating centers across Asia-Pacific with its regional headquarters located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Asiaflex Products facility is part of Technip’s current capex program to strengthen its assets (vessels, engineering centers and manufacturing plants) and reinforce its worldwide leadership in the Subsea market. November 7th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins cable contract for Bombardier Transportation’s passenger locomotives for North America Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has won a contract from Bombardier Transportation in Kassel, Germany to supply the majority of all the power, control and data cables to be used in the construction of 27 passenger locomotives for the New Jersey Transit Corporation. The powerful new locomotives will help NJ TRANSIT to expand capacity in its passenger rail operations. The new ALP-46A locomotives are an evolution of Bombardier’s service-proven ALP-46 electric locomotive technology that has been in operation since 2002. Nexans had also delivered the cables for those locomotives as well and had demonstrated its excellent reliability. The cables for the locomotives comply with the highest technical standards, especially for fire performance and efficiency. The power cables are rubber-insulated, while the control and data cables are insulated with irradiated polyethylene. They will be manufactured in the Nexans plants in Nuremberg and Monchengladbach, Germany, with delivery starting in April 2009. “The main factors that persuaded Bombardier Transportation to place this major contract with Nexans are our proven capability to design, develop and deliver on-time and throughout the world a complete range of special cables to meet virtually any rolling stock requirement” said Dietmar Steinbach, Nexans Global Segment Manager for Rolling Stock. November 7th, 2008  - Projects Shanghai China - Baosteel wins steel wire supply contract for Taizhou Yangtze Bridge Baosteel Group, parent of China's largest steel marker Baoshan Iron and Steel Co, announced on Wednesday that it has won bid of supplying galvanizing steel wires for a suspension bridge in east China's Jiangsu province, sources reported. Under the agreement, Baosteel will be supplying nearly 20,000 tons of galvanizing steel wires for the construction of Taizhou Yangtze River, which has a total length of 62 km and connects Taizhou, Yangzhong and Changzhou in the province. The bridge will involve a total investment of RMB 9.37 billion. However, Baosteel didn't provide any detailed information on the bid. October 31st, 2008  - Projects Hobart Tasmania - Trans-tasman cable project in doubt - beware of MOUs and LOIs The global financial crisis is calling into question a planned new submarine telecommunications cable across the Tasman. In April, state-owned Kordia signed a memorandum of understanding MOU with Australia's Pipe Networks, in which the companies agreed to collaborate on a project for the new fiber optic cable. Coupled with Pipe's Australia to Guam cable, the new trans-Tasman cable would connect New Zealand not just to Australia but also to Japan and America. This week, Pipe chairman Roger Clarke told his company's annual meeting in Brisbane that bankers are considering an application for bridging finance for its cable, and it is possible the project will not go ahead, the Dominion Post reports. Kordia chief executive Geoff Hunt will not say whether there are any implications for its planned trans-tasman cable, for which it is working on a business case. The proposed trans-Tasman cable will compete with the Southern Cross Cable, owned by a consortium with Telecom as a major shareholder. Editors note: The trans-tasman cable project is no different from many other similar infra structure projects that only a few month ago were sure to proceed - like in past recessions Memorandum of understandings MOIs and Letters of intent LOIs are not worth the paper they are written on. Suppliers beware. October 30th, 2008  - Projects Majuro Marshall Islands - Isolated Pacific nation installs $18 million optic cable The Marshall Islands will spend nearly $US 18 million to install a submarine fibre optic cable that proponents say will revolutionise telecommunications in the country. The Pacific Magazine reports government leaders and the National Telecommunications Authority say they spent several years debating the project before deciding to make the investment. The US military is funding an underwater fiber optic cable from Guan to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands government will spend $17.9 million to extend the cable to Ebeye and Majuro. The government will be required to make a down payment of $2 million on November 21st when the contract is signed. October 30th, 2008  - Projects Brantford Ontario - It is serious but the sky is not falling in there is still contracts to be had. Even though oil prices have declined considerably over the last several months and currently hover around US$60 per barrel, subsea installation activity continues to do well. Should the oil price continue to plummet, however, subsea projects will suffer. To date, 321 subsea installation projects are known to be underway between now through 2012 and beyond, according to data compiled by ODS-Petrodata for its online Offshore Construction Locator market intelligence system. Deepwater activity continues to grow in the subsea realm around the world, in particular in West Africa. Northwest Europe is the busiest region for subsea installation, followed by West Africa, Latin America and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. See Extended Story.. October 22nd, 2008  - Projects Cairo Egypt - El Sewedy delays smelter project El Sewedy Cables, one of the biggest cable manufacturers in the Middle East, will delay its copper smelter project "for the time being" due to market conditions, the company said on Tuesday. "Given the current market conditions, we can achieve better returns on our investments in other projects that we are working on," Chief Executive Ahmed El Sewedy said in a statement. "We strongly believe in the fundamentals of the project. We just think the timing could be better. We believe we can build it much cheaper 12 months from now. We will continue monitoring the market condition," he added. The firm said that a feasibility study had shown a potentially lower than expected return on investments due to higher capital expenditures. It added that the smelter, if constructed, would be "one of the most cost competitive copper smelters/refineries worldwide". El Sewedy said last year it would build an $850 million copper smelter in Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea coast to produce 300,000 tonnes of copper cathodes a year, as well as other by-products such as sulphuric acid. October 21st, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Alcatel-Lucent to Double Capacity of East Africa Submarine Cable System Alcatel-Lucent has won a contract with the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) consortium to more than double the design capacity of the optical submarine cable network landing in East Africa. The network, which is based on Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine and terrestrial optical solutions, will now be able to deliver a regional capacity of 1.4 Tbps, the highest capacity in the region. See Extended Story.. October 18th, 2008  - Projects Unterneukirchen Germany - SKW Cored wire production in Mexico inaugurated. SKW Stahl - Metallurgie Holding AG has consistently continued the group’s global expansion in high-growth emerging nations by starting cored wire production in Mexico. The new plant is located in the harbor town of Manzanillo in the state of Colima, and will initially supply cored wire for Mexican steel producers. After starting production in Q3 as scheduled, the new plant of the SKW Metallurgie Group was formally inaugurated on October 14, 2008. In business year 2008, as a result of the start-up phase, revenues of approx. USD 1 million have been forecast; however, in 2009 revenues are already forecast to total several million USD. The new cored wire facility is characterized by a sound cost structure and good logistics thanks to its direct proximity to the harbor. In addition, the new location offers the opportunity to upscale capacity within the shortest timeframe, and is therefore ideally positioned to profit from the significant growth in the Latin American steel industry. SKW Metallurgie has succeeded in setting up the facility with a very low investment volume in the low single-digit million euro range. See Extended Story.. October 15th, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite Technologies strengthens its market foothold in Africa Sterlite Technologies Limited ("Sterlite") a leading global provider of wire and cable solutions for the telecom and power industries, today announced that it has received contracts for its fiber optic cables for deployment by leading telecom incumbents in Sub-Saharan Africa for the expansion of their telecom backbone infrastructures. The contracts are worth a total of US$ 5.2 Million to Sterlite and supplies would be executed with Fiscal 2008-09. See Extended Story.. October 14th, 2008  - Projects Belgrade Serbia - 12 Million Euro to be invested in new cable plant to be built Serbian sockets and switches manufacturer Metalka Majur is investing 12 million euro ($16.4 million) in a new cable plant due to open in March, state news agency Tanjug reported on Friday. With the launch of the new plant Metalka Majur plans to raise its sales to five billion dinars ($85.7 million/62.8 million euro) annually from an average of 800 million dinars, Tanjug quoted Metalka Majur’s owner, Radoslav Milenkovic, as saying. No capacity figures were available. Metalka Majur, which has a staff of 330, says it is the market leader in the sockets and switches segment in Serbia and in neighbouring Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It exports its output to 17 countries. October 10th, 2008  - Projects Riyadh Saudi Arabia - $150 million cable factory planned in Yanbu El Sewedy Cables, one of the largest cable manufacturers in the world, has recently announced the launch of its factory in Yanbu Industrial City with an initial investment of $150 million. Eng. Tamer Elwa, country manager of El Sewedy Cables, said the factory, which has a capacity of 34,000 tons of copper and aluminum for electrical cables and overhead transmission lines up to 500 KV, will be operational in the first quarter of 2009. The factory will contribute to meet the needs of both the Saudi and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries as well, Elwa added. El Sewedy Cables, with headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, has signed an exclusive agreement with Afkar International to promote its interests in the Kingdom by organizing four events in Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Yanbu, among others. Walid Helmi, general manager of Afkar International, said El Sewedy Cables’ factory in Yanbu is a manifestation of the company’s desire to tap the Saudi workforce. “El Sewedy Cables seeks from the beginning to recruit young talents from Saudi Arabia,” he pointed out. See Extended Story.. October 9th, 2008  - Projects Manchester U.K. - Manchester engineering company makes big capital investment. Tuesday Hellermann Tyton unveiled a major investment program that will improve their operations in the greater Manchester area. The cable ties manufacturer has spent more than £800,000 on equipment to boost efficiency at its site in Wythenshawe. Hellermann Tyton has also built a two-storey extension to its offices, opened a new logistics area with six loading bays and a new product display centre. October 9th, 2008  - Projects Bangalore India - ArcelorMittal moving ahead with $27 billion Indian Steel Mill ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg) is in talks with the state government of Chhattisgarh to set up a 6 million-ton-per-year integrated steel mill. The company intends to invest about $3 billion in the project. Discussions are still in the initial stages, but when the project is complete, the company's proposed steel production capacity from its units in India will reach 30 million tons per year within the next decade. Earlier this year, ArcelorMittal announced plans to invest $24 billion in two integrated steel plants in the states of Orissa and Jharkhand. October 8th, 2008  - Projects Bangalore India - Baldota group Co. setting up Rs 4,700-cr steel plant The Baldota Group is setting up a new Rs 4,700-crore steel plant, which will mostly manufacture products for passenger cars as well as auto parts producers based out of southern and western India. The group company, Aaress Iron & Steel Ltd (AISL), which is setting up the project, expects to complete the first phase consisting of 1.2 million tonnes capacity by the end of 2010. The steel plant is being set up in Koppal in northern Karnataka. The total capacity of the plant is expected to be around 5 million tonne. In the second phase, 2.5-million tonne capacity will be added with an investment of Rs 8,500 crore, Mr Shrenik N. Baldota, the executive director of AISL, told reporters. “Over 60 per cent of the 1.2-mt capacity will be for the automobile sector,” Mr U.P. Singh, director with AISL, said. He said alloy steel grade, billets and wire rods will be manufactured during the first phase. October 8th, 2008  - Projects Luenen Germany - NA invests 62.5m euros and creates 40 new jobs at its Luenen site Up until 2011, Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA) is going to invest a further 62.5 million euros in the expansion of the Kayser Recycling System (KRS) at its recycling site in Lünen, in the shape of the KRS-Plus project. This will also lead to the creation of 40 new jobs. The decision was announced today at the ground-breaking ceremony for a new warehouse for KRS recycling raw materials, which completes the implementation of an emissions reduction program agreed with the authorities in 2006. At the same time, further measures for reducing emissions beyond those proposed in the original concept were also announced. For full press release use this link October 6th, 2008  - Projects Kigali Rwanda - Korean firm signs $38 million optic cable network deal Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA) Friday signed a US$ 38 million contract with Korea Telecom (KT) to have the latter set up the National Backbone Project which will enable high-speed internet network in the country using fiber-optic technology. The deal consists of a high-speed fiber-optic network that will link 36 main nodes in both Kigali City and all the 30 Districts of the country. Prof. Murenzi said that Rwanda will be the second country in Sub-Saharan Africa to have a strong internet connection backbone after South Africa when the implementation of the fiber-optic cable network reaches its final implementation. The network which will be over 2,300kms of fiber-optic cables is an extension of the on-going Kigali Metropolitan Network and it will fully connect major public and private institutions, hospitals, schools, universities, immigration and border services. October 2nd, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite® power cable market share in Africa now 14% Sterlite® received repeat contracts worth US$ 121 Million from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), Jaypee Powergrid Limited, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (RRVPNL), India and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), Ethiopia. Sterlite® also received contracts worth about US$ 15.5 Million from leading infrastructure companies in Nigeria, Uganda, Algeria & Bangladesh. Sterlite® was chosen as the sole manufacturer and supplier of power conductors for these contracts. Sterlite® has a fortified its market share to about 14% in Africa, with its Power Transmission Conductors products sold in 21 countries across the continent to reputed Sterlite’s Power Conductor facility at Haridwar, India utilities, turnkey and infrastructure companies such as SONELGAZ - Algeria, EEPCo Ethiopia, KPLC – Kenya, PHCN – Nigeria and ESKOM - South Africa, to name a few. October 2nd, 2008  - Projects Devens Massachusetts - AMSC ships superconductor Wire for project HYDRA prototype power cable American Superconductor Corporation announced today that it has manufactured and shipped approximately 17,000 meters (56,000 feet) of its proprietary second generation (2G) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire, branded as 344 superconductors, from the company's manufacturing facility in Devens Massachusetts, for use in Project HYDRA. This is the single largest shipment of 2G HTS wire by any company worldwide. October 1st, 2008  - Projects Milwaukee Wisconsin - Charter Automotive steel wire company opens new factory in Wuhu, Anhui Charter Automotive in Milwaukee will open a new factory in Wuhu, Anhui to supply the automotive industry engineering components and accessories. It is a new set with function of production, warehousing, and distribution, As earlier reported (September 17th, 2008 ) the company name Milwaukee Wire Products has been changed to Charter Automotive. It is the first time for this company come into China. September 26th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins major cable order for China’s new High-Speed EMU Trainsets Nexans, has won a contract worth more than 1 million Euro from Bombardier Sifang Power, Qingdao, China to supply high-tech control, power and data cables for the series 4 High-Speed EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) trainsets currently under construction for the Chinese Ministry of Railways (MOR). In October 2007, 20 EMU trains of 16 cars each were ordered by the MOR from Bombardier’s joint venture in China. Based on the Regina platform, transferred from Sweden for local manufacture in Qingdao, this EMU series has been developed to high standards of quality and performance to meet specific needs of the Chinese high-speed sector, and is capable of speeds of up to 250 km/h. See Extended Story.. September 25th, 2008  - Projects Swedesboro, NJ, U.S.A. - Niehoff Endex North America - Open House - Oktoberfest 2008 Niehoff Endex North America Open House - Oktoberfest 2008 From October 14-15, Niehoff Endex will be hosting an open house at their facility in Swedesboro, NJ. The first day will include a tour and Oktoberfest festivities. Oct 15 will consist of a technical symposium including seminars from the Ford Motor Company and Multiwire Drawing experts. You must contact Niehoff Endex to confirm your attendance.   See Extended Story.. September 25th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - Mukand plans Rs 300cr steel wire facility at Nashik Specialty steelmaker Mukand Ltd is planning to set up a stainless steel wire manufacturing facility near Nashik, at a total investment of Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion). The proposed facility, which will be set up at Sinnar area of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, is expected to be operational in the next 12-15 months. "With an aim to meet the market demand, the company is setting up a steel wire manufacturing facility at Sinnar, 30 kms from Nashik. The company has already acquired 44.65 acre of plot from MIDC at Sinnar and will shortly commence construction there. The proposed facility will cover a built-up area of 15,000 sq mts and company's investment in this project will be around Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion)," the company sources said. See Extended Story.. September 24th, 2008  - Projects Petaling Ja Ya Malaysia - Lion to partner with Vietnam firm in new steel mill project The shortage of steel billets for re-rolling in Vietnam may soon be filled with good measure as the Lion group partners with a Vietnamese company to undertake a multi-billion dollar steel mill project in Vietnam. A Lion group spokesman confirmed this yesterday, saying: “An investment license has been issued to a joint-venture company to be formed by the Lion group and Vinashin of Vietnam to undertake the proposed steel mill project.” She said the terms and conditions of the license were being studied. “It has not been decided which company under the Lion group will invest in the project, neither has the value of the project been confirmed. “Once the project details are finalized, the necessary announcement will be made,” she told StarBiz.(A Malaysian Business Daily) Output of the mill is expected to serve the shipbuilding and export segments of the domestic market. See Extended Story.. September 24th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans to supply specialized cables for new Seoul Metro trains Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has received an order worth more than 3 million euros from Hyundai Rotem, the South Korean rolling stock manufacturer, to supply specialized power and control cables for new trains currently under construction for the Seoul Metro Line 3. Seoul Metro is the public corporation responsible for subway Lines 1-4 in South Korea’s capital. It is one of the busiest transportation systems in the world, with its trains having travelled 5 trillion km by June 2008, less than 34 years after the first line (Line 1) opened in 1974. In order to ensure the continued passenger comfort and reliability of the Seoul Metro, Hyundai Rotem is currently working on a project to put 330 new train cars into service between 2009 and 2010. The Nexans contract involves the supply of some 80 per cent of all the power and control cables required for the new trains. See Extended Story.. September 23rd, 2008  - Projects Colombo Sri Lanka - ACL Cables to launch first-ever copper rod plant in Sri Lanka ACL Cables which recently won the World Class Asia Pacific Quality Award (IAPQA) 2008, said that they are now in the process of changing gear and concentrating on backward integration, and the Company is currently on the verge of launching Sri Lanka’s first ever copper rod factory. The factory will aim to produce almost double the requirement of ACL Cables of which it plans to export a large quantity of copper rods to the region. “ACL has always been a stickler for getting the technical know-how right, and this time around too we have got technical support for our copper factory from expert foreign consultants” says Suren Madanayake, Managing Director of ACL Cables. "This Copper plant is the natural sequence to our development process as we are a big importer of this product.” See Extended Story.. September 22nd, 2008  - Projects Montreal Quebec - Alcan Cable Launches STABILOY(TM) Aluminium Alloy Cable in China Alcan Cable, part of Alcan Engineered Products - a business unit of Rio Tinto Alcan, has made STABILOY(TM) brand wire the first aluminium alloy building wire available in China. STABILOY(TM) provides a unique, cost- effective solution for residential, commercial, power utility, industrial and institutional market applications."We are excited to offer our STABILOY(TM) aluminium alloy building wire to the Chinese market," said Ian Hewett, president, Alcan Cable. "STABILOY(TM) is a proven and reliable alternative to copper feeder conductors and delivers significant cost savings." See Extended Story.. September 19th, 2008  - Projects Huntington Indiana - Macsteel expands heat treating operations. Steel bar manufacturer Gerdau MACSTEEL announced today its board of directors have approved a $9.4 million expansion to its heat treating operations here, creating 20 new jobs by 2011. As part of the expansion, the company will construct a new 38,000-square-foot building to house a fifth quench and temper line with induction similar to the company's existing four lines located on the city's northwest side."We continue to outrun all of our Midwestern competitors in attracting new job-creating investment from companies like Gerdau MACSTEEL, but we can't let up for a minute. We can never take a rest, we have to get on to the next success and the next," said Governor Mitch Daniels. Gerdau MACSTEEL, which provides hot rolled and cold finished steel bars to customers in the automotive, defense and agriculture industries, will begin hiring line associates and finishing operators next summer to accommodate the new production line. "Gerdau MACSTEEL Heat Treat is recognized as a leader in quench and tempering of long products in the steel industry and this expansion will support our commitment to our customer's needs," said Mark A. Marcucci, president of Gerdau MACSTEEL, "The project, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2009, will add 18,000 tons of additional bar and tube capacity, increase the size range of our products and expand our value-added services." September 18th, 2008  - Projects Paris, September - Nexans wins order to supply almost 1,000km of cabling for extension of Istanbul’s commuter rail networks Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has secured an exclusive 8.9 million euro contract from the Istanbul Transportation Authority (IETT) to provide 988km of specialised rail cables for an extension of the city’s Metro and Light Rail systems. Nexans will supply to Gulermak-Dogus JV, the overall project contractor, 726 km of low voltage and 262 km of medium voltage power cables which will be used for power distribution and DC systems for a 5.3km Light Rail Transport (LRT) line and a 15.6km metro line expected to carry 67,000 passengers an hour. Nexans, involved in an earlier expansion of the Istanbul Metro, will also provide lighting cables for use in 20 new stations. For full press release use this link September 17th, 2008  - Projects Al-Kohbar Saudi Arabia - Madar Holding eyes expansion in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi Arabian Business reported that Madar, a subsidiary of Al Fozan Group, which was established 3 years ago as a result of the disparity between supply and demand in the Middle East steel industry has since expanded its operations to cover the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria and Sudan. The firm's Dubai rebar processing plant which opened for business last May has seen Madar become one of the biggest suppliers in the region. Mr Sameh Hassan CEO of Madar Holding said that "We have now reached 80% to 85% of our capacity at our Dubai factory and we are looking at expansion in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He added that we work in two ten hour shifts so the factory is productive 20 hours a day. We have 100 workers which increase to 120 at busier times of the year. See Extended Story.. September 15th, 2008  - Projects Milan Italy - Prysmian lands 140 million Euro contract in Qater Prysmian, a worldwide leading Group in the sector of cables and systems for energy and telecommunications, has been awarded a strategic contract worth 140 million euro by Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) for the development of the first ever submarine cable turnkey project serving Doha, the capital of Qatar. This new agreement follows the 168 million euro contract recently secured by a Prysmian led consortium for the construction of a high voltage underground cable system, and further confirms the strategic role Prysmian is playing in the Middle East as a major utilities partner for the current power transmission network expansion program. Among other projects, Prysmian is currently involved in the construction of the submarine power connection between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, with the GCCIA (Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority). See Extended Story.. September 13th, 2008  - Projects Buenos Aires Argentina - Gerdau to build new steel mill in Argentina Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau is investing USD 524 million in a new steel mill in Argentina. Company CEO Mr ré Gerdau Johannpeter made the announcement Thursday in a meeting with Argentine President Cristina Fernández. Located in Santa Fe province's Pérez city, the new Sipar Gerdau plant will increase the group's steel production in Argentina fourfold to 1.1 million tonnes from 260,000 tonnes per year. The new facility is located 5km from Sipar Gerdau's existing mill. Construction is to begin in November and the first phase of the project to be concluded in 2011. By then, Sipar is expected to be producing at a rate of 650,000 tonnes per year of crude steel and 710,000 tonnes per year of long products, which includes shapes, wire rods, wires, concrete reinforcing bars, nails and screens. Investments are some USD 310mn. The second phase is to be complete by 2016. See Extended Story.. September 13th, 2008  - Projects Salt Lake City Utah - Rope barriers on I-80 good for the few US makers of steel rope The Utah Department of Transportation is installing 15 miles of wire barrier in the median area of I-80 between Lake Point and the Salt Lake International Airport in hopes of preventing many crossover head-on crashes before they happen. UDOT officials say the barriers, constructed out of a series of three horizontal cables and steel posts, are an additional safety measure beyond the reflective paint, signage, guard rails and safety rumbles — which produce a loud noise when a car is moving too close to the edge of the roadway — that help keep motorists on the roadway. “It was a project that was developed in Sweden and has proven to be very effective in the elimination of crossover, head-on crashes that happen on the interstate,” said Robert Hull, director of traffic and safety for UDOT. “It’s a cost-effective solution in reducing fatalities.” An alternative to cable wires is concrete barriers, but the latter is more expensive and involves a time-consuming installation process. September 12th, 2008  - Projects Albany New York - Turkish wire company opens it's first U.S. production plant Sark Wire Corp., a subsidiary of The Sarkuysan Group of Companies in Istanbul is opening a $10 million processing plant in Albany, N.Y., its first production facility in the United States. Sark Wire has bought a vacant building at 120 Industrial Park Road near Everett Road in Albany and will renovate it for the processing plant, a company official said Thursday. To visit The Sarkuysan Group Website use this link See Extended Story.. September 8th, 2008  - Projects Petaling Jaya Malaysia - HSBB project a pot of gold for fibre-optic cable makers Regardless of whether Telekom Malaysia Bhd or Pahang-based High Speed Broadband Technology Sdn Bhd (HSBT) lands the multi-billion-ringgit national high-speed broadband network (HSBB) project, local fiber-optic cable manufacturers stand to make a killing from cable sales. Industry sources said a conservative estimate would put the cost of fiber-optic cables at around 15%-20% of the overall project cost. So, if the project costs RM11.3 billion as per TM’s proposal, then the fiber-optic cables needed would come to about RM2 billion. See Extended Story.. September 8th, 2008  - Projects Kyodo Japan - Russian telecom, KDDI start superfast cable link to Japan. KDDI Corp. and Rostelecom, Russia's largest long-distance telecom carrier, said Friday they will begin using undersea fiber-optic cables to transmit high-speed data between the two countries. The submarine cable system, which goes online Saturday, will provide financial institutions and other corporate clients with the shortest and fastest route linking Japan to Russia and the European region, the two companies said. Two 900-km cables, including a backup line, will link Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, with Nakhodka in the Russian Far East at a data communication speed of 640 gigabits per second, about 1,000 times the speed of the current line linking the two countries. September 5th, 2008  - Projects Athens Greece - Greece plans $3billion to upgrade telecom network Greece wants to invest in a new fibre optic network that will drastically upgrade its broadband and cable television capabilities, an AFP report said. The AFP report quoted Economy Minister George Alogoskoufis saying that "we have decided to invest as a country in a modern fiber optic network that will change the daily life of Greek citizens." The seven-year project estimated to cost €2.1 billion ($3 billion) will provide high-definition TV, video telephony, quicker internet connections and other high-bandwidth services, Alogoskoufis said. It will be developed through a public-private partnership and is eligible for funding from the European Investment Bank, he said. An international tender on the open-access network will be issued in the second half of 2009, the report said. The contract involves the construction, maintenance and operation of a dark fiber network for 30 years. Greece has labored to increase the number of high-bandwidth users by slashing subscription prices and improving connections, the AFP report further said. September 2nd, 2008  - Projects Calcutta India - Jai Balaji inks MoU with Chhattisgarh Government for integrated steel plant Jai Balaji Industries, the flagship company of Jai Balaji Group, has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Chhattisgarh for development of an integrated steel plant in the state. Kolkata-based Jai Balaji Industries engages in the manufacture of steel in India. Its products include sponge iron; pig iron; reinforced steel TMT bars; alloy and mild steel ingots and wire rods; and carbon, alloy, and mild steel heavy rounds. The company has registered a net profit of Rs 46.30 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2008, an increase of 96%, after new capacity additions in ferro alloy, blast furnace for producing pig iron and captive power. September 2nd, 2008  - Projects Jeddah Saudi Arabia - Al Atoun Steel to launch first phase by 2009 end It is reported that Al Atoun Steel Industries will start commercial production of square billet and long products in the 4th quarter of 2009. As per report, the date of launch of a 910,000 tonne per year meltshop and a 500,000 tonne per year bar rolling mill near Yanbu Port has been postponed for a year. Al Atoun Steel Industries is setting up a steel plant of 910,000 tonnes of steel billets of various sizes, with a hot rolling mill with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes doing re bars from 8mm to 32 mm, rounds from 14mm to 50mm, squares from 16mm to 70mm, angles from 25mm to 55mm and several other sections, in their 1st phase of the project. See Extended Story.. September 2nd, 2008  - Projects Luxembourg - Hochfeld orders a high capacity wire rod mill ArcelorMittal Hochfeld GmbH has placed an order with SMS Meer for the supply of a complete high capacity wire rod mill with FRS technique for high grade steels. The annual capacity shall be 690,000 tonne. Of this, the major portion of the products will be cold heading steel grades. The mill will be designed for producing wire rod in high grade steels and is characterized by its compactness and efficiency. It will go into production in August 2010. These facilities would allow wire rod to be produced over the entire dimensional range of 5.5mm to 25.0 mm by means of temperature controlled rolling. Ultra-fine microstructures can be achieved especially for cold heading grades by thermo mechanical rolling. The maximum rolling speed for 5.5 mm wire rod is 120 meter per second. See Extended Story.. August 30th, 2008  - Projects Luxembourg - ArcelorMittal plans new Mexican bar mill ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company, plans to construct a new bar mill in Mexico at an undetermined location. The facility will produce carbon steel and bar products, including rebar, merchant bar and special bar quality material to serve the construction and automotive sectors. The facility will be based on electrical steel-making equipment with a capacity of one million metric tons of billets per year and a new bar rolling mill with a capacity of 500,000 metric tons. This additional production will be directed to the domestic market, mainly to produce high-value-added steel products, but also to support the government of Mexico’s national infrastructure plan and housing program. See Extended Story.. August 30th, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite Technologies Limited wins US$ 66 million PGCIL contract Sterlite Technologies Limited ("Sterlite") a leading global provider of wire and cable solutions for the power and telecom industry, today announced contract wins from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), Jaypee Powergrid Limited, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (RRVPNL), India and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), Ethiopia. The contracts, which are for Sterlite's ACSR Moose & AAAC power conductors, are worth a total of Rs 278 Crores (US$ 66 Million). As per customer's requirements these power conductors would be supplied between September 2008 and December 2009. See Extended Story.. August 28th, 2008  - Projects Kingman, Arizona - Nucor Corporation proposes start up of Kingman steel mill, Arizona Nucor Corporation a manufacturer of steel products, said on 26 August that the company intends to begin production of steel bar at its idle rolling mill in Kingman, Arizona. o restart production in Kingman are approximately USD30m and it expects rolling operations to commence by the second quarter of 2009. Nucor Corporation anticipates initial annual output of straight-length rebar, coiled rebar and wire rod of approximately 250,000 tons. The Kingman mill will have the capability to increase annual production to more than 500,000 tons. The company reported that it had acquired North Star Steel's idled Kingman steel mill in 2003 for a purchase price of approximately USD35m under a previous agreement. August 27th, 2008  - Projects Istanbul Turkey - Diler Demir Celik commissions new rolling mill Diler Demir Celik End. ve Tic A.S, an affiliate of Diler Holding - one of Turkey's leading iron and steel manufacturers, has constructed and commissioned a new rolling mill near its existing rebar mill in the northwestern Turkish city of Izmit. This new rolling mill with a total annual production capacity of 500,000 mt will be able to produce both wire rod and rebar in coils, in respective size ranges of 5.5-20 mm and 6-18 mm. It will also be capable of producing low, medium and high carbon wire rod. The rolling mill was supplied by Italian plant maker Danieli as a turn-key project. Thanks to its modern equipment and advanced technology, the mill will be able to produce high value added special steel in the long term. Diler officials state that trial production has been completed and that the new rolling mill has started to receive orders. August 26th, 2008  - Projects Brantford Ontario - Tata Steel cancels Bangladesh steel mill project Tata Steel are withdrawing a proposed investment plan of $3 billion in Bangladesh because of the country's prevalent political instability and the non-committal stance of the government. The company told reporters in Dhaka.. The announcement comes on the heel of a news release August 14 that Tata Steel, had signed an agreement yesterday with the Viet Nam Steel Corporation (VnSteel) and Viet Nam Cement Corporation (VICEM) to build a $5 billion steel complex in Viet Nam. The complex, the biggest steel plant in Viet Nam, will have an annual output of 4.5 million tonnes of steel, according to VnSteel, the country~{!/~}s largest steel maker. See Extended Story.. August 25th, 2008  - Projects Xinjiang China - Bayi Steel to build CNY 475 million bar and wire project Bayi Steel has announced a plan to invest CNY 475 million in a new bar and wire rod mill project, which is scheduled to produce 600,000 tonnes round steel and HR rebar and 600,000t high speed wire rod a year. The Xinjiang based steelmaker aims to meet the increasing demand for construction steels from the nearby markets, based on larger production and better quality of the products, to which the bar and wire project can be an important asset. August 16th, 2008  - Projects New Delhi India - Outokumpu to set up a stainless rebar and a stainless tube facility in India. Stainless steelmaker Outokumpu India, part of Finland-based Outokumpu, plans to set up a plate service centre and a rebar processing facility next to its coil service centre, which is being built in the Ambarnath region in Maharashtra. The entire project would entail an investment of close to Rs 300 crore. Besides, the company is also looking at setting up a steel tube manufacturing plant, which could also be through a joint venture. “The growing demand for finished and semi-finished stainless steel products across various sectors have prompted us to add a rebar processing facility and a plate service centre to our coil service centre,” said a senior company official. These centres would provide customised steel products to the industrial sector. Last year, the company sold 11,000 tonnes of steel in the domestic market and this year, it is targeting sales of 30,000 tonnes of steel. August 16th, 2008  - Projects Doha Qatar - Madar Holding builds new rebar and wire mesh unit Steel Guru reports that Madar Holding is investing USD3 million in a new rebar and wire mesh fabrication unit in Qatar to cater to the booming demand for construction steel in Qatar. The new fabrication unit will be located in Doha and it will process 150, 000 tonne per year of rebar. Mr Ashraf Kora business development director of Madar Holding said that "The building work has already started in Qatar and it’s scheduled to open at the end of 2009. The steel is sourced from the nearby Qatar Steel mill and we will focus on supplying the domestic market." He added that the facility will have a cut and bend and wire mesh machine and Madar is in the process of sourcing machinery. August 16th, 2008  - Projects Indianapolis Indiana - Duke and AEP to spend $1 Billion on new transmission lines The two utilities plan to erect a 240-mile system in Indiana to ferry the new energy, including wind power, generated from the region. American Electrical Power and Duke Energy said Monday they have formed a joint venture to build 240 miles of transmission lines in Indiana to ferry the growing amount of new energy generated from the region, including wind power. The companies each own half of the joint venture, called Pioneer Transmission, and plan to invest an estimated $1 billion in the company. The utilities expect to recoup the cost over time by collecting higher electric rates from customers served by the lines, which fall under the purview of the Midwestern Independent System Operators (MISO) and PJM Interconnection (PJM). See Extended Story.. August 10th, 2008  - Projects Luxembourg - ArcelorMittal to increase its long carbon steel production capacity in Brazil ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel company, today announces new investments of US$1.6 billion in its long carbon steel operations in Brazil. The investments are in addition to the US$1.2 billion of investments previously announced in respect of the expansion of the Monlevade plant in Minas Gerais. These investments will expand ArcelorMittal's crude steel production capacity in the long carbon sector in Brazil by an additional 2.6 million tons. This represents an increase from 3.9 million tons per year up to 6.5 million tons per year.. The investment is expected to be completed within 30 months. Separately, the works to increase the capacity of the Monlevade plant have commenced and should also be completed within 30 months. The investment program in Monlevade includes the installation of: a new Sinter Plant with a capacity of 4 million tons per year; a Blast Furnace with a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year; a simultaneous BOF Blowing a Continuous Caster with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year and a Wire Rod Mill with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year. August 10th, 2008  - Projects Islamabad Pakistan - Agreement signed for import of electricity Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday signed an inter-governmental agreement with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for importing 1300MW of electricity from Central Asia by 2013. The agreement was signed by energy ministers of the four countries at the conclusion of an Inter-Governmental Council (IGC) meeting here. Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf, Afghan Minister of Energy and Water Alhaj Mohammad Ismail Khan, Kyrgyz Minister of Industry, Energy and Fuel Resources Saparbek Balkibekov and Chairman of the Tajik State Committee for Investments Farrukh Hamraliev represented their governments. Mr Ashraf said that the four nations had agreed in principle to implement the project adding that issues like tariff, transmission cost, legal aspects and other technical matters would be taken up later. He said the four nations also agreed to set up IGC secretariat in Kabul and approved the appointment of Qazi Naeemuddin, a Pakistani engineer, as its first executive director. Of the total 1300MW hydropower to be exported jointly by Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic, Afghanistan will use 300MW and the remaining 1000MW would be imported by Pakistan, he said. The ministers agreed to adopt Kabul-Jalalabad route for the transmission line 477 kilometers of 500 KV AC line from Kyrgyz Republic to Tajikistan and 750 km of 500 KV DC line between Tajikistan and Pakistan via Kabul. See Extended Story.. August 10th, 2008  - Projects Islamabad Pakistan - Agreement signed for import of electricity Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday signed an inter-governmental agreement with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for importing 1300MW of electricity from Central Asia by 2013. The agreement was signed by energy ministers of the four countries at the conclusion of an Inter-Governmental Council (IGC) meeting here. Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf, Afghan Minister of Energy and Water Alhaj Mohammad Ismail Khan, Kyrgyz Minister of Industry, Energy and Fuel Resources Saparbek Balkibekov and Chairman of the Tajik State Committee for Investments Farrukh Hamraliev represented their governments. Mr Ashraf said that the four nations had agreed in principle to implement the project adding that issues like tariff, transmission cost, legal aspects and other technical matters would be taken up later. He said the four nations also agreed to set up IGC secretariat in Kabul and approved the appointment of Qazi Naeemuddin, a Pakistani engineer, as its first executive director. Of the total 1300MW hydropower to be exported jointly by Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic, Afghanistan will use 300MW and the remaining 1000MW would be imported by Pakistan, he said. The ministers agreed to adopt Kabul-Jalalabad route for the transmission line 477 kilometers of 500 KV AC line from Kyrgyz Republic to Tajikistan and 750 km of 500 KV DC line between Tajikistan and Pakistan via Kabul. See Extended Story.. August 10th, 2008  - Projects Luxembourg - ArcelorMittal to set up bar mill in Mexico ArcelorMittal has announced that it plans to construct a new steel mill in Mexico to produce carbon steel and bars including rebar, merchant bar quality and special bar quality products that will principally serve the construction and automotive sectors. The facility will be based on electrical steel making equipment with capacity of 1 million of tonnes of billets per year and a new bar rolling mill with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes. This additional production will be directed to the domestic market, mainly to produce high added value steel products but also to support the Government of Mexico’s National Infrastructure Plan and Housing Program. The commencement of construction will be subject to the receipt of appropriate regulatory approvals by the relevant local authorities. See Extended Story.. August 10th, 2008  - Projects New Delhi India - Rathi Steel & Power to invest Rs 2000 cr Rathi Steel And Power Ltd. (formerly Rathi Udyog Ltd.), flagship company of the Delhi-based P.C. Rathi group, has planned to enhance the steel capacity of its Orissa plant to 1.2 MTPA at a project outlay of approx. INR 2,000 crore. This is in line with the company’s ambition to retain and further consolidate its position as a market leader in the long segment of steel products. See Extended Story.. August 3rd, 2008  - Projects Hyderabad India - IJM sets up Rs 21cr welded wire mesh plant IJM Steel Products Private Limited, a subsidiary of Malaysia-based $1.2-billion IJM Corporation Berhad, on Sunday commissioned its first welded wire mesh (WWM) manufacturing facility at Isnapur village near Hyderabad at an outlay of Rs 21 crore. "WWM for concrete reinforcement is new to the Indian construction industry. The manufactured product comes to the site ready for immediate onsite installation, contributing to higher productivity and better quality control. We are confident that MMW is set to revolutionize the infrastructure and the real estate industry in India, which builds close to 1.5 million housing units a year," See Extended Story.. August 3rd, 2008  - Projects Shimla India - SAIL's first north Indian plant to be set up in Himachal Decks have been cleared for the state-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to set up its first steel plant in north India, in Himachal Pradesh, with an outlay of Rs 1.06 billion, a senior official said Sunday. The state government has decided to hand over land in Kangra district to the Rs.455.55-billion steel behemoth by August-end, industries director Manoj Kumar said. The government is in the process of transferring the land at Kandrori village near Nurpur town, some 300 kilometres from Shimla, he said. The proposed plant will be close to Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and the site was selected with an eye to business prospects in these neighbouring states. Kumar said a SAIL team had already inspected the site and completed formalities. Since all of SAIL's integrated and special steel plants are located in eastern and central India, the Himachal plant will be its first in the north. Kumar said the plant would provide direct employment to more than 200 people. Using thermo-mechanical treatment technology, the plant will produce 120,000 tonnes of steel rods, wire drawings and corrugated sheets per annum. The plant is scheduled to become operational by October next year. The state government had cleared 18 investment proposals worth Rs 166.6 billion this February which included SAIL's plant and expansion of the Gujarat Ambuja Cements unit at Darlaghat in Solan district. Himachal has 38 industrial areas and 15 industrial estates. August 3rd, 2008  - Projects Kuwait City Kuwait - Bids invited for Kuwait oil pipeline Arabianbusiness.com reported that state owned Kuwait Oil Company invited bids from seven Grade 1 local contractors by August 19th for a contract to build a new oil pipeline. As per the report the pre qualified companies are: 1. Arabi Enertech 2. Al Khadda International General Trading & Contracting Company 3. Almeer Technical Services 4. Combined Group 5. Heavy Engineering Industries & Shipbuilding Company 6. Mechanical Engineering Contracting Company 7. United Gulf Construction Company. Running in southeast Kuwait, the pipeline will be 3.8 kilometers long. The engineering, procurement and construction contract covers the installation of the 20 inch diameter pipeline complete with all associated civil, mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation, cathodic protection and corrosion monitoring works. July 26th, 2008  - Projects Duesseldorf Germany - Stefana starts new rebar rolling mill Stefana SpA, a manufacturer of bars and wire rod located in Ospitaletto, a town in the northern Italian province of Brescia, had awarded a contract to SMS Meer Germany in 2005 for the supply and installation of a complete bar mill for 120 tonnes per hour. The objective of the project named “Dream Steel” was to significantly boost production of straight bars and spools. See Extended Story.. July 26th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins a 58 million euros turnkey contract for underground HV power links in Qatar Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a turnkey contract worth 58 million euros by the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) to implement six underground powerlinks, ranging from 34 to 250 MVA, to reinforce and extend the high voltage (HV) network serving Doha, the capital of Qatar. These powerlinks, which will connect substations serving the Al Wajbah area of Doha, form part of KAHRAMAA’s phase VIII projects for the expansion and development of Qatar’s electricity network to increase its capacity to meet the rapid increase in demand created by the country’s urban and economic development. Nexans will provide a complete turnkey package for this project, which is due for completion in July 2009. This includes design, development, supply and installation of a total of 96 km of 66kV and 132kV single core cables and accessories. This project is the latest in Nexans’ long history of collaboration with KAHRAMAA, with the first contract dating back to the 1970s. The cables will be manufactured in Nexans factories in France and Belgium. July 19th, 2008  - Projects Tokyo Japan - Japanese steel makers expanding operations in Vietnam Japan's midsize electric-furnace steelmakers and metal processors are adding capacity to their production bases in Vietnam. With its strong domestic demand for steel products and its relatively low labor costs, Vietnam is an attractive alternative to China as a base of production. Maruichi steel Tube Ltd is spending some 3.2 billion yen (US$30 million) to install state-of-the-art equipment for the manufacture of large steel pipes for waterworks and gas line infrastructure at its factory outside Ho Chi Minh City while Tokyo Rope MFG Co is spending roughly 2 billion to add 150 per cent more capacity for elevator wire rope at its base in southern Vietnam. The rush to construct buildings and factories in Vietnam and China is another incentive for Japanese firms to invest in greater production at their Vietnamese bases. July 18th, 2008  - Projects Kiev Ukraine - Euro Finance to set up 1.8 million tonne steel plant near Kiev Siemens VAI Metals Technologies received an order from the Ukrainian based scrap trader Euro Finance Limited for the supply of a mini-mill at a new production facility at Byelaya Tserkov near Kiev in Ukraine. The project includes an electric arc furnace, a ladle furnace, a billet caster, a long product rolling mill in addition to auxiliary facilities. The minimill will boast a production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per year and is scheduled to go into operation in mid 2011. Siemens VAI Metals Technologies received contracts for the engineering and supply of process equipment for the new minimill, including a 120 tonne capacity Simetal Ultimate EAF with a tapping weight of 120 tonnes, a twin station 120 tonne ladle furnace, an eight strand billet caster and a wire rod and bar rolling mill. The supply also includes an alloying system, dedusting system, cranes and other mobile equipment, laboratories in addition to the related electrical and automation systems. Advisory services for erection, start up and commissioning will round off the scope of supply. See Extended Story.. July 15th, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite wins four infrastructure contracts worth US$ 15.5 million Sterlite Technologies Limited ("Sterlite") a major global provider of power transmission conductors, optical fibers and telecommunication cables, today announced four contract wins with leading infrastructure companies in Nigeria, Uganda, Algeria & Bangladesh. The contracts, which are for Sterlite's ACSR, AAAC & Almelec power conductors, are worth a total of US$15.5 million to Sterlite. The Company was chosen as the sole manufacturer and supplier of power conductors for all these contracts. As per customer's requirements the power conductors would be supplied between July 2008 and November 2008. See Extended Story.. July 15th, 2008  - Projects Riyadh Saudi Arabia - SAFCO and SABIC unit to build new wire rod and rebar steel plant Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co (SAFCO) said on Sunday it had signed a deal with a steel unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp to set up a steel plant with a capacity of 1.7 million metric tonnes a year. SAFCO and Saudi Iron and Steel Co (Hadeed) would jointly build the plant to produce flat steel products at Jubail, with completion expected in four years, SAFCO said in a statement on the bourse website. SABIC, the world's biggest chemicals firm by market value, owns 42 percent of SAFCO. The deal will "reflect positively" on the company's results and help SAFCO maintain its level of profitability, SABIC Chief Executive Mohamed al-Mady said in the statement. Hadeed will also set up a facility with capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes a year of steel rebar (reinforcing bar) and wire rods, bringing the new total capacity to 2.2 million tonnes per year, the company said. July 11th, 2008  - Projects New Delhi India - Havells to invest Rs400 cr in expansion projects Electrical goods manufacturer Havells India said it will invest Rs400 crore for increasing its capacities in the country, besides foraying into a new segment. The company has earmarked a budget of around Rs400 crore for the purpose and has already spent Rs200 crore in current fiscal, Havells India Ltd Joint Managing Director Anil Gupta told PTI. (Press Trust of India) The company has purchased around 17 acres of land near its facility in Alwar to expand the manufacturing capacity of high tension cables and domestic cables.The company will infuse another Rs40 crore in the next fiscal to augment the capacity of cable manufacturing plant. “Cable business contribute around Rs1,000 crore in our topline and after executing our expansion plans, we expect it to go up to Rs1,300 crore in near future,” Gupta said. The company is entering the new segment of manufacturing electrical-motors and is augmenting its capacities in lighting and cables segment. July 11th, 2008  - Projects Kazan Tatarstan - INVENT plans $76.7 million cable investment. Tatarstan-based electric and thermal power equipment manufacturer INVENT plans to invest $76.7m in construction of a cable manufacturing factory in the republic. Deputy CEO Viktor Miller says the factory named Tatkabel is to be completed in 2009. Its projected capacity is 5,670 kilometers of cable per year. Annual sales are estimated at around $234m and payback is about four years. July 11th, 2008  - Projects Houston Texas - Baker Hughes announces $62.5m cable plant in Tyumen U.S.-based oilfield service company Baker Hughes Inc. is looking into opportunities to build a $62.5m cable manufacturing factory in the Tyumen region, director of the regional Department for Investment Policy and Business Support Vadim Shumkov told journalists today. However, a final decision as regards terms of construction will be made after specialists from Houston visit available industrial sites next month, Mr. Shumkov specified. If and when erected, the factory will produce cable products for electric submersible pump installation. Tyumen is a fast growing Russian City with a population of about half a million, located on the Tura River 2,144 kilometers (1,332 mi) east of Moscow. It is the administrative center of Tyumen Oblast in the Urals Federal District. July 10th, 2008  - Projects Santiago Chile - Xstrata Copper unit to develop Chile transmission line Xstrata Copper said on Wednesday its Energia Austral unit agreed with Transelec to develop a line to help transmit some of the 1,100 MW of energy to be generated by a mega power project in the south of Chile. Energy-poor Chile is working to beef up supplies to keep pace with rapid growth, particularly in its powerful mining and wood and pulp industries. July 9th, 2008  - Projects Chennai India - Captain TMT to set up Rs 300cr steel plant Captain TMT, a steel division of the Kolkata-based Rs 850 crore BMA group producing wire rods and rebars, is planning to set up a new steel unit with an investment of Rs 300 crore. “Currently, we have two manufacturing units at Kayaneswari and Purulia in West Bengal with a production capacity of 300,000 tonnes per annum each. The new plant will also have a 300,000-tonne production capacity. However, we have not yet finalised the location and need 150-200 acres,” Avinash Agarwalla, director BMA group told mediaperson here. Captain TMT has a strong presence in Jharkhand, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. It now plans to extend its reach to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. In Andhra, the company has 50 dealers and expects this number to go up to 80 in the next 6-12 months. The company has roped in former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly as its brand ambassador. July 8th, 2008  - Projects London U.K. - BT to lay fiber-optic cable from Orkney to Thurso BT is laying a fiber-optic submarine cable between Orkney and the Scottish mainland. The 70-kilometer cable will run from Skaill Bay in Orkney, under the Pentland Firth, to Dunnet Bay, about five miles east of Thurso. BT has awarded the contract to independent marine engineering company Global Marine Systems, which began installing the cable last week. Weather permitting, the work should take around three weeks. Global Marine's cableship CS Sovereign is using its submersible plough and remotely operated vehicle systems to install the cable up to one meter below the seabed. July 8th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - Larsen & Toubro wins transmission line order worth 4.46 billion rupees Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) said it won an order worth 4.46 billion rupees ($103 million) from JSW Power Transco Ltd., to lay 169 km of transmission lines in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. In a regulatory filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange, India's largest engineering and construction company said the 400-kilovolt transmission lines will evacuate power from a 1,200-megawatt power project, being set up by JSW Energy Ltd. at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, and the project is expected to be completed within 18 months. July 7th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans signs a 80 million euros contract to supply power infrastructures cables in Qatar Nexans, has been awarded an order worth 80 million euros for a power transmission system project by the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA). This contract has been signed by a consortium led by Prysmian, for a global project amount of 168 million euros. Both Groups will supply engineering, production, installation and commissioning services for 161 km of High Voltage and Extra High Voltage underground power cables (132 kV and 220 kV). The installation should start in 2008 and the scheduled completion date is January 2010. July 2nd, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite to increase manufacturing capacity for Fiber Optic Cables Sterlite announced its plans to triple its Fiber Optic Cables annual manufacturing capacity to 6 Million-fkm, from its current capacity of 2 Million-fKm. These facilities would be capable of manufacturing the Company~{!/~}s existing range of Fiber Optic Cable Products as well as have the intrinsic capability to manufacture cable products as per evolving international telecom standards that are being introduced to cater to high bandwidth applications required by global markets. The expansion milestones of these Fiber Optic Cables facilities have been planned to compliment the Company~{!/~}s ongoing capacity expansion at its Optical Fiber facilities from 6 to 12 Million-kms. The Optical Fiber expansion is on track to complete by June 2009 and the Cables expansion would be fully in place by March 2009. July 2nd, 2008  - Projects Copenhagen Denmark - nkt cables lays foundation stone for high voltage cable factory in Cologne The demand for high voltage cables is expected to grow enormously in the years ahead. nkt cables, said in a press release it intends to cement its position as one of the leading players in the high voltage cable market and in the area of medium and high voltage submarine cables. To this effect the company is now busy building brand new facilities for its future manufacture of high and medium voltage cables and associated products to meet the growing need for cable systems etc. that promote sustainable energy and more efficient use of transmission and distribution networks worldwide. The foundation stone for nkt cables~{!/~} new high voltage factory in Cologne was laid on 21 June 2008. The event took place at a ceremony held at the site of nkt cables~{!/~} future factory - an 84,000 m2 area in Cologne that is part of a business park owned by the Bayer industrial group. The site will give nkt cables direct access to dock loading facilities on the Rhine. June 27th, 2008  - Projects Bangalore India - India's JSW Partners with Geo Steel for 175,000-Ton Plant in Republic of Georgia JSW Steel Limited India's second-largest private steel manufacturer, plans to set up a 175,000-ton-per-year greenfield steel mill to produce reinforcement bar, or rebar, in the Republic of Georgia in partnership with Geo Steel LLC (Rustavi, Georgia). The mill is expected to be commissioned this year and cater to the 500,000-ton-per-year rebar market in Georgia and Armenia. The proposed steel unit in Georgia is in line with JSW's strategy of ramping up total production capacity from the current 4.2 million tons per year to 32 million tons per year by 2020. June 25th, 2008  - Projects Belton Texas - The tide may be turning – Mexican rope maker opens plant in Texas. High Performance Ropes of America from Mexico, a manufacturer of steel wire rope is on the verge of investing $10.9 million to create a manufacturing plant in Belton Texas that would employ 145 people. The deal hinges on tax breaks Belton city leaders have offered the company but must be approved by its city council, The company has offered $1.2 million to purchase a 40,000-square-foot building on 5.1 acres at 1000 Kirkley Blvd. The property is located in the Belton Business Park adjacent to U.S. 190. To make the deal work, the Belton City Council must pass a tax incentive agreement that calls for the company to receive a 100 percent tax abatement during its first five years of operation. See Extended Story.. June 25th, 2008  - Projects New Delhi India - India, Myanmar ink four pacts, including BIPA (PTI) India will finance power transmission lines in Myanmar, with which it has also signed an investment protection agreement to boost economic ties. India and Myanmar signed four agreements today at Naypyidaw, including regular banking arrangement for border trade. The two countries have entered into a Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement (BIPA) to encourage flow of funds. The trade pact with Myanmar is India's 71st BIPA agreement. Under another agreement, the Exim Bank of India would extend a credit line of 64 million dollars to the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank for three 230 kv transmission lines. The project would be executed by Power Grid Corporation of India. Exim Bank would also extend a credit line of 20 million dollars for financing establishment of an aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) wire manufacturing facility, which would be used for expansion of the power distribution network in Myanmar. PTI June 24th, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite Technologies chosen to enhance India's broadband & access networks Sterlite Technologies Limited a leading global provider of optical fibers, telecommunication cables and power transmission conductors, today announced two major contract wins with Indian telecoms giant BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.). The contracts, which are for fiber optic cable and copper telecoms cable, respectively, are worth a total of Rs. 107 Crores (US$26.7 million) to Sterlite Technologies ("Sterlite"). As per customer requirements, the deliveries are scheduled between July and December 2008. The first contract is for Sterlite's RIBBON-LITE™ 96F ribbon fiber optic cables, which BSNL will install in about 900 city sites across the country in the rapidly growing FTTx (fiber-to-the-"x") applications sector. The second contract is for a range of 10 to 2000-pair copper telecoms cables. These cables will also be installed at sites across India, to support the nation's growing demand for ADSL broadband as well as basic telephony in rural and urban areas. See Extended Story.. June 23rd, 2008  - Projects Bogotá Columbia - Colombia’s ISA to invest $120 million in Peru transmission lines Colombian ISA will invest 120 million dollars this year in the enlargement of the transmission lines that operate in Peru as well as in the construction of a new line that was admitted on Tuesday, informed Carlos Ariel Naranjo, general manager of the Peru Energy Network (REP), subsidiary of ISA in Peru. “We are developing several enlargement projects of the lines and the transmission capacity; demand growth has surpassed all expectations”, said Ariel Naranjo to Andina news agency. This is the reason why he asked the government not to stop the concession process of the new electric transmission lines because the economic growth demands a higher development to avoid any possible problems in the electric power market. “The whole country needs a bigger electricity supply, the government has been taking measures since 2006 and that has allowed recent concessions to make progress, that’s why this process can not be stopped, it has to carry on”, he said. June 18th, 2008  - Projects Vyartsilya Russia, - Mechel selects Ernst Koch for next expansion phase at Vyartsilya Metal Mechel OAO a leading Russian mining and metals companies, announced Tuesday that its subsidiary, Vyartsilya Metal Products Plant ZAO and German-based company Ernst Koch GmbH have signed an agreement under the terms of which Koch will supply and install a new straight-thru KGT 25/47 type drawing mill for the Vyartsilya Metal Products Plant. The straight-thru seven block drawing machine for low-carbon wire manufacturing of 2.0-7.0 mm in diameter will be making the product in coils of up to 3 tonnes in weight. High productivity of the equipment will be achieved through several technical advantages, such as an intensive refrigerating system and computerization of quality control system. The new mill commissioning would enable the Vyartsilya Metal Products Plant (VMZ) to increase its monthly average output volume by 1.5 thousand tonnes. The mill startup will allow for increasing the plant's production capacity and product quality as well as improving working conditions for the equipment operators. June 14th, 2008  - Projects Nhan Dan Vietnam - EVN Telecoms joins investment in pan-Asian optic submarine cable EVN Telecom on June 12 announced its joint investment in building a pan-Asian submarine fiber optic cable.The submarine fiber optic cable system will connect Vietnam to Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines.Total investment for the cable is put at US $200 million. Of this, EVN Telecom plans to invest US $30 million to build the key cable route with initial capacity of 50 Gbps. The company will also build a landing station in the southern city of Vung Tau which will enable direct connection from Vietnam to Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. June 13th, 2008  - Projects Tomislavgrad Bosnia and Herzegovina - Kapis d.o.o., Tvornica kabela Tomislavgrad - first in Bosnia, now in Slovenia Seven years ago, the international company for the production and sale of cables Kapis bought a cable factory in Bosnia; however a new factory will be set in Slovenia due to better business environment. The factory in Tomislavgrad employs 220 employees and produces 1kW cables, while the new Slovenian factory in Vranski will produce 20kW cables. The 10,000 m2 large factory is worth EUR 24 million and will employ 75 workers. The construction will begin at the end of the year, and production at the beginning 2010. The factory will also include a laboratory for testing cables, and its services will be offered throughout Europe. June 12th, 2008  - Projects Kigali Rwanda - Rollout of fiber optic cable network set for 2009 The rolling landscape of Rwanda is poised to be leveled by communication technology through broadband network set to start in December 2009. The cyber framework basics such as optic fiber cables and net transmitters are being laid to spread information and communication technology services countrywide. The Minister in the Office of the President in charge of Science, Technology, Scientific Research and ICT, Prof. Romain Murenzi, disclosed this Tuesday in a phone interview. He said the government has liaised with private investors in ICT like MTN and Lapgreen to bring high-speed broadband internet access to the entire country next year. "We have to recognize the urgent need for different forms of communication technology here," said the minister, citing a national plan to train more experts in the field. He added that once fiber optic cable networking is over, the rural broadband community will be marketed and sold to everybody currently facing problems in ICT use. June 10th, 2008  - Projects Kampala Uganda - Government to build Sh68b power line from Bujagali Dam The Government is to construct a 100km power transmission line from Bujagali dam, which is under construction, to the new sub-station at Kawanda, the energy minister has said. Daudi Migereko said this would enable easy transmission of power generated from the dam. The work, he added, had been contracted to Jyoti Structures, an Indian company and its sub-contractor, Siemens Group from Italy, at a cost of $40m (about sh68b). John Berry, a manager, said work on the transmission line would begin in two months and would last two years. He said 76km of the line would run from Bujagali Dam to Kawanda, 19km from Kawanda to Mutundwe sub-station in Kampala and five kilometers of the line would run from the Bujagali dam to Nalubaale power station in Njeru. June 5th, 2008  - Projects Milan Italy - Prysmian will invest $110 million for the construction of a new plant in Brazil. Prysmian Cables & Systems, a worldwide leading player in the energy and telecom cable sectors, has signed a four-year frame agreement with Brazil~{!/~}s Petrobras, for the design and supply of flexible pipes for offshore oil&gas extraction. Initial supplies~{!/~} value is $135 million with significant potential development. This agreement represents a major step forward in the expansion of Prysmian~{!/~}s operations in the Oil Gas & Petrochemical (OGP) services industry, confirming its commitment to invest in value-added businesses with higher profitability and levels of technology. The addition of Flexible Pipes to its current production of both steel and thermoplastic umbilicals will enable the Company to offer a comprehensive range of SURF products (Subsea Umbilicals, Risers and Flowlines) meeting the needs of the OGP industry. See Extended Story.. June 4th, 2008  - Projects Ahmedabad India - Polycab seeks IFC equity investment to finance expansion Gujarat-based Polycab Wires Private Ltd (Polycab) has approached the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank group, to finance its expansion plan spread over the next three years. The Polycab group comprises eight cable manufacturing companies and manufacturing plants in Halol in Vadodara district and in the union territory of Daman. The company is rated as India's leading manufacturer of power cables and light duty cables with a 17.5 percent market share. Its annual sales are estimated at $510 million, with 10 plants and employing 1,500 people. The company belongs to the Mumbai-based Jaisinghani group. No further details from the company were available, but according to information on the IFC website, the firm has been approached for a corporate investment to partly finance Polycab's expansion program. See Extended Story.. May 31st, 2008  - Projects Nuremberg Germany - Leoni gains large order from Airbus The Leoni Group, which operates worldwide, has won a large contract from aircraft manufacturer Airbus. Wire, cable and wiring systems manufacturer Leoni will equip approximately 500 aircraft of the Airbus families from the A318 through to the A340 each year with cable harnesses for particular components, such as the vertical tail and the landing gear. As early as the end of 2008 Leoni will supply the Airbus plant in Hamburg from its facility in Friesoythe, likewise in northern Germany, and later on also from its plant in Changzhou, China. For the five-year term of the contract the Company projects additional sales of about EUR 50 million, which will take effect from 2009. See Extended Story.. May 31st, 2008  - Projects Milwaukee Wisconsin - Contractor selected for new Charter wire Plant MSI General Corp.has been selected to design and build the 160,000-square-foot plant in the Menomonee Valley for Charter Wire, which is moving from the 3rd Ward. The Oconomowoc general contractor said Wednesday that it will build the estimated $20 million plant between Wheelhouse Road and Milwaukee Road. Construction is planned to start in August 2008, with a move-in date slated for late 2009. On 11 Sep 2007 wirenews advised Charter Wire Inc. was looking at potential sites in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center for a new manufacturing plant to replace its leased buildings in Milwaukee's 3rd Ward. On 7 April 2008 wirenews advised Charter Wire were seeking approval from the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee and the Common Council for the purchase of 7.8 acres in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center. It now looks the construction is underway. May 30th, 2008  - Projects Kampenhout Belgium - Connectronics Romania invests 5 million euros in a new Connectronics Romania, a part of the Belgian Connect Systems Group, has opened a new production plant in Oradea. The new plant is 16.000m² large and can accommodate more then 1.000 employees. The plant was constructed together with and on land of Centrum Romania, a division of the Belgian H. Essers group. This investment in Oradea is an important step in the expansion of Connectronics Romania. The Connect Systems Group only started its operations in Romania in December 2002 with 7 employees on rented premises less than 1.000m². The company had a very successful start, as already one year later - in January 2004 - it had to move into a new plant in Bors of 3.000m². Again one year further - in January 2005 - it doubled the square meters and moved into a second building, which totally amounted up to 6.000m². Today, the group employs in Romania already more than 550 employees. This steady growth over the years required for the 3rd time in 5 years to move into larger premises. The Romania factory has become the largest production facility of the Connect Systems Group over the years. Production in Romania evolved from a pure labor subcontracting activity at the start-up in 2002 into a full fledged electronic subcontracting plant including the latest technological production machinery for PCB and Cable harnesses manufacturing. The plant now produces complete products, PCB’s and Cable harnesses for the high end professional, automotive and telecom markets. See Extended Story.. May 27th, 2008  - Projects Troy Michigan - Ace Electronic expands its Troy cable assembly facility Ace Electronics, based in New Jersey, is expanding its Michigan operations with a second Troy facility. The recently purchased 15,000-square-foot building will be used to produce military and robotic cable assemblies and perform system integration. The Troy facility will be an ISO9001 certified manufacturing and integration facility producing wire and cable assemblies, with a primary focus on military applications. Ace Electronics has operated an automotive division in Michigan since 1999. May 23rd, 2008  - Projects Bagang China - Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel inks pact for high speed wire rod project It is reported that recently, China Metallurgical Equipment General Institute and Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel signed high speed wire rod general contract. This project is the general contract of Bagang new high speed wire rod and related facilities and included the design of new bar project. As per reports, the general contract includes the engineering design, equipments and materials supply, construction and installation, staff training, commissioning drive, try rolling organization, quality warranty etc all process. May 20th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - Usha Martin to become global leader in wire ropes Usha Martin Ltd (UML), specialty steel manufacturer and world~{!/~}s second largest wire rope manufacturer, is undertaking expansion projects worth Rs 21 bn that would make it the largest wire rope manufacturer. The company reported a net sale of Rs 6.7 bn in fourth quarter of 2007-08, a year on year growth of 35 percent thanks to buoyancy in realization although operating margins declined to 18.2 percent, according to PINC Research. UML has an integrated business model with captive iron ore for manufacturing metallics (sponge iron and pig iron). This is converted to steel, which then becomes a feedstock for its value added products like wire ropes. Its current pig iron and sponge iron capacity is 200,000 tpa and 110,000 tpa with billet/bloom capacity of 400,000 tpa. UML is undertaking a Rs 21 bn capacity expansion in a phased manner that is expected to drive volumes for the company. See Extended Story.. May 14th, 2008  - Projects Dharamshala India - SAIL to set up eco-friendly plant in Kangra district. The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), is to set up a steel processing unit in Kangra district. The steel processing unit would be the first of its kind in north India by SAIL. Work to set up the plant would start next month and it would be completed without any delay. The plant would be eco-friendly as it would be a zero-discharge plant. According to sources, the plant would be based on SAIL’s patented technology known as thermo mechanical treatment (TMT). The plant, which would be set up at a cost of little over Rs 100 crore, would be completed within this year. As soon as the plant starts functioning, as many as 200 people would get direct employment opportunities. Apart from TMT steel rods, wire drawings and corrugated sheets would be manufactured in the plant. Asit Sahu, manager (civil) of SAIL, Durgapur, said the new plant would cater to the needs of the industries set up in Himachal Pradesh and around it. “Ours will be first of its kind project in north India and would be a zero-discharge one and would not create any air or water pollution,’’ said Sahu. He made it clear that all top appointments would be made as per the norms of the Steel Authority May 13th, 2008  - Projects Beijing China - China plans Tibet power line to boost economy China plans to build a power transmission line from northwestern Qinghai province to the troubled province of Tibet in a bid to boost the region's economy, state media said yesterday. The 1,100-kilometre (680-mile) line would take electricity from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, on the same route as the recently-opened railway, officials told the Xinhua news agency. The power line has a first-stage target of transmitting 6.5 billion kilowatt-hours annually, and is expected to be in operation by 2010, said officials at the National Development and Reform Commission. Xue Gengxin, vice president of the Xibei Electric Power Design Institute, said that the electricity line would be the world's first above 5,000 metres in altitude, and that special permafrost research was being carried out. Beijing recently held informal talks with exiled Tibetan envoys, a move seen as a political response to global protests over China's crackdown on unrest in the province that angered Beijing leaders ahead of the Olympics in August. The Tibetan government-in-exile says 203 Tibetans have been killed and about 1,000 injured in the Chinese crackdown. China denies this, saying Tibetan "rioters" and "insurgents" killed 21 people. Beijing authorities often stress the economic advantages of the Qinghai-Tibet trainline -- the highest in the world for Tibet province, which has recently received massive Chinese investment. May 13th, 2008  - Projects Irvine California - CTC Cable expands composite core production capacity Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) is pleased to announce its subsidiary, CTC Cable Corporation, has expanded its composite ACCC* core production capacity to meet increasing demand for ACCC conductors. The Irvine, California, facility has completed an expansion of its core manufacturing area with the addition of over 9,200 square feet of processing space. CTC Cable is now placing the pultrusion production lines in the area, which upon full population of the floor will expand the production capacity of the facility for ACCC core by over 250%, from its current capacity of 5,200 kilometers per year to over 18,000 kilometers per year. CTC Cable manufactures its own custom pultrusion machines in a separate area of the Irvine facility and plans to place 10 machines in the new production area during the next 3 months. "Over the last year it became increasingly evident we needed to add capacity. This expansion will be a great benefit to CTC Cable and our customers, since we will be able to shorten production times and take advantage of market opportunities," stated Marv Sepe, COO of CTC and President of CTC Cable. May 12th, 2008  - Projects Abu Dhabi - UAE - EIIC announces magnet wire factory for Electrocab Emarat in Abu Dhabi Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC) has announced the addition of an Dhs250m magnet wire factory in Abu Dhabi as part of Electrocab Emarat’s latest expansion plan. Ducab, the premier cable manufacturer in the Middle East has entered into a strategic partnership with EIIC (Emirates International Investment Company) owned Electrocab Emarat LLC. As part of the agreement, Ducab will take ownership of the new Musaffah Abu Dhabi cable factory of Electrocab Emarat. Electrocab Emarat is part of Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC) and was planning to manufacture a wide range of electrical power cables at the new factory located in the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD), 30 km from Abu Dhabi City. See Extended Story.. May 9th, 2008  - Projects Belgrade Serbia - Metalka (a switchgear maker) expands into cable-making. Rautomead of Dundee Scotland has won an order from Metalka Majur, of Serbia, to supply an RS 3000/6 upwards-vertical copper rod continuous casting machine. The RS 3000/6 will be the fourth Rautomead copper rod casting machine to be installed in Serbia. The RS 3000/6 model will produce high quality 8mm oxygen-free copper rod at a new cable manufacturing facility being established by Metalka at Jagodina, south-east of Belgrade. Metalka manufactures a range of modern electrical switchgear and its move into cable-making is a major expansion for the company. May 7th, 2008  - Projects Kuala Lumpur Malaysia - Southern Steel Berhad (SSB) to embark on major expansion Southern Steel Berhad (SSB) will embark on a RM300 million expansion plan in the next two years to expand its existing capacity of 1.3 million tonnes by another 300,000 tonnes. The expansion will give Southern Steel the flexibility to increase its capacity to produce high end products apart from installing processes to reduce its production cost. A company spokesman said that the efforts will include conversion of a wire rod mill to produce bar, the use of of natural gas to mitigate rising cost of fuel and the de-bottle necking of the steel making plants. This will help to raise output and enhance the production of high-grade wire rods to strengthen the group~{!/~}s position as a leader in high grade steel products in the country. "We hope to cash in on the demand for steel bars and construction grade wire rods with the implementation of projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. After the expansion, we expect group revenue to increase by a quarter within a few years," he said. May 6th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - L&T secures Rs 3.44 bn transmission line orders The USD 7 billion engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged orders totaling to Rs 3.44 billion from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) for the construction of 755 km of transmission lines associated with Western Region System Strengthening Scheme-II.The scope of work for this project, to be executed by L&T`s Engineering, Construction & Contracts Division (ECC), involves survey, fabrication & supply of towers and erection of 400 kV Direct Current transmission lines from Bhadrawati - Umarkhand - Parli & Raipur - Sakoli – Wardha in Maharashtra. The project will be completed in 30 months. L&T bagged this contract against international competition. May 1st, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite to be amongst World's largest integrated Fiber & Cable producers Sterlite Technologies Limited a leading global provider of Power Transmission Conductors, Optical Fibers and Telecommunication Cables announced Tuesday its plans to expand its Fiber Optic Cables facilities to an annual manufacturing capacity of 6 Million-km, from its current capacity of 2 Million-Km. This expansion in conjunction with the Optical Fiber Expansion from 6 to 12 Million-kms that would position Sterlite amongst the Top 5 global integrated fiber and cable producers. The expansion milestones of these Fiber Optic Cables facilities has been planned to compliment the Company's ongoing capacity expansion at its Optical Fiber facilities. The consolidated expansion for fiber and cable expansion is estimated to incur a Capital Expenditure of about Rs. 200 Crores (USD 50 Million). These facilities would be capable of manufacturing the Company's existing range of Fiber Optic Cable Products as well as have the intrinsic capability to manufacture cable products as per evolving international telecom standards that are being introduced to cater to high bandwidth applications required by global markets. The Optical Fiber expansion is on track to complete by June 2009 and the Cables expansion would be fully in place by March 2009. Sterlite is in advanced stages of discussion with leading global manufacturing equipment and raw material suppliers to streamline its efforts towards the expansion project milestones. See Extended Story.. April 25th, 2008  - Projects Pune India - Sterlite Technologies receives contracts valued at INR 2.96 Billion from PGCIL Sterlite Technologies Limited (Sterlite), a leading global provider of Power Transmission Conductors, Optical Fibers and Telecommunication Cables today announced that it has received three contracts from PGCIL (Power Grid Corporation of India) that have a cumulative value of INR 2.96 Billion (~~US$ 74 Million). As per PGCIL's requirements, supplies against these contracts would commence from August 2008. PGCIL is India's single largest buyer of Power Transmission Conductors and over the past decade, Sterlite has established itself as the single largest supplier for PGCIL's pan-India requirements. With the receipt of these new contracts, the Company has opened FY-09 with a total order book of INR 10.2 Billion (~~US$ 257 Million) for its telecom & power businesses. Says Pravin Agarwal - Director, Sterlite Technologies Limited, "We are delighted to start our new financial year with a dominant share of orders released by PGCIL. With our expanded capacity for Power Transmission Conductors we believe Sterlite has the capability to maintain equilibrium in supply of our products to service the growing demand from the Indian market and to grow our global market shares." See Extended Story.. April 25th, 2008  - Projects Copenhagen Denmark - nkt cables wins prestigious Extra High Voltage Project in the Netherlands nkt cables has been selected by TenneT TSO B.V.( the Transmission System Operator of the Netherlands) to design, manufacture and install a 380 kV cable system in the 'Zuidring' connection in the western part of the Netherlands. nkt cables offer provides the technical, logistical and managerial aspects of this high-visibility project in the Netherlands' transmission grid. The commercial value of the project is at least 35 mEURO, but depends on the final decisions of the Dutch government regarding overhead lines versus cables. The potential project value could yield as much as 120 mEURO. The scheduled completion of the project is expected by the end of 2010. Winning the Dutch project, nkt cables concludes that the company~{!/~}s systems approach' in Extra High Voltage is met by a sound resonance in the market for winning projects - now and in the future. April 21st, 2008  - Projects Shelton, Connecticut - Goertz Wire relocates to efficient modern plant Alpha-Core, manufacturers of the legendary low impedance flat audio cable brand, has announced the relocation of the company~{!/~}s facilities to 6 Waterview Drive, Shelton, Connecticut. Alpha-Core, Inc. was founded by Ulrik Poulsen in 1982, manufacturing magnetic cores in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1986, operations were expanded to include complete transformer design and manufacturing under the brand name Tortran. The Goertz audio wire brand has operated as a division of Alpha-Core, and now all of Poulsen~{!/~}s ventures are comfortably housed in an efficient 45,000 square foot facility employing a full time staff of 30 and growing. All manufacturing, warehousing, quality control, customer service, accounting, and sales are now centrally located in the Shelton plant all under the name Bridgeport Magnetics Group. ~{!0~}We purchased this building, which is only twelve miles from our original plant in Bridgeport~{!*~}the entire staff has remained through the relocation,~{!1~} stated Poulsen proudly. ~{!0~}Another attractive asset is that there is room for substantial expansion. The local zoning allows a 50% increase in size should we choose to go that route,~{!1~} Poulsen added. See Extended Story.. April 21st, 2008  - Projects Winnipeg Manitoba - Manitoba Hydro inks $2 billion electricity deal with Wisconsin Manitoba Hydro announced Thursday it has signed a $2-billion agreement to sell 500 megawatts of power south of the border to Wisconsin Public Service. The Crown utility said the 15-year deal with Wisconsin would start in 2018 to coincide with the anticipated completion of construction on a new transmission line. One hundred megawatts is enough to power homes in a city of about 40,000 people. "This is a major sale," Hydro president and CEO Bob Brennan said. Hydro already sells about 100 megawatts of electricity to Wisconsin, and it expects to sell surplus energy to Minnesota starting this year. That northern U.S. border state has also tentatively agreed to buy 250 megawatts of power over 15 years starting in 2020.Both deals, which are in the early stages, hinge on environmental and regulatory approvals in both countries, along with the construction of the new transmission line. The location of that line has proven contentious. Manitoba Hydro had originally planned to run it along the east side of Lake Winnipeg, but that plan was overruled by the provincial government in 2005 due to environmental concerns raised by aboriginals. The province announced last year the line would go down the west side of the massive lake. The eastern route would have been shorter, but it would have cut a swath through pristine boreal forest that the government hopes to turn into a prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site. Brennan downplayed questions about whether a delay building the transmission line would hurt the U.S. deals. Instead he suggested the new line would be required to boost the reliability of the system serving customers within Manitoba, too. April 19th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - KEC bags Rs 155 cr contract from Power Grid Corp Power equipment maker KEC International said on Tuesday that it has bagged two contracts worth Rs 155 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India for construction related works. The company has bagged two separate contracts by Power Grid Corporation Ltd for supply and construction of 400 KV Double Circuit Edamon - Muvattupuzha Transmission line in Kerala, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total value of both the contracts is Rs 155.24 crore. The line is associated with Grid Strengthening Scheme for Kerala I & II of Powergrid Network, the company added. The scope of the order includes supply of towers, line materials, erection and commissioning. The total length of both the lines is 150 kms and the project is to be completed by March 2010. April 18th, 2008  - Projects Greensburg Pennsylvania - Allegheny Energy announces significant developments for West Virginia Transmission Line Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Company (TrAILCo), a subsidiary of Allegheny Energy, Inc. (NYSE: AYE), announced today an agreement with the Consumer Advocate Division, Staff of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia, and the West Virginia Energy Users Group regarding its planned 500-kilovolt transmission line project. This agreement requires the acceptance of the Commission and final Commission approval of the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line (TrAIL) project in West Virginia to take effect. "While some parties in the case still oppose the project, the fact remains that this infrastructure upgrade is critical to ensuring the reliable flow of electricity in West Virginia and across the Mid-Atlantic region." The agreement would bring additional jobs to West Virginia, shield our West Virginia customers from project-related costs for seven years, provide funding for conservation and low-income energy assistance programs, and address many issues raised by the Commission’s Staff. April 17th, 2008  - Projects Dalian China - Fushi Copperweld Inc. successfully completes first phase of expanded production in Dalian. Fushi Copperweld, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSIN), the leading global manufacturer of bimetallic wire used in a variety of telecommunication, utility, automotive and other electrical products, today announced that the Company added 6,000 metric tons per year of Copper-Clad Aluminum ("CCA") production capacity to its Dalian facility at the end of its 2008 first quarter ending March 31, 2008. The expanded production marks the completion of the first stage of a three-phase relocation project, which will bring online an additional 22,000 metric tons of annualized CCA and CCS capacity to the facility upon its scheduled completion in first quarter of 2009. ''This major expansion of our production capabilities is another step in our continuing efforts to bring our Dalian facility to its fullest potential of productivity and quality for our customers,'' commented Chris Wang, President and Chief Financial Officer of Fushi Copperweld. See Extended Story.. April 17th, 2008  - Projects Mbabane, Swaziland - LDM embarks on game fencing, cattle relocation project The Lubombo Development and Management Limited (LDM), project managers of the Royal Jozini Big Six, have embarked on a game fencing and cattle relocation project. In its quest to support Swazi businesses, LDM has placed orders totaling over E3 million with Swazi Wire Industries for barb wire, fencing and wire. "Over the last four months, LDM has placed three orders with Swazi Wire Industries as part of its quest to support the Swazi industry," said LDM Chairman Dr. Gideon Mahlalela during a meeting at Swazi Wire on Monday afternoon. He said the fencing orders consisted of Big 5 Veldpsan fencing, wire, barb wire, standards and droppers. Dr. Mahlalela said LDM was working closely with the Livestock Mitigation Plan Supervisory Task Force set up by the ministry of agriculture and cooperatives to rehabilitate Mlindazwe Ranch and Mpala Fattening ranch for the relocation of cattle from Mkhulamini ranch. He stated that they were expecting the project to be completed by the end of July, further applauding Swazi Wire for the excellent service the company had given to LDM. See Extended Story.. April 15th, 2008  - Projects Manama Bahrain - Quality Wire Products planning $ 4 million expansion Bahrain-based Quality Wire Products Company is to undergo a BD1.5 million ($4m) expansion, it was revealed yesterday. The company, which manufactures wire mesh, is to relocate its factory from Salmabad to Hidd within a year, said managing director K U Kumar. "The company currently employs 50 people, including 15 Bahrainis," he told the GDN. "The expansion will create more jobs for people with specialized skills in this industry." Established in 1999, the company first manufactured woven wire mesh in stainless steel and aluminum alloy and then extended to all metals. Commercial production of wire mesh started in May 2000, said Mr. Kumar. "Now we are exporting our products to more than 20 countries," he said. "In 2002, we diversified our product range with an aim to become the largest source for all wire mesh and its related products. "Our production capacity was also doubled during 2006 and last year. "We meet the changing requirements of our customers by developing new ideas at a faster pace." Mr. Kumar said the factory would be moved to a 10,000 sq/m area in Hidd International Investment Park."We expect to complete the shifting in the beginning of next year, when the company will undergo a BD1.5m expansion," he added. April 14th, 2008  - Projects Nordenham Germany - General Cable announces long-haul submarine fiber optic contract General Cable Corporation reported that its subsidiary, Norddeutsche Seekablewerke GmbH (NSW), has been awarded its first submarine long-haul repeatered fiber optic communications link project. The communications link will stretch through the Mediterranean Sea from Marseilles, France to Port Said, Egypt, with additional connections in Italy, Turkey and Cyprus. The project will have a length of more than 2,600 miles and will be installed at depths of up to 11,000 feet. NSW's portion of this project is valued at approximately $40 million with cable delivery and installation beginning later this year. "NSW has been investing heavily to support the expansion of our product offering to include long-haul submarine fiber optic communications cables. We believe that this global market, which is coming off nearly a decade of decline, is positioned to rebound throughout the world as nations increase their need for reliable communications links," said Valentin Jug, Chairman of NSW. See Extended Story.. April 14th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - PowerGrid~{!/~}s proposes undersea line to link India, Sri Lanka The state-run PowerGrid Corporation of India proposes to lay down an under sea line between India and Sri Lanka. The proposed undersea high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line will be for the transfer of 500-mw, which will be subsequently upgraded to 1,000 mw. According to power ministry sources, "The proposed undersea transmi-ssion line entails an invest-ment of around Rs 1,500 crore. A pre-feasibility study is being carried out by the PowerGrid Corporation for the proposed venture. So far undersea HVDC transmission lines are in place between the UK and the France for transmission of 2,000 mw." PowerGrid Corporation~{!/~}s plan was according to the bilateral investment arrange-ment between India and Sri Lanka, sources said. The proposed undersea transmission line could be useful for NTPC which plans to set up 500 mw imported coal-based power project at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. PowerGrid has installed inter regional transmission capacity of 18,000 mw and plans to increase it to 37,000 mw by 2012. PowerGrid has lined up an investment plan of Rs 55,000 crore for the same to be completed during the 11th Plan. Earlier, power minister Sushilkumar Shinde asserted that the infamous Enron chapter was closed and more and more investors from abroad mainly from the US were keen to invest in the India~{!/~}s power sector. April 11th, 2008  - Projects Auckland New Zealand - Second undersea fiber optic cable planned New Zealand's Internet service providers are hoping for lower costs for broadband users once a new undersea fiber optic cable is laid - possibly within two years. But it is still not clear yet whether the joint venture between state owned Kordia and ASX listed Pipe International will get a taxpayer subsidy. Woosh Wireless welcomed the memorandum of understanding announced yesterday. It said international connections make up a big part of the bill people pay for phone and broadband and competition is good news. The only trans-Pacific connection is the Southern Cross cable which is jointly owned by Telecom and the US company Verizon. The fiber optic cable from near Auckland - called PPC2 - will be co-owned by Kordia and Pipe International. April 11th, 2008  - Projects North Haven Connecticut - Ulbrich opens precision flat wire facility in Austria Ulbrich Stainless Steels and Special Metals, Inc. is pleased to announce the formation of Ulbrich of Austria, Gmbh. The new venture will be part of the Ulbrich Specialty Wire Group, which will now consist of five production facilities in three countries. The Specialty Wire Group has extensive capabilities including shaping, drawing, rolling and plating custom engineered rod and wire based products in a wide range of specialty metals and alloys. April 10th, 2008  - Projects Changzhuo China - Germany's LEONI AG establishes aviation cable production base in Changzhou High-tech Zone Germany-based LEONI AG announced Tuesday that it has set up a base for the production of aviation cables in the Changzhou National New & High-tech District of Jiangsu Province, thus pushing up the investment volume of the group in this area to nearly US$70 million. As early as 1993, LEONI AG had already invested in Changzhou High-tech Zone to set up Leoni Electric Cable (Changzhou) Co., Ltd., followed by continuous additions in capital investment. Then, LEONI AG established Leoni Wire (Changzhou) Co., Ltd. and Leoni Special Cables (Changzhou) Co., Ltd. in this area. Thus, with the accumulated investment of nearly US$70 million, LEONI AG has become the biggest and oldest investor in this area. This being the second-phase of its engineering project, LEONI AG put an additional capital of EUR3 million into the construction of the aviation cable production base. Leoni Special Cables (Changzhou) Co., Ltd., with a registered average annual growth rate of 40% to 50%, plans to reach a sales volume of RMB1 billion in 2012. Established in 1569, LEONI AG is one of the biggest and oldest manufacturing firms in the world, producing electrical cables, harnessing, wiring systems and special cables."Despite the rise in the cost of land-use and labor in China, we still decided to beef up our investment, because the local governments of Changzhou city and of Changzhou New & High-tech Zone provide enterprises with a sound investment environment featuring a good manufacturing infrastructure and an attractive environment for finding new talents. Therefore, enterprises can enjoy a fast growth here," said Mr. Jiang Haibo, the head of Leoni Special Cables (Changzhou) Co., Ltd. April 7th, 2008  - Projects Gujarat, India - Wire rod producer Panchmahal Steel commissions new steel melting shop Panchmahal Steel successfully commissioned the new steel melting shop that will increase the steel making capacity of the company from 50,000 M.T. to 1,50,000 M.T. per annum. The company has a product range which includes austenitic, martensitic, ferritic and precipitation hardening grades in various sizes and finishes in the form of billets, hot rolled bars, wire rods, cold finished bars and wires. The company is a member of the All India Stainless Steel Industry Association, Indo-French Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Export Import Club of India and other organizations. April 3rd, 2008  - Projects Las Vegas Nevada - Asia Electrical Power, key player in rebuilding of China's Power Grid On January 29, 2008, just before the start of the Chinese New Year, China was struck with the worst winter storm in over half a century. Millions of people traveling for the Chinese New Year holiday were left stranded due to major disruption and breakdown of the electric grid infrastructure in most cities and provinces throughout China, grounding trains to a halt and engulfing homes, businesses and shelters in darkness. This breakdown of the electric grid caused the Chinese Premier to issue an almost unprecedented apology to the people and promise to make upgrading the electrical grid a top priority for the government. The estimated cost for restoring the electric grid throughout China was placed at about $5.5 billion dollars with an additional $36 billion required to upgrade and reform the grid. Asia Electrical Power International Group, Inc. ("Asia Electrical"), a leading manufacturer of secondary electrical power systems in China, today announced that it has received over $7 million in orders from the Chinese government in the first quarter of 2008. April 2nd, 2008  - Projects Sambalpur India - BPSL plans long product facilities in Orissa SBB reported that Bhushan Power & Steel Limited is planning an expansion into long products with the construction of mills for wire rods and heavy bars at its integrated steel works in Sambalpur in Orissa. The first phase of the project will see the installation of a 500,000 tonnes per year combination mill to produce wire rod and bars that should be commissioned by mid 2009. The second phase will see a heavy bar mill also of 500,000 tonnes per year capacity added that will be operational by 2010. The wire rods will be 5mm to 22mm in diameter and the bars 16mm to 80mm. The heavy bars will be 60mm to 250mm. April 2nd, 2008  - Projects Nairobi Kenya - French firm starts work on fiber optic cable The race to link Eastern Africa to the global network of high-speed Internet has moved into high gear with the start of work on a submarine fibre optic cable by one of the builders. Last week, Alcatel Lucent, the French firm that won the contract to build the submarine fibre optic cable on the Indian Ocean coast under the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) initiative announced that it had started work ahead of the two privately-funded competitors. Etienne Lafoug~{((~}re, the president of Alcatel-Lucent's submarine network division said work on the EASSy cable had began and was expected to be completed in the first half of 2010. National operator Telkom Kenya is among top investors in the project that is being financed by a consortium of 25 telecommunications operators with the support of five development finance institutions. April 2nd, 2008  - Projects Tokyo Japan - NTT and AT&T join Trans-Pacific cable project The underwater fiber-optic cable project, dubbed the "Trans-Pacific Express," will turbocharge Web traffic between Asia and North America An Associated press report said that NTT and AT&T are joining this next-generation underwater cable project to speed up booming Internet traffic between Asia and North America, an AFP report said. The AFP report also said the entrance of NTT Communications ensures that a branch of the "Trans-Pacific Express" fiber optic cable network will connect with Japan, Asia's largest economy. The project, which already involves companies from China, Taiwan and AT&T's rival Verizon Communications, was originally estimated to cost some $500 million. In the first phase, a cable stretching 17,000 kilometers from China's east coast to the western US state of Oregon is set to go into service by August, in time to transmit high-speed data from the Beijing Olympics, the AFP report said. The link is expected to have some 60 times the capacity of an existing one under the ocean. March 31st, 2008  - Projects Brantford Ontario - PolyOne Corporation opens a third color development center in China. An announcement we missed: PolyOne Corp. (Avon Lake, Ohio) will open its third color-development center in China, in the city of Tianjin, joining existing centers in Shanghai and Shenzhen. In a press release, the company said the Tianjin color-development center will be used to create new shades and additives and speed their introductions in northern China and Korea. The center will feature prototyping on production-like machines to develop applications for food and beverage packaging; cosmetics and personal-care packaging; and wire and cable products. March 29th, 2008  - Projects Malvern Arkansas - General Cable expanding Malvern plant General Cable plans to invest over $12 million in its Malvern plant this year. The funds will be used to expand the facility, purchase new equipment and train associates on how to manufacture bare aluminum transmission products more efficiently. Work is already in progress. The Company~{!/~}s goal with this investment is to reduce production times, improve customer service and provide for future market growth opportunities in the electric utility market. General Cable is North America~{!/~}s largest manufacturer of energy cables and its Malvern plant is a key contributor to the Company~{!/~}s success. In 2007, General Cable Malvern manufactured approximately 17 million feet of aluminum overhead distribution cables and 14 million feet of aluminum overhead transmission cables. In addition, Malvern also manufactured over 47 million feet of medium-voltage insulated underground distribution cables. See Extended Story.. March 29th, 2008  - Projects Carrollton Georgia - US construction activity cannot be that bad after all - Southwire expands building wire facility. Southwire Co., a wire manufacturer with headquarters in Carrollton, Ga., will expand its Florence operation and add as many as 50 jobs in a newly acquired factory at the Florence-Lauderdale Industrial Park. The Florence plant currently employs 187 workers who produce building wire for large retailers and distributors, said Florence plant manager Scott Williams. "The plant, with its proximity to Southwire's headquarters in Carrollton, Ga., fits perfectly into our company's manufacturing and distribution network," said Richard Miller, Southwire's vice president of electrical manufacturing. "That fact, along with the strong commitment of our work force in Florence, weighed heavily in our decision to expand there." Southwire's $9.5 million expansion included the purchase of an adjacent 75,000-square-foot industrial building that used to house TeeJays Inc. a former textile manufacturer. So far, 15 percent of the new wiring equipment has been installed, Williams said. By the end of March, Williams estimated that production will start in June and, "some of all the products" will be in production, but not at full capacity. Southwire Co. purchased the Florence plant from Essex Electrical Products in 2005. March 28th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins $13.4 million marine cables deal with BOURBON in China Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has signed a three-year contract worth $13.4 million to supply 3,146 km of its special marine cables to be installed on offshore oil and gas marine services company BOURBON Offshore~{!/~}s vessels. Building on its strong expertise in the offshore industry, Nexans will supply 3,146 km of halogen free, low-smoke marine power transmission (0.6/1KV and 250V power cables) and signal control cables. Compliant with the most demanding international standards, they will be installed in 54 new offshore supply vessels (less than 60 km per ship) being built for Bourbon at shipyards in China. The cables will provide energy to equipments and conveniences and also lighting for example. These new ships will be used in a variety of roles to assist companies in developing deepwater and continental offshore oil and gas fields around the world. They will be used as shuttle buses between offshore platforms and ports, delivering people, materials and machinery. Some will also be capable of towing oil rigs into position. "The shipbuilding industry is a priority market segment for Nexans as it~{!/~}s a booming industry, particularly in Asia, which requires a variety of high value-added products. Nexans is a leading shipboard cable supplier in China, providing advanced shipyards with reliable safety cables for all kind of vessels: container ships, oil tankers, liquefied natural gas transporters and floating production, storage and offloading vessels", said Michel Lemaire, Executive Vice President for the Asia-Pacific area. The cables will be manufactured in the Nexans plant based in Shanghai, China. The cables will be fitted between mid 2008 and 2010. March 26th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - Jyoti Structures bags 2 orders worth Rs 253cr Jyoti Structures today said it has bagged two orders worth Rs 253 crore from Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd and Eskom Enterprises (Pty) for construction of transmission lines. The company has bagged Rs 160 crore order from Uganda Electricity Transmission Company for construction of transmission lines and substations. Besides, the company's joint venture company Jyoti Structures Africa (Pty) has bagged a contract for Eskom Enterprises (Pty), the electricity utility of South Africa for construction of transmission line. The scope of the order from Uganda Electricity Transmission Company includes the supply and erection of Bujagali Interconnection Project, the manufacturer of transmission line towers informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The contract valued at around $39.64 million (Rs 160 crore) is to be executed in 24 months, the company said, adding the company would construct 220 KV and 132 KV transmission lines and substations. Meanwhile, Jyoti Structures Africa would execute 114 Km of 765 KV single circuit transmission line construction from Majuba to Umfolozi. The contract valued at about 184 million rands (around Rs 93 crore) is expected to be executed in 13 months. March 26th, 2008  - Projects Drummondville Quebec - CVTech Group Inc. granted 30 million contract extension by National Grid CVTech Group Inc. which has its head office in Drummondville, announces that its indirectly owned subsidiary, Thiro USA Inc. ("Thiro USA") has been granted a contract extension estimated at more than $30 million by National Grid USA Companies ("National Grid USA") for the construction, maintenance and repair of electrical distribution lines in various locations throughout the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. In accordance with the agreement signed in July 2005, National Grid USA is extending the initial three (3) year term for a period of one (1) year ending June 30, 2009. Based on last year's results, the contract extension should represent for Thiro USA revenues of more than $30 million. According to Mr. Guy Aubert, Vice-President, Electrical Lines and Clearance & Pruning Division of CVTech, about 200 employees will be assigned to the accomplishment of the works. March 20th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins 150 million Euro submarine power cable contract Nexans, has been awarded a contract worth around 150 million Euro by Fingrid Oyj, the electricity transmission system operator in Finland, and Svenska Kraftnät, a state utility which runs the national electrical grid in Sweden. The contract is for the manufacture and installation of a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) submarine power cable for Fenno-Skan 2, the new power interconnector between Finland and Sweden. The Fenno-Skan 2 HVDC project will create a new 800 MW, 500 kV subsea electricity transmission connection between southern Finland and Sweden, following a 200 km route across the Gulf of Bothnia. It will form a bipolar arrangement with the existing 550 MW, 400 kV Fenno-Skan link, commissioned in 1989, providing a 40 per cent increase in power transmission capacity between the two countries. This will help improve the functioning of the Nordic electricity market and the new cable will also reduce losses in the Nordic transmission grids and improve power system security. See Extended Story.. March 19th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans Rheycord BS handling cable installed in Port of Oakland crane. Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has installed its Rheycord Basket Spreader (BS) 44C 12AWG cable in the basket spreader of a ship-to-shore crane at the SSA Terminals at the Port of Oakland. It is the first US installation for the cable, which is manufactured at the Nexans factory in Mönchengladbach, Germany. A reliable cable solution for ever-demanding equipments. The Rheycord BS cable meets the demanding requirements of ship-to-shore cranes, which need a cable that can continuously wind in and out of the basket on top of the spreader. This repetitive action wears the cable quickly and the cable interior and jacket must be flexible enough to bend as needed, yet durable enough to withstand temperature extremes, weight shifts, and the continuous winding and unwinding. An added difficulty for port applications is that frequent high winds make the basket sway, putting added stress on the cable. Nexans Rheycord BS is equipped with lead beads inside to give the cable more weight, increased flexibility, greater resistance to severe weather and the ability to wind into the basket more easily. See Extended Story.. March 18th, 2008  - Projects Kigali Rwanda - At long last construction starts on Eassy cable network Construction of the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY) project got under way on Friday, after being delayed for almost two years by squabbling among project members and a lack of financial resources, Rwanda News Agency reports. The South African government initially denied the EASSY project a landing point, claiming South African companies including Mobile Telecommunication should have additional shares in the project. The South African government has since allowed the project a landing point. The 10,500 Km cable will run under the Indian Ocean from Durban (South Africa) to Port Sudan in Sudan and then to Europe. The cable will also provide connectivity to several African countries along the coast, where it will have landing points. Landlocked countries waiting to tap from the cable include Zambia, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi and Rwanda via backbone networks that will be developed by participating companies. March 17th, 2008  - Projects Taipei Taiwan - I-Sheng lands power cable orders for Asustek Eee PCs Taiwan-based power cable maker I-Sheng Electric Wire and Cable has received power cable orders for Eee PCs from Asustek Computer, with shipments starting in the first quarter at a rate of 500,000 units a month, according to company sources. In addition to the shipments of Eee PC power cables, the company's shipments of cables and cords for notebook PCs, LCD TVs and gaming devices will continue to post strong growth this year, the sources added. I-Sheng targets consolidated revenues topping NT$10 billion (US$326.8 million) in 2008 compared to last year's NT$8.1 billion, which were up 36% from 2006, the sources estimated. The company posted after-tax profits of NT$606 million, or NT$4.8 per share, in 2007, according to company data. Consolidated revenues for the first two months of 2008 totaled NT$1.29 billion, up 29.5% on year, the company said. March 14th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - KEC International bags Rs 46 cr contract from MP government KEC International has bagged two contracts by Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company valued at Rs 46 crore. These contracts are for the supply and construction of a 220 KV double circuit transmission line from Dewas to Ashta and LILO at Jabalpur on Birsinghpur- Amarkantak transmission line on turnkey basis respectively. The job involves supply of towers, erection and commissioning. Both the projects will be completed by July 2009. These Transmission Lines will strengthen the Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company transmission network and are funded by ADB. "KEC International is delighted with this win in Madhya Pradesh. Coming, as it does, immediately on the back of KEC's biggest ever project win of $120 million makes it extremely special. I am confident of a consistently powerful performance from our Indian operations so as to maintain our leadership position," said Ramesh Chandak, MD & CEO, KEC International. Recently the company has entered into contract valued at $120.73 million with Saudi Electric Company to construct a 380 KV transmission line on a turnkey basis. March 12th, 2008  - Projects Houston Texas - Petro Wire and Steel moves to a new, larger warehouse in Houston Petro Wire & Steel completed its move into a state-of-the-art, 15,000 square foot warehouse where they will be able to keep a larger stock of products to meet customer demand. The move took place on February 22, 2008, and the company is now settled in and ready to resume business as normal, with the exception of having a much larger stock of stainless products. Customers should know that despite the move, Petro Wire & Steel's phone and fax numbers remain the same. Petro Wire & Steel is a stainless steel, wire cloth, and other custom fabrication products provider. The move to a larger warehouse will help the company to maintain a larger stock and a wider variety of materials so that whatever its customers are looking for, they can provide it. The new address is 1426 N. Post Oak Road, Houston, TX 77055, but the rest of the contact information will remain the same to make the transition as smooth as possible. As a stainless steel supplier, Petro Wire & Steel has recognized an increased need in the recent past, which was one of the main reasons for their move to a larger, newer warehouse. In response to their growing customer demand, they have already increased their stock of expanded metals, bar grating, fiberglass grating, and many other fabrication materials. March 10th, 2008  - Projects Milan Italy - Prysmian wins 35 million euro Telecom Cable contract in Libya Prysmian Cables & Systems, a major player in the energy and telecommunication cables market, has announced a large contract for the supply of telecommunication cables to Libya. The contract, with Libyan General Post and Telecommunications Company (GPTC), involves the provision of a wide range of cable types into the network of the national carrier. The deal, which has an overall value of more than 35 million euro, will see Prysmian supplying cable for both underground and aerial deployment in various configurations based upon GPTC specifications. "We are extremely pleased to be continuing our long history of working with GPTC and to support them in the ongoing expansion of their national network," commented Giovanni B. Scotti, director of Prysmian's global telecom business. Franco Carini, CEO of Prysmian Italy added: "We are currently nearing completion of an earlier contract for the delivery of more than 6000km of optical cable into the Libyan national network. Today’s announcement emphasises the commitment of GPTC to the further growth of its network and to the significant part that Prysmian is playing in this" Deliveries are scheduled to start in February and to continue for a period of approximately 12 months. March 7th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - L&T receives three orders for transmission line Larsen & Toubro has received three orders valued at Rs 458 crore for transmission line projects. The company received Rs 238 crore order from Jaypee Powergrid (a joint venture between Jaiprakash Hydro Power and Power Grid Corporation of India) for the construction of 155 km of transmission line for evacuation of power from the 1000 MW Kacham-Wangtoo Hydro Electric Project. The project will be completed in 30 months. The company has also secured two orders valued at Rs 220 crore from Power Grid Corporation for the construction of 166 km of 400 kV D/C transmission line associated with Parbati HEP transmission system and 255 km of 400 kV D/C Gorakhpur - Lucknow transmission line associated with Northern Region Strengthening Scheme. The project will executed in 24 months. March 6th, 2008  - Projects Melbourne Australia - Telstra spending placed on hold Telstra will delay investing in some telecommunications infrastructure until it knows whether it has won the right to build an $8 billion-plus national broadband network. The company has also agreed to the Federal Government's request for confidential information about its copper-wire network before a tender process for a high-speed broadband network, but demanded security safeguards and the "full indemnification" of the company before it is handed over. The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, has threatened to change legislation to force network operators -- namely Telstra -- to reveal network information, in an attempt to encourage as many bidders as possible to participate in the tender process. The details are needed to prepare bids. Telstra said yesterday that the investments it planned to delay included those that could be made redundant by a new fiber-to-the-node network (FTTN), such as the replacement of old copper lines. Telstra will not reveal the value of the investments that will be put on hold, but analysts estimate they could be worth between $100 million and $200 million. "We are going to be putting a halt on those sort of things because we don't want to be spending money if it's going to be replaced by an FTTN network," a Telstra spokesman, Jeremy Mitchell, said. March 6th, 2008  - Projects San Antonio, Texas - AT&T Plans $1 Billion Network Investment AT&T's investment in its enterprise networks in 2008 will be a 33 percent increase from 2007 and more than double its investment in 2006, the company said Wednesday. Among AT&T's 2008 network expansions: Added subsea fiber-optic cable capacity to Japan and other parts of Asia as well as the Caribbean. AT&T plans to invest in multiple under-the-sea cable systems to Southeast Asia and Australia and import existing cable servicing India and the Middle East. March 5th, 2008  - Projects Jiangsu China - Reconstruction unleashes big orders Instead of going home to see his family, Zhang Hua, a 31-year-old engineer, spent this Spring Festival holiday at the production line of Far East Cable Co Ltd. Zhang's company received 300 million yuan worth of orders for power cables last month, mostly from the snowstorm-stricken provinces in south China. As a result, some 300 workers like Zhang gave up their holiday and churned out 2 tons of cables in the first two weeks of February that were immediately dispatched to Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guizhou provinces. "Our production capacity has been put in top gear to meet orders from the regions hit by the blizzards," says Jiang Huajun, director of Far East Holding Group Co, parent of the cable maker. "Cable sales will grow at least 50 percent this years, double our previous target." The Jiangsu-based cable maker is among the first to benefit from the massive reconstruction work following the worst snowstorms to hit China in 50 years. The inclement weather, wreaking havoc in much of the nation, has caused a direct economic loss of 151.65 billion yuan. The reconstruction budget, mostly in infrastructure, will boost companies dealing in electricity and telecom equipment. February 29th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans installs 264 km of high voltage overhead lines power link in West Africa The INEO-Nexans consortium has installed AERO-Zhigh voltage overhead conductors in just 29 days to upgrade a vital power link between Nigeria and Niger, as part of a 7 million euros contract awarded by Société Nigérienne d’Electricité (NIGELEC) This project is part of a contract to upgrade the capacity of the 264 km power line between Birnin-Kebbi (Nigeria) and Niamey (Niger). The 7 million euros worth contract was awarded by Société Nigérienne d’Electricité (NIGELEC). At NIGELEC’s request, the INEO-Nexans consortium completed the project in just 29 days. “The deadline imposed by NIGELEC was a real challenge for Nexans because the cable had to be installed in winter—a low demand period—so as to minimize service interruptions. The experience and flexibility of all INEO installation staff allowed us to meet this challenge”, said Thierry Capelle, Nexans Overhead Lines business group Managing Director. For full release use this link February 27th, 2008  - Projects Tokyo Japan - Google partners in plan to build new $300 Million cross-Pacific cable A group of six international companies, including Google Inc. of the U.S., is building a $300 million underwater fiber-optic cable linking the United States and Japan. The 6,200-mile trans-Pacific broadband cable system called Unity will respond to the expected growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the U.S., the companies said in a statement Monday. A signing ceremony was held Feb. 23, they said. Besides U.S. Internet search company Google Inc., the Unity consortium includes Bharti Airtel Ltd., India's leading integrated telecom services provider, and Japanese telecommunications company KDDI Corp. The others are Malaysian Internet company Global Transit; Pacnet, a telecom company headquartered in Hong Kong and Singapore; and SingTel, a leading Asian communications and mobile company. NEC Corp. and Tyco Telecommunications are suppliers for the project, set to be up and running in the first quarter of 2010. Construction begins immediately, according to the consortium. The cable is expected to initially increase trans-Pacific fiber-optic capacity by about 20 percent, with the potential to add additional bandwidth, the companies said. It will connect Chikura, near Tokyo, with Los Angeles and other U.S. West Coast points, and the system will connect to other Asian cable systems via Chikura, they said."The Unity cable system allows the members of the consortium to provide the increased capacity needed as more applications and services migrate online, giving users faster and more reliable connectivity," said Unity spokeswoman Jayne Stowell. February 26th, 2008  - Projects Addis Ababa Ethiopia - Indian Ocean countries plan fiber-optic cable system to replace satellite link. Aiming to cut telecommunication costs, Indian Ocean nations are moving ahead on a fiber-optic cable project to connect countries in the region to each other and to intercontinental networks. The Indian Ocean Commission gave the go-ahead to the project last week during the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Indian Ocean Commission is an international development organization. The project's goal is to foster telecom and economic development among the Indian Ocean countries and help them compete with other nations in the region. The decision to begin the project follows a feasibility study, conducted last year, that looked at Internet demand in the countries served by the Indian Ocean Commission: Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Comoros and Seychelles. The countries mainly rely on satellites for international communications. The fiber-optic project will connect the five countries to each other, then link them to the main cables that hook Africa to other regions of the world. The idea behind the project is that ultimately, fiber-optic communications will be less expensive than satellite technology. See Extended Story.. February 23rd, 2008  - Projects Tokyo Japan - Kobe Steel to establish welding company in China Kobe Steel Ltd announced that it plans to establish a company to produce welding materials at Qingdao in Shangdong Province of China. The new company will make flux cored welding wire for welding carbon steel used in shipbuilding. Called Kobe Welding of Qingdao Company Limited the joint venture will be formed in April 2008. Production is scheduled to begin one year later in April 2009. The plant will have a capacity of 1,000 tonnes per month. Kobe Welding of Qingdao to be capitalized at CNY 3 billion will employ about 90 people. Kobe Steel will have a 90% share in the venture and subsidiary Shinsho Corporation 5%. Sojitz Marine & Engineering Corporation and Tokokosen Corp will each have 2.5%. See also news item 8 February 2006 Kobe Steel to double welding material output by 2010 February 21st, 2008  - Projects Hanoi Vietnam - Australian firm wins $70 million steel deal in Vietnam Australia's Vietnam Industrial Investments Ltd (VII.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) has won a licence to invest $70 million in steel ingot production in northern Vietnam, the official Vietnam News Agency said. The firm would build a plant in the port city of Haiphong over the next 24 months to supply 500,000 tonnes of steel ingots annually to its two other steel plants nearby, the agency said in a report late on Tuesday. Vietnam Industrial Investments runs five subsidiaries in the Southeast Asian country, with the two in Haiphong producing steel wire rod and steel reinforcing bars. The demand for steel in Vietnam, spurred by annual economic growth of more than 8 percent and a real estate boom, would rise 20 percent this year after a 42 percent surge last year to 10.3 million tonnes, industry experts said. February 20th, 2008  - Projects Rio de Janeiro Brazil - Transmission projects to reach US$4.5 billion in 2008-12 Power transmission projects in Brazil will require roughly 7.9billion reais (US$4.5billion) between 2008 and 2012, federal energy planning company EPE said in a report on its transmission expansion program. This investment entails 3,000km of new transmission lines. Of the 7.9 billion reais, 3.7 billion reais are required for the 1,811km Tucuruí-Macapá-Manaus project, which includes seven transmission lines and seven substations in northern states of Pará, Amazonas and Amapá. The project will link most of the Amazon region to the grid, reducing the use of more expensive power sources for cheaper and cleaner hydro, EPE said. The Tucuruí-Macapá-Manaus auction is due in the first half of 2008. Companies such as Terna and Eletronorte have shown interest in bidding for the lines. Operations are due to start in 2011. Investments also entail the 125km, 500kV Foz do Iguaçu-Cascavel Oeste line in the southern state of Paraná. The 154mn-real line, which starts operations this year, will move some power from the 7GW Itaipu hydro plant. The 7.9bn reais do not include the transmission lines for the Madeira river, also in the Amazon, EPE said. Two projects - 3.15GW Santo Antônio and 3.3GW Jirau - are planned for Madeira. February 18th, 2008  - Projects Worcester Massachusetts - Single strand wire rod mill can be expanded A single strand wire rod mill design allows for future expansion to two strands for rod production of up to one million tonnes per year Morgan Construction Company has won a contract to supply a single strand wire rod mill for Votorantim Metais in Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The project design allows for future expansion to two strands for rod production of up to one million tonnes per year. The mill will roll plain rod from 5.5mm to 24mm and HYQST rebar from 6.35mm to 16mm. Rolling speed for the 5.5mm rod will be guaranteed at 105m/s. Initial furnace capacity should produce 120 tonnes/h, rising to 180 tonnes/h when the second strand is built. Project manager at Morgan Construction, Ricardo Cruz, said: "This mill incorporates the highest level of technology to achieve the greatest mill efficiency. It will enable Votorantim Metais to grow and maintain a competitive position in the marketplace". Morgan's scope of supply includes hot and cold billet charging equipment, a 28-stand mill comprised of a roughing, and intermediate mill, a pre-finishing mill of three 'vee' style mini blocks, a 10 stand No Twist Mill, side shifting water boxes, four intelligent pinch rolls, a laying head, Stelmor conveyor, a reforming station with ring distributor, vertical pallet system with a transfer car onto horizontal hook system, compactor and unloading station. Morgan will supervise the mill commissioning, expected to be in the second quarter of 2009. February 13th, 2008  - Projects Dubai UAE - Ducab set to invest AED 125 million in copper rod facility Ducab, a power cables manufacturer equally owned by the governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is investing AED 125 million to commission a copper rod factory in the UAE capital as part of its expansion activity. Mr Andrew Shaw MD of Ducab said that the factory is owned by the German manufacturer Contirod and would be the first copper rod making facility in the UAE. He added that the factory would start operating in June 2008 with an annual capacity of 120,000 tonnes of copper cable per year. Ducab currently has a 35% market share of the low and medium voltage cable in the UAE. Ducab would hit its target of 50% growth for 2007 or AED 2.2 billion from AED 1.6 billion recorded the previous year, due to increased domestic sales and exports to other Gulf markets, the biggest of which is Saudi Arabia. See Extended Story.. February 13th, 2008  - Projects Pune, India - 13 Sterlite Technologies wins US$ 17.5 Million contract from EEPCo, Ethiopia Sterlite Technologies Limited (formerly, Sterlite Optical Technologies Ltd), India's leading global provider of Power Transmission Conductors, Optical Fibers and Telecommunication Cables today announced that it has received a contract from Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), Ethiopia for manufacture and supply of AAAC Power Transmission Conductors. The contract is valued at US$ 17.5 Million (approximately INR 700 Million) and as per customer requirements; the deliveries are scheduled from April 2008 through September 2008. Sterlite was chosen as the sole manufacturer and supplier for over 17,000 km of 'AAAC Conductors' that would be installed in the 4,000 km route length of the 'Accelerated Electrification Programme (AEP) Project' being executed under World Bank funding in Ethiopia. See Extended Story.. February 9th, 2008  - Projects Santiago Chile - Codelco plans record investment in 2008 Metals Insider said Chilean state copper producer Codelco intends to lift investment to a record $2 billion this year from $1.69 billion last year, which itself was a fresh record. The bulk of the investment last year was directed at maintaining group copper production against a backdrop of declining copper grades at some of Codelco’s core operations. Key projects this year will be the completion of the Gabriela Mistral (aka Gaby) mine and the first-phase expansion of the Andina mine. Gaby, which will receive investment of $241million this year, is due to enter production around the middle of the year. Once fully ramped up it will add 150,000tpy of SX-EW cathode to Codelco’s copper production profile. Andina will receive $385million of investment this year. This project is intended to lift capacity by 30,000-40,000tpy from the current 250,000tpy at an initial stage but also support that level of production over a longer-term time horizon. February 7th, 2008  - Projects Nuremberg Germany - Leoni gains major contract in Switzerland The Swiss cable manufacturer Leoni Studer, a member of the Leoni Group, has gained its largest ever contract. The Däniken-based company has been contracted to supply the cable for the railway engineering in the new Gotthard Base Tunnel. This huge construction project will start in mid 2008. Leoni Studer expects to generate sales amounting to approximately EUR 74 million over the project’s duration of about six years. World’s longest railway tunnel stretching 57 kilometres will significantly improve travel and transport options across the Alps and is projected to go into operation in 2017. For the Gotthard Base Tunnel’s railway engineering, which will connect the new track to the existing network, Leoni will supply mainly halogen-free power supply and safety cables. These meet the highest fire safety criteria as required in safety-sensitive structures such as tunnels, high-rise buildings, hospitals and airports. February 7th, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Nexans wins 8 million Euros power cable contract in Thailand Nexans, has been awarded an 8 million Euros contract by the Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited (ITD) to supply 33 kV submarine cables for a project providing a number of new power interconnections between islands in the Krabi Province in southern Thailand, on the shore of the Andaman Sea. The project, on behalf of Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), is for the 33 kV submarine cable extension to Koh Siboya, Koh Pu, Koh Phi Phi Don, Raile Bay and Koh Lanta at the Krabi province. The project in the Krabi Province is part of an overall scheme to develop Thailand’s power infrastructure, with specific focus on providing increased capacity and improved security for its islands. This is being driven by Thailand’s rapidly accelerating growth in tourism and subsequent exponential increase in power consumption See Extended Story.. February 4th, 2008  - Projects Mumbai India - KEC International gets Rs 100cr contract KEC International, a Mumbai-based leading power transmission equipment company, has bagged a contract worth Rs 56.87 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India for supply and construction of 400 KV double circuit transmission lines in Ranchi ~{!*~} Rourkela segment; and another order worth Rs 40.66 crore to execute a 132 KV transmission line in North Bihar on a turnkey basis. The first order is to be executed in the states of Jharkhand and Orissa and the job involves supply of towers, line materials, erection and commissioning. The length of the line is 141 kilometer and the project is scheduled to be completed by November 2009, according to a company release issued to the stock exchanges. The second contract from Powergrid is for supply and construction of 132 KV single circuit and double circuit transmission line in North Bihar . The line is associated with Phase -II project of Bihar sub-transmission system. The job involves supply of towers, conductor, insulator, other line materials, erection and commissioning. The length of the line is 150 kilometer and the project is scheduled to be completed by July 2009. January 29th, 2008  - Projects London U.K. - Broadband sewer plan in pipeline Financial Times informs that UK consumers could get an ultra-fast broadband connection within the next few years – through the sewer system. A fitting place to route TV programming. (editors comment). FT says. It is no question that fiber optic demand is tremendous and hence not amazing that Corning has not seen anything of a business slowdown so far. The U.K. government is pressing telecoms companies such as BT to begin investing in new, faster infrastructure. However, BT has warned that the cost of digging up roads across the country to lay new cable could be as much as £15bn ($29bn). H2O Networks, a north Wales-based start-up, is proposing to connect people who live in Dundee, Bournemouth and Northampton within the next two years, using innovative cable technology that is laid within sewage pipes. See Extended Story.. January 28th, 2008  - Projects Xuyi Jiangsu China - Jiangsu Golden Horse Steel Ball Co participates in Chinese government's five-year technology development program of steel ball industry Jiangsu Golden Horse, a domestic People's Republic of China company, will undertake several new technology developments in the steel ball industry for 2008 and 2009. Three programs are slated for 2008 and will include the research of G3 grade high-precision steel balls, the research of new resin grinding wheel milling techniques, and the development of automotive bearing steel wire. In 2009, three programs will research the life span test machine of steel balls, development of steel ball line processing technology, and the development of cold heading active control technology of steel balls. January 26th, 2008  - Projects Tampa Florida - Further signs that US producers have confidence in future Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation announced Wednesday that it has begun the planning process for a capital project to expand its Jacksonville Steel Mill, located in Baldwin, Florida. The expansion is expected to add approximately 400,000 tons to the Gerdau Ameristeel Jacksonville rolling mill, matching the facility's recently expanded melting capacity of more than 1,000,000 tons. J. Neal McCullohs, Vice President of Commercial and Downstream Operations, commented that "this planned expansion will complete our plans to have a global scale rebar plant in Florida to serve the Southeastern United States with the highest quality, lowest cost products in the industry. We have been a market leader in rebar in this region and we believe this project will enable us to continue to serve our customers long into the future." An engineering team is well into the planning process for the expansion; which is expected to be completed by 2010. The primary products out of the Jacksonville Mill will continue to be Rebar and Wire Rod. January 26th, 2008  - Projects Boston Massachusetts - American Superconductor receives contract American Superconductor Corporation, a leading energy technologies company, announced today that it has received a contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for Project HYDRA. Project HYDRA, which commenced in May 2007 under a letter contract with DHS, focuses on the development and deployment of AMSC~{!/~}s Secure Super Grids technology in the power delivery network in Manhattan operated by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. AMSC is working with subcontractors Con Edison and Southwire Company. ~{!0~}This contract provides us with the resources necessary to fund this important project in Manhattan,~{!1~} Chief Executive Officer Gregory J. Yurek said in a statement. The initial no-bid contract, awarded by Homeland Security in May 2007, called for the government agency to pay as much as $25 million of the project~{!/~}s estimated $39 million cost. January 22nd, 2008  - Projects Paris France - Alcatel-Lucent, Elettra chosen for new undersea cable. Alcatel-Lucent said on Friday it had been selected, in consortium with Elettra - a Telecom Italia Group company engaged in survey, installation and maintenance of submarine cable networks - for a turnkey project with the Malta’s telecom operator GO p.l.c., to deploy a new submarine network between Malta and Italy. Named GO-1 Mediterranean Cable System, this high-speed network will provide GO with extra capacity to further enhance the delivery of its quadruple play services to businesses and consumers. See Extended Story.. January 21st, 2008  - Projects Brussels Belgium - Bekaert to invest in new Russian steel cord plant. Belgian steel cord and wire manufacturer Bekaert said on Friday it would invest in a new steel cord plant in the Lipetsk Special Economic Zone in Russia. "This investment of more than 97 million euros ($142 million) will take place in phases over the period 2008-2013. The first phase is scheduled to enter production in 2010," Bekaert said in a statement. The site is about 400 km (250 miles) south of Moscow. Bekaert said its new investment aimed to respond to rising local demand for steel cord products for vehicle tire reinforcement generated by Russia's rapid economic growth. January 18th, 2008  - Projects Katmandu Nepal - Transmission line construction to begin The construction of transmission line between Nepal and India will start within this year. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Indian Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services have started discussion about transmission line construction. Once the transmission line is built, power can be transferred from one country to another. It is expected to help in bringing power to reduce load shedding in Nepal and, in the long term, to export power to India. Likewise, power generated from hydropower projects like Arun III and Upper Karnali will also be exported through this line. In the first phase, the contract for line between Dhalkebar (Nepal) and Mujaffarpur (India) will be awarded this month, say sources. January 17th, 2008  - Projects Pape'ete French Polynesia - High-speed optic cable deal signed French Polynesia~{!/~}s Post and Telecommunicati