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  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Taiwan’s wire rod exports in October up by 12pct MoM Yieh reports that Taiwan exported 17,800 tonnes of wire rod in October 2009, up by 12% MoM while down by 12% YoY. For the wire rod which diameter is below 14mm, Taiwan achieved an average exported price of TWD 20,090 per tonne in October 2009, up by TWD 150 per tonne on September. As for the wire rod which diameter is over 14mm, Taiwan achieved an average exported price of TWD 20,180 per tonne, up by TWD 90 per tonne. The main reason why the average exported price enjoyed a pick up is because the exported price to Malaysia and Thailand increased. 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 20th, 2009  - Acquisitions Beijing China - General Steel Holdings signs Non-binding LOI to acquire Tangshan Baotai Iron and Steel Group General Steel Holdings, Inc., one of China's leading non-state-owned producers of steel products and aggregators of domestic steel companies, today announced that it has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire a 60% controlling interest in Tangshan Baotai Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. ("Baotai"), a non-state-owned producer of steel billet and strip steel in Tangshan, Hebei province, China. If this transaction is consummated, General Steel is expected to have approximately 10,000 employees and operate five subsidiaries based in China producing a variety of steel products including rebar, steel billet and strip steel, hot-rolled carbon and silicon sheet, high-speed wire and spiral-weld pipe. See Extended Story.. November 20th, 2009  - Acquisitions Melville New York - Arrow Electronics to buy specialty wire firm A.E. Petsche Electronic components distributor Arrow Electronics said it will purchase Arlington,Texas-based wire, cable and harness supplier, A.E. Petsche Co, for an undisclosed amount.Melville-based Arrow said the acquisition would expand its reach into the aerospace and defense market, Petsche’s consumer base. The deal is slated to close before the end of the year. The Texas company, which employs 250 people, distributes its cables, connectors and wires throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium. It also had $220 million in sales in 2008. November 19th, 2009  - General Washington D.C. - Many Chinese steel wire companies hit with 438% countervailing duties as U.S. sets duties on Chinese steel wire goods The Commerce Department has set preliminary duties ranging from 2% to 438% on hundreds of millions of dollars of imported steel wire decking from China to offset government subsidies. The preliminary decision on Tuesday concerns welded-wire rack decking, a product used in industrial and other commercial storage rack systems. U.S. companies imported an estimated $317 million of such decking in 2008, an increase of 49% from 2006. See Extended Story.. November 19th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Market eyes weak demand, with LME copper stocks up again Copper fell on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar recovered and investors saw a rise to 13-1/2 month highs in the previous session as overdone given continuing stockpile gains. Benchmark copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at $6,795 (U.S.) a tonne at 1026 GMT, after surging 5.1 per cent to close at $6,855 on Monday, a level not seen since late September 2008. “Yesterday's jump was a little bit overdone, there are still wider economic concerns. We've seen builds in (copper) stocks since the middle of the year but it's had no impact on price,” said David Wilson, analyst at Societe Generale. “The market is picking and choosing what it decides to take notice of, it's entirely sentiment driven,” he added. The U.S. dollar inched off 15-month lows on Tuesday, making dollar-priced metals more expensive for non-U.S. investors. Also weighing on copper, equities, seen as a proxy for economic growth retreated from 13-month highs in Europe. But overall sentiment remained upbeat, with funds who have helped drive copper up more than 120 per cent this year still pinning their hopes on a revival in demand for raw materials next year. See Extended Story.. November 19th, 2009  - General New York City - Strong US metal imports fuel economic rebound hope Greater shipments of industrial metals into the United States in September reflect a budding optimism in the economy and relatively attractive prices should keep luring manufacturers into replenishing depleted inventories. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday reported that September copper imports soared more than 50 percent from August to 56,012 tonnes. Aluminum shipments were up more than 18 percent to 134,800 tonnes, and zinc and nickel also showed month-over-month gains. Recent data reinforces a brighter economic outlook. The Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing index rose to 55.7 in October, marking the third month of expansion, while a 0.7 percent rise in industrial production and gains in both construction spending and new housing starts added to the positive sentiment. The U.S. will likely continue to ramp up spending, as Feds has indicated they will keep interest rates at extremely low levels and provide ample financial sector liquidity for most of 2010. Out of the $787 billion allocated for the U.S. stimulus program, only about a fifth to a quarter has been spent so far. Much more of the U.S. stimulus money is to come out by end of fiscal 2010, with maximum impact occurring in Q4 2009 - Q2 2010. November 19th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - Steel demand slowly picking up but is a long way off peak in 2008 Russian apparent steel demand is expected to rise 15-20 percent next year thanks to robust construction activity, an executive at Severstal , Russia's largest steelmaker, said on Monday. Construction projects and machinery orders will help demand to rise next year in the world's fourth largest steel producing country, Alexander Malanichev, Severstal's head of strategic marketing, told a Metal Bulletin steel conference. However the increase in demand is from an extremely low level as Russian steel demand is expected to drop by 30 percent overall in 2009, compared with 2008. The global steel industry is slowly recovering from one of the worst downturns it has seen in its history. But the rise in orders are yet to be reflected in company results, analysts say. Malanichev said he saw signs of improvement in Russian steel demand but said looming overcapacity was a major threat for the prices, which have risen over the past couple of months from last year's lows. See Extended Story.. November 18th, 2009  - Acquisitions Luxembourg - ArcelorMittal acquires an additional 13.881% stake in ArcelorMittal Ostrava, a.s. ArcelorMittal today announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire a 13.881% stake in ArcelorMittal Ostrava, a.s. from a subsidiary of PPF GROUP N.V., an international financial and investment group in Central and Eastern Europe, for CZK 6,879,524,000 (approximately $US 404.3 million). This values ArcelorMittal Ostrava, a.s. at an Enterprise Value of approximately $US 264 per tonne of liquid steel capacity. The final payment will be made in 2010. ArcelorMittal will thus increase its stake in ArcelorMittal Ostrava, a.s. to approximately 96.4% and PPF GROUP N.V. will step out of the Czech steelmaker's shareholding structure. This agreement is consistent with ArcelorMittal's commitment to continue as one of the largest foreign investors in the Czech Republic. ArcelorMittal Ostrava a.s. is the largest steelmaker in the Czech Republic See Extended Story.. November 18th, 2009  - General Tokyo - Tokyo Steel to raise wire rod prices for December contracts Japan’s largest maker of construction girders, will increase prices of some products by as much as 4.2 percent because of rising raw material costs. The Tokyo-based company will raise the price of construction products including deformed steel bar, wire rod, and I-beam by 2,000 yen ($22.3) a metric ton for contracts starting next month, it said today. Rising steel production in China, the world’s largest maker, will likely spur higher costs for materials including iron ore and steel scrap, pressuring earnings for the industry, Managing Director Naoto Ohori told reporters in Tokyo. Iron ore prices may rise 20 percent next year, Samsung Securities said yesterday. “Raw material costs are likely to go up,” Ohori said. “Cost increases would be unavoidable for steelmakers.” The company will sell deformed steel bars at 50,000 yen for December. Prices of wire rods will increase to 61,000 yen next month from 59,000 yen, and I-beam will be raised to 64,000 yen from 62,000 yen, the company said. November 18th, 2009  - General Mumbai India - Aksh Optifibre to transfer manufacturing undertaking Aksh Optifibre informed BSE today that the company has executed an agreement for sale of its manufacturing undertakings engaged in manufacturing optic fiber, optic fiber cable, ERP rods and other telecom cables at Bhiwadi and Reengus in Rajasthan to its wholly owned subsidiary namely Aksh Technologies, on a going concern basis. November 18th, 2009  - General New Holland, Pennsylvania - Ber-Tek fiber-optic cables exceed OM4 Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company, says that its fiber-optic cable family includes fiber grades that exceed the recently ratified TIA-492AAAD for OM4 specifications. OM4 fiber is a 50-µm laser-optimized multimode fiber with extended bandwidth properties over the previous OM3. It is designed to enhance the system cost benefits enabled by 850-nm VCSELs for existing 1- and 10-Gbps applications, as well as future 40 and 100 Gbps systems. With an effective modal bandwidth (EMB) of 4700 MHz*km, OM4 fiber can reach a distance of 550 m for 10 Gbps (almost twice that of OM3). See Extended Story.. November 17th, 2009  - General Beijing China - Strong demand leading to steel overcapacity in China 21st Economic Herald citing Mr Tang Bin Chief Engineer of National Development and Reform Commission said in 7th China Iron and Steel Annual Meeting lately held in Beijing that "Now, some small blast furnaces and the outdated facilities which have been closed before are starting operation again." Nowadays, production speed and investment is picking up in China steel industry, driving oversupply to increase again. The data shows, national output of crude steel was posted at 472.47 million tonnes during January to October 2009 edging up 10.5% from one year ago, and the output came at 51.75 million tonnes in the single month of October a growth of 42.4%YoY. See Extended Story.. 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 17th, 2009  - General Taipei Taiwan - Taiwan`s wire and connector suppliers expand output to tap notebook PC boom With demand for notebook PCs strongly rebounding due partly to launch of Windows 7 and partly to market recovery, Taiwan`s manufacturers of wires and connectors for notebook PCs are actively moving to expand their output to tap the market boom, according to industry sources. For instance, a brand new fabrication plant of Wanshih Electronic Co., Ltd., a top-caliber supplier of mini coaxial cable assemblies, is under construction in China and will become operational by the end of next year and lead to a 30-50% increase in the firm`s total output. Plus, other power cord and cable makers, namely Taiwan Line Tek Electronic Co., Ltd., I-Sheng Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd. and Lotes Co., Ltd., have also kicked off output expansion recently. See Extended Story.. November 17th, 2009  - General Beijing China/Singapore - Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming blasted Obama's decision to slap on duties. Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming blasted Obama for slapping on import duties using special anti-surge measure that applies only to China and that Washington had never before used. Chen, in a speech in Singapore, said that action violated pledges Obama and other world leaders had made against imposing new protectionist measures through 2010. "Shouldn't a measure that has never been used, for decades, be considered a new measure?" Chen said. He also took a swipe at Obama's hope of boosting exports to fuel U.S. economic growth, while persuading China and other Asian economies to rely less on selling to the United States and more on their own domestic demand. "Some countries on the one hand want to use every kind of protectionism to revive their employment numbers quickly (and) at the same time want to increase their exports by a lot and turn into the world's biggest exporter," Chen said. See Extended Story.. November 16th, 2009  - Press Releases Vienna, Austria - NEWS from the AWCMA/VOEDKM - Austria Achieving greater awareness of its market leading high-tech products and Austrian engineering in the international wire and cable industry are central to the global aims of the Austrian Wire and Cable Machinery Manufacturers´ Association (AWCMA/VOEDKM) . Since its foundation in 1988 by Dr. Kurt G. Eder, 21 Austrian specialist firms are available to apply state-of-the-art technology to the solution of wire and cable production problems. During the 2009  Annual General meeting, the following members of the board have been elected in office until end of 2012 : Members of the board: President:                             Dr. Kurt G. EDER                       (EDER Engineering-Austria) Vice-President:                    Mag. Robert EBNER                   (EBNER Industrieofenbau) Secretary:                            Mag. Werner LICHTSCHEIDL  (MEDEK&SCHOERNER) Coordination&Advisor         Ing. Siegfried ALTMANN           (KNILL Group/ROSENDAHL GmbH) See Extended Story.. November 16th, 2009  - Reports Brussels Belgium - Bekaert sees Q4 sales matching earlier quarters Belgian steel cord and wire maker Bekaert reported an 11.2 percent drop in nine-month sales on Friday, as expected, and said fourth-quarter sales should be similar to those of previous quarters. Bekaert, whose products are used to reinforce tyres and concrete, has been hit by customer destocking in the battered housing and auto sectors and due to inventory writedowns. Consolidated sales for the first nine months of 2009 came in at 1.82 billion euros ($2.7 billion), exactly in line with the average forecast in a Reuters poll of five analysts. Weak demand in Europe and North America, especially in the automotive and construction markets, led to a sharp drop in sales there during the nine-month period. This was partly offset by strong demand in the Asia-Pacific region, and by the integration of two wire product manufacturing units in Latin America. The group said in a statement that the trend for its automotive-related sales was gradually improving. See Extended Story.. November 16th, 2009  - General Washington D.C. - US to continue with import curbs on Indian steel wire strand. The US has decided to continue with restrictions on import of a steel product from India and five other countries by way of extra duties on the commodity. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) at its meeting on Tuesday decided to continue with countervailing duty on prestressed concrete steel wire strand from India. It also decided that anti-dumping duties on this product from Brazil, India, Korea, Mexico, Thailand, Japan will continue. All the six members of the Commission supported the decision. ITC has determined that revoking the existing import restrictions on prestressed concrete steel wire strand from India and four other countries would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time, the Commission in a statement. See Extended Story.. November 16th, 2009  - General Mumbai India - 16 Indian wire maker’s plea for duty-free status sparks US criticism At least two U.S. trade associations and one major aluminum company have filed written objections to an Indian wire manufacturer's petition seeking duty-free treatment. The petition, which has garnered stark opposition from both Noranda Aluminum Inc. and the Aluminum Association, was filed by Mumbai-based Apar Industries Ltd. in an attempt to add aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) wire from India to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The GSP program, which is designed to promote economic growth in the developing world, provides duty-free treatment to more than 7,000 products from eligible countries. 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 14th, 2009  - General Rio de Janeiro Brazil - Bad weather blamed in blackout for 60 million in Brazil but transmission line capacity may be the real culprit. Heavy rain, lightning and strong winds caused blackouts that left nearly a third of Brazilians — 60 million people — in the dark, officials said Wednesday as they scrambled to restore confidence in the country's infrastructure before soccer's 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The weather made transformers on a vital high-voltage transmission line short-circuit, Brazil's energy minister said. Two other transmission lines also went down as part of an automatic safety mechanism.” The problem was exclusively with the transmission lines," Energy Minister Edison Lobao said. The blackout cut electricity to 18 of Brazil's 26 states and left them without power for up to four hours Tuesday night. See Extended Story.. November 14th, 2009  - General Beijing China - China steel restructuring plans due by year-end New plans by the Chinese government to restructure the steel sector are expected to be announced by the end of the year, an official said on Thursday. The plans would include new consolidation targets, and a renewed effort to eliminate poor-quality steel capacity, said Jia Yinsong, inspector at the raw materials division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. "We are now drawing up new policies to deal with all the problems in the industry," he told a conference. China has sought to improve "order" in its fragmented steel industry, with long-standing plans to consolidate the sector under the leadership of its biggest mills. See Extended Story.. November 14th, 2009  - General Hickory North Carolina - Edwards named president and COO of CommScope Eddie Edwards has been named president and chief operating officer of CommScope, Inc. effective January 1. Edwards will succeed Brian Garrett, who will retire later in 2010 after a 30-year career with the company. Until that time, Garrett will initiate and serve as advisor on several special projects within CommScope. “Eddie is an accomplished leader with an extensive track record of success,” said Frank Drendel, chairman and chief executive officer, CommScope. “He is the perfect choice to continue Brian’s great work and drive CommScope to the next level through profitable growth, innovation and quality.” Garrett joined CommScope in 1980 as vice president of engineering. He later served as CommScope’s Network Cable Division vice president and general manager, a business he helped launch. Garrett was promoted to executive vice president before being named president and chief operating officer in 1997, the year CommScope attained public ownership after being spun-off from General Instrument Corporation. See Extended Story.. November 13th, 2009  - Product Releases Milford New Hampshire - Hendrix Wire & Cable introduces larger cable for wind industry. Milford, N.H.-based Hendrix Wire & Cable, a provider of overhead and underground distribution products, is now offering the 1250 KCML underground cable to the wind power industry. The 1250 KCML size is a larger addition to Hendrix's wind offering. According to the company, the larger-size cable is replacing the smaller 1000 KCML cable. The size change correlates to the increase in wind turbine generation capacity, according to Hendrix. The Hendrix 34.5 kV collection grid cables are available in both aluminum and copper conductor. Standard conductor sizes range from 1/0 through 1250 kcmil. Both full and reduced concentric neutral configurations are available. All cable is manufactured in the U.S., made and tested to ICEA/AEIC standards and is dry-cure, triple-extruded. November 13th, 2009  - General Amsterdam The Netherlands - Draka manages fiber infrastructure project for Rwanda's nationwide energy network Draka Communications, a global provider of optical fiber and cabling, is in the deployment phase of a nationwide fiber-optic infrastructure throughout the Republic of Rwanda. The implementation entails running fiber-optic cables along electricity transmission and distribution lines to link all the power plants, substations, and town offices of Rwanda's public power company, including the National Control Centre in the country's capital Kigali. Draka's fiber infrastructure will also interconnect an advanced management system for the country's high- and medium-voltage electrical grid. See Extended Story.. November 13th, 2009  - General Ruthland Vermont - Carris Reels is relocates its corporate headquarter. Carris Reels is relocating its corporate headquarters from Rutland to the former Citizens Bank building on Main Street. Carris Reels purchased the 10,531-square-foot stone building from Omya Inc. in October and will relocate its corporate offices and its 23 employees from 439 West St. before the end of the year, Carris Reels President Michael Curran said Tuesday. "This building has always been larger than we needed," Curran said, "so an opportunity arose to purchase the other building so we did so." He said the 16,000-square-foot West Street building is owned by Bill Carris, the company's board chairman. Before it was purchased by Carris, the building housed the back-room operations of First Vermont Bank. Carris Reels expects to complete the move to Proctor by mid-December, which will have no effect on the Center Rutland manufacturing operations, Curran said. To visit Carris Reels web site use this link November 13th, 2009  - General Calcutta India - Usha Martin to lower debt and expand capacity of specialty steel. Usha Martin, one of the leading wire rope manufacturers globally, may raise equity to deleverage its balance sheet. The company has about Rs 1,600-crore net debt and its debt-equity ratio stands at 1.61:1. Usha Martin may raise some equity to reduce its debt, most likely in the fourth quarter of this fiscal, after the Rs 2,100-crore expansion project is complete. Rajeev Jhawar, a promoter and the managing director of Usha Martin, said no decision had been taken on any fund-raising plan. “There is no immediate need. But if the company finds it suitable, we may look at raising money for future growth,” he said. See Extended Story.. November 12th, 2009  - Press Releases Vienna, Austria - News from EDER Engineering GmbH – Austria NEW ORDERS for EDER ENGINEERING-AUSTRIA: As a result of continuous efforts within the global wire and cable industry and to some degree certainly also benefitting from the evident economic upturn, EDER-Austria have recently been entrusted with considerable orders for complete die-tool workshop equipment lines from „AZENCO“ in Azerbaijan and from GULF Cable Co. – Jordan. NEW CATALOGUES available : EDER-Austria have launched new catalogues for die-tool processing and reparing equipment as well as for an attractive selection of die-workshop ancillary devices and die-tools. NEW EDER-Representation for Colombia/Ecuador : Matthias BRUEGGER, active within the wire drawing industry of his region for many years and also representing Wafios, Koch, Schlatter, Strecker, Bongart, Wittels & Albert etc., is now representing also EDER-Austria in Colombia and Ecuador. See Extended Story.. November 12th, 2009  - General Beijing China - What is China up to? Copper stockpiles held in duty-free warehouses in China, the top user, may be re-exported after surging to as much as 350,000 tons from almost none at the start of the year, according to Xi’an Maike Metal International Group. “We can hardly find buyers for refined copper,” said Luo Shengzhang, general manager of the copper department at Xi’an Maike. The company ranks among the country’s three biggest importers, according to the executive. “China’s got to export some copper from now and next year,” Luo said in an interview. Copper, has more than doubled this year as China’s 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus spending, increased state stockpiling and a lack of scrap material boosted China’s imports to a record. That’s helped to drive Chinese prices below London’s since at least July. Xi’an Maike has had to re-route some bonded copper to London Metal Exchange warehouses in South Korea because the company was unable to find buyers in China, with local supply outpacing demand, said Luo. The effect of the stimulus package was wearing off and local scrap supply was improving, he said. See Extended Story.. November 12th, 2009  - Reports Nuremberg Germany - Leoni 3rd Q sales down 38% from same period last year. Leoni, one of the largest providers of cable systems to the automotive sector and other industries, recorded consolidated sales of EUR 531.1 million in the third quarter of 2009. The MDAX-listed company says it has stabilized its business further despite the extended summer holiday plant shutdowns of many vehicle manufacturers. Leoni’s earnings situation improved significantly during the year due to the rapidly and resolutely implemented cost reduction program: from the beginning of July to the end of September 2009 the Company generated consolidated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 5.5 million (previous year: EUR 24.2 million), having still recorded losses in the two preceding quarters. The adjusted EBIT amounts to EUR 11 million (previous year: EUR 28.2 million). See Extended Story.. November 12th, 2009  - General Washington D.C. - US DOC preliminary results on wire rods from Trinidad and Tobago On November 24th 2008, the US Department of Commerce initiated an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on carbon and alloy steel wire rod from Trinidad and Tobago for the period of review October 1st 2007 through September 30th 2008. US DOC said “We preliminarily determine that during the POR, ArcelorMittal Point Lisas Limited and its affiliate ArcelorMittal International America LLC made sales of subject merchandise at less than normal value. If these preliminary results are adopted in the final results of this administrative review, we will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject merchandise during the POR.” It said “Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results. The Department will issue the final results within 120 days after publication of the preliminary results.” Petitioners are ISG Georgetown Inc, Nucor Steel Connecticut Inc, Keystone Consolidated Industries Inc and Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. (source SteelGuru) November 11th, 2009  - Acquisitions Rochester Hills Michigan - A Raymond acquires Tinnerman to form combined fastener group A Raymond, a leading global supplier of automotive engineered fastening and fluid-handling connections systems, has acquired Tinnerman Palnut Engineered Products of Brunswick, Ohio. A Raymond will merge its current North American operations with Tinnerman to form A Raymond Tinnerman Manufacturing. The acquisition will substantially expand A Raymond’s presence in automotive as well as other industrial markets in North America, according to David J. Nenno, president of the new operating group. See Extended Story.. November 11th, 2009  - General Wuhan China - China Minmetals-refined copper imports down in 2010 China's imports of refined copper are expected to fall after record imports this year resulted in high domestic stocks, Gu Liangmin, general manager of copper department of China Minmetals Non-Ferrous Metals Co Ltd said on Saturday. Gu said Codelco, the world's top copper producer and the biggest refined metal supplier to China, should not raise term premiums to Chinese buyers, including Minmetals, for the delivery next year. Codelco is expected to hold talks with Chinese buyers for 2010 term premiums for refined copper in the week of Nov 16, buyers said. See Extended Story.. November 11th, 2009  - General Beijing China - China praises U.S. trade panel for rejecting probe China on Monday praised a U.S. trade panel's decision to reject an investigation into imports of Chinese steel fasteners, saying it was the "correct judgment". China's commendation contrasted with the flare-up in trade tension last week when the United States imposed new anti-dumping duties on steel pipes and China launched its own investigation into imports of U.S.-made automobiles. Both countries, while pressing on with trade cases, are also seeking to ensure a cordial atmosphere for U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to China next week. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday voted 6-0 to reject an investigation into charges that China and Taiwan were dumping certain standard steel fasteners in the United States. The U.S. trade panel approved two new investigations into charges of unfair trade practices by China, with one covering coated paper and the other about certain types of salts. China's Commerce Ministry made no mention of either of these investigations, but said that it hoped the United States would avoid protectionism and be objective and fair in judging future cases. 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 10th, 2009  - General Ottawa Canada - Canada, wants to start shipping green energy to the U.S. Canadian utilities are rapidly investing in renewable power, despite slumping demand for electricity in their country. The goal: to capture a share of the growing market for export of green electricity to the United States. Canada's domestic electricity demand was flat from 2004 through 2008, while its electricity exports to the United States jumped 70 percent, with most of that growth met by higher renewable power generation. Hydroelectric power grew 10 percent and wind power nearly tripled, while fossil fuel generation fell 10 percent. The growth of Canada's green power exports comes alongside the continued expansion of its much larger, more well-known export: petroleum, including heavy oil sands production responsible for high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. With the growth of renewable exports, Canada could become the largest source of both dirty and clean power to the United States. See Extended Story.. November 10th, 2009  - General Mumbai India - Mukand to revamp business with new range of products In a move to revamp the business, specialty steel maker Mukand is looking to improve its product mix by raising the production of its high-value products. The company aims to become a ‘one-stop-shop for specialty steel products’, generally for auto and engineering industries. “The company is enhancing the production of ball-bearing steel, cold-heading quality steel wire, peeled bars, bright bars and heat-treated bars for cashing in on the growing demand,” said Niraj Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director. With the revival in demand in the past two months, the order book of the company is full. The industrial machinery division has its highest-ever order backlog, worth Rs 580 crore. At all the segments, the company was cutting costs to weather any further slowdown, said Bajaj. See Extended Story.. November 9th, 2009  - General Santa Fe Springs, California - Philatron Wire and Cable Chief Engineer announces official division named “Advanced Engineering Design” Philatron Wire and Cable Chief Engineer announced today a new division named “Advanced Engineering Design”. This value added service now allows customers in OEM Markets to work with experienced electrical engineers in R & D prototype OEM Cables. Philatron Engineers will prepare layout, design, CAD drawings with details on wire stranding, gages, conductors, conductive properties, specialized compounds suggested for use on custom cable requests. This department also allows other industrial marketplaces to re-engineer already in use cable for a possible savings and cost effective cable. Philatron has found many custom cables are over engineered, and over priced with unnecessary extras in cable design. Phil Ramos, Jr, Philatron CEO, states “Philatron readily accepts this feat after receiving boxes upon boxes of unidentified cable from the military. Philatron Engineers’, inspecting every conductor, every strand, re-engineered a more cost effective, better applicable design for the cables given operation.” Philatron offers this service for free with orders placed for the particular designed cable. If order is not placed or needed, Philatron offers engineering design fee. See Extended Story.. November 9th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - EU average stainless steel prices to continue downward slope according to Meps Meps forecasts little change from last month. Transaction values for all products are expected to continue on their downward path in the short term. Distributors are unlikely to rebuild their inventories during the remainder of 2009 due to poor sales and year end financial constraints. A reduction in both alloy surcharges and basis numbers is anticipated over this period. The rising threat from imports will, almost certainly, force local mills to cut prices as they fight to retain market share. EU steelmakers may also decrease production in a bid to rebalance supply and demand. See Extended Story.. November 9th, 2009  - General Northbrook, Illinois - UL warns of communication cable with unauthorized UL Marks Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is notifying consumers, manufacturers, regulatory agencies and authorities having jurisdiction that the Communication Cable, identified below, bears an unauthorized UL Mark for the United States and Canada. This product has not been evaluated by UL to the appropriate standards for safety for the United States and Canada, and is not authorized to bear the UL Mark. It is unknown if this product complies with the United States or Canadian safety requirements. November 9th, 2009  - General Charlotte North Carolina - Prysmian plays major part International Wire And Cable Symposium (IWCS) Prysmian Cables & Systems will play a major role this week at the 58th International Wire and Cable Symposium (IWCS) being held in Charlotte NC, USA. The IWCS brings together the world's leading producers and users of cable in order to present and discuss the latest technological innovations and developments in the industry. This year Prysmian will present six technical papers covering a range of subjects. Two of the papers relate to optical fiber issues and look at fiber coating performance and macrobend loss in bend insensitive fibers - a critical parameter in today's access networks. Another paper stays on the theme of access/FTTH and describes the latest range of reduced size, high fibre count cables whilst a fourth paper - presented by Prysmian Brazil - looks at Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) technology. There will also be two papers in the poster session together with a Professional Development Course on polymer flame testing. In addition, during the conference 'Executive Track', Mr Brian DiLascia, Vice President and General Manager of Prysmian Communication Cables and Systems North America - will join a panel of other leading industry experts in a discussion on current key issues in the telecom cables business. Prysmian is pleased to support IWCS as a partner sponsor of this event which will run from November 8th to 11th at the Charlotte Convention Centre November 9th, 2009  - General North Dighton, Massachusetts - Draka Cableteq USA Awarded $3.2 Million Grant from DOE to develop next generation downhole cable Draka Cableteq USA, manufacturer of wire and cable products since 1905, announced today that it has received a $3.2 million grant from the United States Department of Energy to support the development of a new generation of tools that will allow Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) to supply the United States with much clean, carbon-neutral electrical power. See Extended Story.. November 7th, 2009  - Product Releases Houston, TX, U.S.A. - Cable longevity and reliability at very low lifetime system cost with The Power of Dow Inside Long-lasting and reliable power cables that can help provide years of uninterrupted service, no matter what energy resource, are the lifeblood of utilities globally. Dow Wire & Cable, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, is excited to introduce the DOW ENDURANCE™ family of semiconductive and insulation materials for medium voltage (MV), high voltage (HV) and extra-high voltage (EHV) cable constructions that are made to last for decades of service. “Providing a cable that delivers longevity and reliability is essential in today’s global energy landscape,” says Tim Laughlin, General Manager, Dow Wire & Cable. “When it’s your job to keep the power on, we feel that the best way to obtain that is to specify cables made according to high quality standards with branded materials from supplier and cable manufacturer sources you can trust.” See Extended Story.. November 7th, 2009  - General London U.K. - MEPS forecast global steel prices to fall in December US transaction values for some products are a little higher than a month ago. However, the last round of proposals for higher prices do not appear to have been implemented, so far. Although October/November mill bookings are good for the available capacity, December is filling up very slowly. The steelmakers may start to offer discounts in order to solicit business before the year end, despite a lack of any real import competition. Distributors report that their sales have slowed dramatically in October, reflecting the poor state of consumption in most end-user sectors See Extended Story.. November 7th, 2009  - General Paris France - Nexans win 50 million Euro contract for the Lincs wind farm project. Nexans, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a 50 million Euro contract by Centrica to design, manufacture and supply the high voltage (HV) subsea power export cables for the Lincs wind farm project. The new wind farm is being constructed eight kilometres off the coast of England, to the east of Skegness in the county of Lincolnshire. The Lincs power export cable contract comprises the design, manufacture and supply of two 145 kV XLPE subsea power cables to be laid in parallel, each 50 km in length, that will connect the wind farm to the existing National Grid substation at Walpole, North Norfolk. See Extended Story.. November 7th, 2009  - General Hamilton Ontario - U.S. Steel recalls 63 workers. It sounds like good news but the Stelco Union sees the move as a bid to bypass severance payments for its Nanticoke employees. Labor relations have historically been bad at Stelco, a company that grew fat and complacent behind a tariff wall and where the Union resorted to extortion tactics to achieve contracts that were the envy of Canadian workers. Anyone that is familiar with steel making would agree the workers were worth every penny they made. The problem was not labor cost as nearby Dofasco paid the same salary and benefits. What made the wheels fall off the cart was the “them versus us” attitude between management and labor. As profit dwindled Stelco piled on debt. The Ontario government stepped in and bailed the bankers out. U.S. Steel saw an opportunity to acquire Stelco’s Lake Erie plant, one of North Americas most modern flat steel facilities built to supply the auto industry. Now US Steel are stuck with a plant they need like a hole in the head, legislation that calls for a costly severance package, and a Canadian government that expects US Steel to live up to its contractual obligation to keep the plant operating. The Hamilton spectator had an article this week that we would like to highlight. See Extended Story.. November 6th, 2009  - Acquisitions Leeds U.K. - KTS Wire buys rival in £3.1m deal A Yorkshire steel wire manufacturer has further boosted its business by acquiring one of its competitors. Morley-based KTS Wire received a cash injection of £3.1m to acquire Cheshire baling and steel wire producer John Pring & Son from administrators. The deal was funded by specialist Leeds-based turnaround and private equity house Frontline Investment Opportunities while the Leeds office of asset-based lender Davenham provided working capital funding. November 6th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - Speculators about to get burnt as copper inventory builds Concerns about the state of global demand for copper continue to persist, with worries about rising copper stocks and a fall in US consumer confidence underlining these fears. Global consumption for the red metal slipped 1.3 per cent in the first seven months of 2009 as compared to the corresponding period last year, the International Copper Study Group reported. The index of consumer confidence was recorded at 47.7 in October this year from 53.4 last month, the Conference Board, a business-backed research group, reported. Copper prices have more than doubled in 2009 on speculation that reviving economic growth will spur consumption. But as in the case of other metals, hopes are riding high on China which had surprised markets (with its 5th heaviest copper imports in September). November 6th, 2009  - General Milan Italy - New Zealand's antitrust body questions submarine cable market practices Italian cable maker Prysmian SpA said New Zealand's antitrust body had started an investigation to assess commercial practices in the submarine or underground high-voltage cable market. Prysmian, which operates in 38 countries, did not elaborate in the statement.On February 2, 2009, Prysmian said in a press release that the Australian antitrust authority commenced a legal proceeding aimed at assessing commercial practices in the submarine or underground high voltage cable market. November 6th, 2009  - General Milan Italy - Valerio Battista, Ceo of the Prysmian Group, elected President of International Cablemakers Federation (ICF) Valerio Battista, 52, CEO of the Prysmian Group, has been elected President of International Cablemakers Federation (ICF), the worldwide association of manufacturers of cables and systems for energy, data and telecommunications. The election took place at the Annual ICF Congress in Moscow (October 6th-9th). ICF was founded in 1990 with a permanent Secretariat in Vienna. Currently it has more than 100 members from 30 countries from regions all over the globe. Among the organisation’s main objectives are: the promotion of the use of cables in all sectors of application, the promotion of energy savings and increased safety, as well as the publishing of analysis and research regarding the industry. This year the ICF Congress covers some of the major strategic topics for the industry, from an insight into the Russian wire and cable market, to specific themes such as “Intelligent Energy Networks”, the impact and opportunities of environmental trends on the industry, worldwide trade agreements and developments in raw materials. High-ranking local and international speakers are presenting the various topics. The Congress was opened by a keynote speech of Igor Ivanov, former Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation. November 5th, 2009  - General Baghdad Iraq - Much work remains to be done in the development of Iraq’s telecommunications infrastructure The telecommunications sector in Iraq is widely considered to be a reconstruction success and a foundation of national stability. Today, a variety of services are available to every Iraqi citizen. While more than 10 million Iraqis have access to mobile phone services and Internet access provided by small private entrepreneurs is available throughout the country, the basic telecommunications infrastructure is still being repaired and rebuilt. Buried fiber optic infrastructure is being slowly but steadily extended throughout Iraq. Long-term plans for long-haul infrastructure envision a redundant series of large interconnected metropolitan ring networks covering the seven largest population centers in Iraq. These are being overlaid with three donor-funded microwave networks from the Turkish border to Basra and the Kuwaiti border in the south. Core infrastructure investment throughout Iraq remains uneven and focused in major cities. See Extended Story.. November 5th, 2009  - General Beijing China - Chinese steel mills rebound stalls on overcapacity created by the nation CNY 4 trillion stimulus spending. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co and Angang Steel Co are both posting the best quarterly profits in at least a year but are now facing slower growth as oversupply in the world largest steel producing nation put pressure on prices. Baoshan China’s largest mill said demand is easing amid rising pressure from overcapacity. Angang Steel Co said on October 27th that earnings this quarter will be less than net income in the past three months. Benchmark Chinese steel prices have fallen 21% from a 10 month high on August 4th as production overwhelmed demand fueled by the nation CNY 4 trillion stimulus spending. Steel output in China reached highs in four months this year spurring record imports of iron ore from producers such as Rio Tinto Group and Vale SA. See Extended Story.. November 5th, 2009  - General Washington D.C. - U.S. Manufacturing sector shows some spotty signs of recovery U.S. economic figures out earlier this week showed factories are revving up production and gearing up to start hiring again. In a surprise sign of strength, the U.S. manufacturing sector grew in October at its fastest pace since April 2006, says the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM’s gauge of manufacturing activity jumped to 55.7 from 52.6 in September, the third consecutive monthly reading above 50, the line that divides expansion from retrenchment. Also unexpectedly, hiring plans in the beleaguered sector turned positive for the first time in more than a year. The output boost comes after U.S. retailers, wholesalers and factories cut inventories at a record pace in the first half of the year. They’ve seen their stockpiles depleted further still as U.S. consumers have started opening up their wallets again. 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 4th, 2009  - Mergers Tulsa Oklahoma - Reel-O-Matic and Tulsa Power Merge Two leading U.S. manufacturers of reel handling equipment for processing and distributing cable, wire and other flexible materials have merged. Tulsa Power Holdings Corp and Reel-O-Matic Inc. will maintain manufacturing facilities in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma respectively. All key personnel will remain the same at each location, with Terry Simmons as president of Reel-O-Matic, and Mike Spence as CEO of Tulsa Power. See Extended Story.. November 4th, 2009  - General Milwaukee Wisconsin - Charter Wire makes its move to new 160,000-square-foot facility. Charter Wire, has nearly completed its move to the Menomonee Valley where it has a new 160,000-square-foot facility. The 73-year-old maker of steel products expects to be completely out of its old location, near Maier Festival Park, by December. Charter Wire's new location, in the Menomonee Valley Industrial Center, is a much easier place for a manufacturer to receive and send shipments of raw materials and finished products. "The whole area has been rejuvenated from the barren wasteland that was there for many years," said Tim Knepprath, project manager for MSI General Corp., the Oconomowoc contractor that designed and built Charter's new facility. Charter Wire is a division of Mequon-based Charter Manufacturing, which operates Wisconsin's only steel mill, in Saukville. The company has finished about two-thirds of its move from the Third Ward, where it operated a plant for more than 70 years. The new building, slightly smaller than the old one, is a more efficient workplace. As the company expanded, it had to make creative use of its space and design equipment to work around columns and corners. See Extended Story.. November 4th, 2009  - General Hong Kong - RUSAL in 1.68 million tonne China aluminium supply deal The world's top aluminium producer, Russia's UC RUSAL, has struck a contract to sell 1.68 million tonnes to Chinese state defence firm NORINCO in 2010-2016, the Russian firm said on Monday. A source at the Chinese firm, officially known as China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO), said the deal meant RUSAL would supply 20,000 tonnes of aluminium a month to Shanghai for sale on the spot market. He said pricing had yet to be finalised, although RUSAL denied this. "RUSAL and Norinco have agreed the price and all other terms and conditions of the aluminium delivery," the Russian firm said in a statement emailed to Reuters. RUSAL is urgently trying to reach agreement with foreign creditors on $7.3 billion of debt by mid-November to pave the way for a Hong Kong share listing that would help pay off debt, senior bankers said last week. See Extended Story.. 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 3rd, 2009  - Reports Mumbai India - Tata India a different story from Tata Corus The Indian operations of Tata Steel have shown a 25% jump in sales during August 2009 compared to the same period last year. Thus, compared to sales of 3.92 lakh tonne in August 2008, the steel major sold 4.92 lakh tonne during August this year. The company witnessed 81% increase in sales of long products in August this year, signalling that the construction sector, the main buyers of long products, was gradually gaining momentum. See Extended Story.. November 3rd, 2009  - General Johannesburg South Africa - ArcelorMittal to lower prices for one third of its product ArcelorMittal South Africa will lower the price for one third of its steel product products with effect from the start of next month, Sven Lunsche, an ArcelorMittal spokesperson, said on Friday. South Africa’s largest steel maker was cutting its prices in line with the direction of international steel prices as well as its forecast for the exchange rate between the rand and the US dollar during next month, he added. The price of two classes long steel, rebar and wire rod, will decline by 3.5 percent and plate, which is a flat steel product, will decline by 5 percent. “The price of other classes of steel will remain unchanged,” Lunsche said. November 3rd, 2009  - General Richmond Indiana - Belden expands its coverage of electrical distribution by adding Omni Cable as a a master redistributor of specialty wire and cable Belden a world leader in the development of signal transmission products for the industrial, building management, enterprise, broadcast, and security markets, announces a new partnership with Omni Cable, a master re-distributor of specialty wire and cable for electrical distribution. Andy Adams, President of the Industrial Solutions Division of Belden states, "Belden is able to supply our industrial customers with a complete solution of cabling, connectors and industrial Ethernet switches. Electrical distribution is key to delivering this solution to our customers. With over 30 years of experience fulfilling the product and service needs of their electrical distributors nationwide, Omni Cable is well positioned as a redistribution partner."Jeff Siegfried, CEO of Omni Cable, adds, "Omni Cable is proud to add Belden to its sales portfolio. This new partnership is sure to provide greater value to our customers since we will be able to supply our electrical distributors with high quality Belden cable, as well as the ability to support Belden's Complete Industrial Solutions." November 2nd, 2009  - General Helsinki Finland - Finland makes broadband Internet a legal right The government of Finland has passed a law that will guarantee all citizens be legally entitled to a minimum broadband connection speed of one megabit per second, according to media reports Thursday. The Daily Telegraph reports the Finnish government has committed to rolling out 100 megabits per second broadband connections across the country by 2015. It’s the first country in the world to make universal minimum Internet access speeds a legal requirement. Telecoms companies across Finland will have to start rolling out high-speed services to all locations, the Telegraph said. Finland, which has a population of around 5.2 million, is already one of the most connected countries in the world, with 95% of citizens already hooked up to some form of Internet connection, the Telegraph said. Finland is the first country to pass a law making guaranteed web access a human right. November 2nd, 2009  - General London U.K. - MEPS sees African steel industry emerging from recession Steel consultancy MEPS said that the African steel industry would emerge from the global economic downturn with only limited damage. Releasing its forecast for the year, MEPS said that mill output in 2009 was likely to decline by 2 million tonnes on the outturn last year to just above 15 million tonnes. This represented a reduction of 11.6%. By comparison, global steel production is expected to be 1.2 billion tonnes this year, a 9.5% reduction on the outturn in the previous 12 month period but still significantly above predictions by most pundits earlier in the year.MEPS said that "This indicates that scrap-based electric melting will turn out to be the main casualty in the supply of steel over the year. The steel sectors in most industrialized nations have been badly hit by the economic crisis." Source SteelGuru November 2nd, 2009  - Acquisitions Taipei Taiwan - Chunghwa Telecom mulls investment opportunities in Taiwan, and abroad Chunghwa Telecom Co. President Shaio-tung Chang said Wednesday the company is evaluating investment opportunities either in Taiwan or abroad, but he didn't say whether it is in talks to acquire Asia Pacific Telecom Group, a small broadband and mobile services provider. "Chunghwa monitors the market closely and is looking for investment opportunities, either domestically or internationally," Chang said in an emailed reply to a Dow Jones query, after a Commercial Times report cited Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-Kuo as saying Chunghwa Telecom is considering buying a stake in Asia Pacific Telecom. The paper also cited unnamed industry sources as saying Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest phone services provider by revenue, plans to invest NT$10 billion in Asia Pacific Telecom and take over its management. The transportation and communications ministry is Chunghwa Telecom's largest shareholder, with a 35.3% stake. 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  - General Pretoria South Africa - Meshco wants special treatment Allens Meshco, one of the biggest manufacturers of steel wire and wire products in South Africa is requesting exemption from the Competition Act. But the company has already been accused of contravening the act. Keith Weeks, head of law enforcement and exemptions at the Competition Commission, says the application will be handled as objectively and quickly as possible. The application is for exemption enabling Allens-Meshco to discuss prices and exports relating to wire products and prices, as well as prices, profit margins and vertical agreements with Cape Gate, Consolidated Wire Industries, ArcelorMittal SA and Scaw South Africa. Mittal has a 49% stake in Consolidated Wire Industries and Scaw is apparently responsible for managing the company. See Extended Story.. 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 31st, 2009  - General Nairobi Kenya - Low literacy and lack of PCs hamper internet access. Telecom firms which have invested heavily in the Internet business in anticipation of a connection frenzy following the landing of two undersea fibre optic cables in Kenya might have to shelve their profit targets for now. New research data suggests that the growth of the Internet will depend on literacy levels and availability of communication gadgets. "The development of data services will largely depend on growth of PC penetration and high-end handsets," says the survey by Renaissance Capital and Synovate. This comes against the background of heavy investment in fibre optic cables by telecommunications operators and the government. 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  - General Calcutta India - Usha Martin on expansion path. Steel wire rope maker Usha Martin expects January-March revenue at 9-9.5 billion rupees on higher production, managing director Rajeev Jhawar said on Wednesday. The company's current steel production is at 80,000 tonnes per quarter and it would rise to 140,000 tonnes per quarter from the fourth quarter of the current fiscal, he said. "From the fourth quarter, results would perk up in terms of revenue generation and profitability as the new capacities would be commissioned," he said. The company is expected to complete most of its 21 billion rupees capital investment program by March 2010, and boost annual steel capacity to around 560,000 tonnes from 320,000 tonnes, he said. 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 30th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - MEPS sees EU average steel price down by 2 pct in October MEPS said that an ongoing lack of end user demand is creating negative price pressure in the EU market. Restocking by the distributors caused a brief, temporary upturn in mill sales during the third quarter. This has now come to an end. Moreover, market players are concerned that the current level of consumption is not high enough to justify restarting so much previously idled capacity. Basis values have already weakened in several countries and buyers are anticipating further discounts in period one 2010. It added that "Despite reports by politicians and the media to the contrary, German steel market players can see no real improvement in the economic situation. The mills were talking of higher prices for the final trimester but, in fact, some spot values are softening. Customers are not ordering large quantities of third country imports because they are not confident about market developments in the intervening three months it takes for delivery." See Extended Story.. October 29th, 2009  - Market Stats Geneva, Switzerland - A devastating fourth quarter in 2008 but signs of improvement WTO yesterday published the latest annual compilation of international trade statistics The 2009 edition of the WTO’s International Trade Statistics, gives a comprehensive overview of world trade up to 2008, was published in electronic format on 28 October 2009 and will be available in print in November. The reports notes that: Up until the third quarter of 2008, exports of all product categories continued to experience the high growth that started back in 2003. In the fourth quarter of 2008, however, practically all product categories registered abrupt declines, which worsened in the early months of 2009. World exports of non-ferrous metals, automotive products and integrated circuits were hardest hit. However, initial data indicate a bottoming-out of the crisis in the second quarter of 2009. Despite the sudden and sharp downturn in the fourth quarter of 2008, the year still ended with an annual average growth of 33 per cent for exports of fuels and mining products (compared with 15.1 per cent in 2007), growth of 18.9 per cent for agriculture (19.8 per cent in 2007), and a relatively low growth rate (9.9 per cent) for manufactures (15.3 per cent in 2007). Severe price adjustments have taken place during the recession Primary commodities Overall, exports of primary commodities went up by 28.8 per cent in value terms in 2008, far exceeding the 2007 increase (16.5 per cent). This gain came as a result of record increases in the prices of fuels and food in the fi rst three quarters of 2008 – products which jointly accounted for 82 per cent of world trade in primary commodities. During the fourth quarter of 2008, the economic slowdown led to a decline in the export value of primary commodities. This decline increased in the first quarter of 2009. To read the report use use this link October 29th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - No relief in sight for European and North American Steel makers Steelmakers have been swimming in red ink for the past year and there is little indication that many of the producers in the developed world will be back in the black soon, analysts say. The world's largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal is expected to post a fourth consecutive quarterly loss on Wednesday, days after U.S. Steel posted a third straight quarterly loss and Japan's JFE Holdings said the market was too fragile to update its own earnings outlook. In contrast, steelmakers in India and China are booming as industrial activity in the developing world has surged back after the economic downturn last year dried up demand. In Europe, North America and the developed economies of Japan and Korea, steelmakers are only slowly increasing production that some of them cut by more than half a year ago. Although they are finally selling some steel again, it is mostly to replenish stockpiles of service centers -- middlemen who process the metal for specific customer needs. Dan DiMicco, chief executive of Nucor Corp, which posted a third consecutive quarterly loss last week, was blunt. "There has been no meaningful real improvement in end-use demand." Eurofer President Wolfgang Eder also struck a downbeat note, with fears China could damage the delicate stabilization in the market by ramping up exports as domestic demand slows. Eurofer's report said weak activity in Europe's steel sector had brought a slump in demand as consumption fell 45 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009 and by almost 32 percent in the third quarter. "Overall it is on very, very thin ice. We fear that there will be huge exports out of China in the first half of the year," Eder said. October 29th, 2009  - General Washington D.C. - US sets preliminary duties on China steel wire strand U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it has set preliminary duties on imports of concrete steel wire strand and steel grating from China to offset government subsidies. The duties range from 7.53 percent to 12.06 percent on the steel wire strand and 7.44 percent on the steel grating, the Commerce Department said. Imports of the wire strand have risen to $178 million in 2008, from $112 million in 2006. Imports of the steel grating have risen to nearly $91 million in 2008 from close to $9 million in 2006, the Commerce Department said. The determination comes shortly before U.S. officials meet counterparts in China for the 20th meeting of a joint U.S.-China trade commission, the main bilateral forum for addressing trade and investment matters. Commerce said it would issue its final determination in January on whether China exports to the United States of pre-stressed concrete steel wire strand from China violate U.S. trade laws. October 29th, 2009  - General Seoul, South Korea - Chinese wire and re-bar prices forces Hyundai to drop November prices South Korea's Hyundai Steel will lower steel product prices by up to 6.8 percent from November, expecting rising imports of lower-priced steel products from China, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday. The move came after the country's second-largest steelmaker in late August raised steel prices by up to 6.9 percent in its first increase in a year to reflect rising global steel and raw material prices. Prices of rebar will fall by 6.5 percent or 50,000 won ($41.91) a tonne to 721,000 won and H-beam prices will also fall, by 5.5 percent, or 50,000 won, to 860,000 won. Prices of hot-rolled steel will decline by 6.8 percent, or 50,000 won, to 690,000 won per tonne. "The adjustment can be attributed to falls in steel scrap prices and import prices," Hyundai Steel said in the statement, adding that rebar was imported at $560-$590 per tonne this month. "It is expected there will be rising inflows of lower-price steel imports along with falls in Chinese local steel prices." Its bigger rival POSCO, the world's No.4 steelmaker, which made a surprise 20 percent price reduction in May and has yet to announce a similar move, is selling hot-rolled steel at a cheaper 680,000 won a tonne. A Posco spokeswoman said on Wednesday it had no plans yet to adjust its sales price. POSCO said it would also maintain its November stainless steel prices at this month's levels, expecting domestic demand to pick up slightly up next month for restocking. October 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Boston Massachusetts - Copper to continue to dominate the structured cabling systems market For some time, it has been expected that fiber cabling would displace or at least make inroads on copper for the structured cabling systems market. It has been anticipated that fiber cabling’s superior performance (bandwidth) would be needed in place of copper cabling’s limited performance. Every time, the market has increased its requirements, from 1 Mbps, to 10 Mbps, to 100 Mbps, to 1 Gbps and now to 10 Gbps, it was expected that fiber cabling would be needed. But every time, copper cabling has increased its performance to satisfy the higher bandwidth requirements. At the same time, fiber cabling has not only increased its performance levels, but has also decreased its price, with new technology innovations, such as less costly VCSELs. At one time, fiber-to-the-desk (FTTD) was the holy grail of fiber cabling. This also has been a false start, as FTTD has evolved to a niche application not required in most of the enterprises’ networks. The question is what happens next? Copper cabling, presumably, has reached its limit, at support of 10 Gbps over 100 meters. At the same time, fiber cabling has continued to increase its performance, with OM 3 fibers supporting 10 Gbps for 300 meters and with newer technology OM 4 fibers promising even higher performance for support of future 40 and 100 Gbps over extended distances. See Extended Story.. October 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Prices rise, inventory decreases in China’s longs market Given the strong rise observed in the steel futures market, China's domestic long product prices began to rebound in the past week. Meanwhile, end-side buyers accelerated their purchasing activities, leading to an obvious increase in the overall trading volume, with market inventory registering a remarkable decrease at the same time.Following the price ascension in eastern China, a certain release was observed in market demand during the past week, contributing to the relatively active trading performance on the whole. Coming up to the end of the week, the long products market gradually became stable, while a weakening was seen in levels of commercial activity as many players adopted a wait-and-see stance. As regards inventory levels, rebar inventory in the Shanghai market totaled 277,600 mt, down 16,570 mt week on week, while wire rod inventory amounted to 98,870 mt, a decline of 7,040 mt compared with the previous week. See Extended Story.. October 28th, 2009  - Reports Hickory North Carolina - CommScope 3rd Q 2009 sales down 25% from 3rd Q 2008. CommScope, Inc, a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, reported sales of $750.4 million and net income of $45.8 million, for the quarter ended September 30, 2009. The reported quarterly net income includes after-tax charges of approximately $15.3 million for the amortization of purchased intangibles and $2.2 million in restructuring costs. Excluding these special items, adjusted third quarter 2009 earnings were $63.3 million. For the third quarter of 2008, CommScope reported net sales of $1.06 billion and net income of $84.7 million. The reported net income included approximately $9.7 million of net after-tax charges primarily related to the amortization of purchased intangibles somewhat offset by the benefit of aligning certain CommScope and Andrew employee benefit policies and a tax item. See Extended Story.. October 28th, 2009  - General Georgetown South Carolina - Longer wait for steel mill reopening in Georgetown The watching and waiting for the buzz of activity to resume at the ArcelorMittal's Georgetown steel mill will likely have to wait until 2011, according to one official. United Steelworkers Union Local President 7898 James Sanderson said he got a call Friday from a corporate official to tell him, "Because of deteriorating market conditions our plant will not open up this year, and it probably won't open up until 2011." ArcelorMittal spokesman Adam Warrington did not confirm the dates, but did release the following statement on Monday: "ArcelorMittal has indefinitely ceased operations at the company's Georgetown facility, which will continue unless market conditions appreciably improve or the plant is put on a more competitive footing," he said. The Georgetown mill makes wire rod used in cars, bed springs, car seats and welding. See Extended Story.. October 27th, 2009  - Reports Highland Heights Kentucky - General Cable reports income drop General Cable, a global wire and cable maker, said Monday its third quarter net income dipped to $16.4 million, or 31 cents per share, compared to a year ago when the firm reported net income of $50.5 million, or 94 cents per share. The firm said net sales for the quarter were roughly $1.08 billion, a 25.1 percent decrease from $1.6 billion reported in the third quarter of 2008. Operating income before certain items was $49.4 million compared to $121.4 million in the third quarter of 2008, a decrease of $72 million or 59.3 percent. The decrease in operating income was principally the result of a significant decline in prices in response to lower overall demand in many of the company’s end markets, lower capacity utilization, and the unfavorable impact of changes in foreign currency translation, partially offset by lower selling, general and administrative expenses resulting from continuous cost improvement efforts. See Extended Story.. October 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - World steel output nearly back to pre crisis levels World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 107 million metric tons (mmt) in September. This is -0.6% lower than September 2008. World total crude steel production month-on-month has continued to show a steady increase since April 2009. China’s crude steel production for September 2009 was 50.7 mmt, 28.7% higher than September 2008. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.3 mmt of crude steel in September 2009, down by -18% compared to the same month last year. South Korea showed a decline of -2.4% from September 2008, producing 4.4 mmt of crude steel in September 2009. See Extended Story.. October 27th, 2009  - General Columbia Falls Montana - How they are turning off the lights in America (“A letter to the editor”) On October 31, 2009, the once largest aluminum plant in the world will shut down. With it goes another American industry and more American jobs. The Columbia Falls Aluminum Company in Montana will shut down its aluminum production because it cannot purchase the necessary electrical power to continue its operations. How did this happen in America? America was once the envy of the world in its industrial capability. America's industrial capacity built America into the most productive nation the world had ever known. Its standard of living rose to levels never before accomplished. Its currency became valuable and powerful, allowing Americans to purchase imported goods at relatively cheap prices. America grew because of innovation and hard work by the pioneers of the industrial revolution, and because America has vast natural resources. A great economy, as America once was, is founded on the ability to produce electrical energy at low cost. This ability has been extinguished. Why? Columbia Falls Aluminum negotiated a contract with Bonneville Power Administration in 2006 for Bonneville to supply electrical power until September 30, 2011. But, responding to lawsuits, the 9th US Circuit Court ruled the contract was invalid because it was incompatible with the Northwest Power Act. Therefore, the combination of the Northwest Power Act and a US Circuit Court were the final villains that caused the shutdown of Columbia Falls Aluminum. 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  - Market Stats Beijing China - September.stainless steel production from China's major steel mills totaled 522,670 tons. Stainless steel production from major steel mills national wide totaled 522,670 tons in September. The major steel mills national wide include TISCO, Tianjin Stainless Tube, Baosteel, Baoxin Steel, POSCO in Zhang Jiagang, Lianzhong Stainless Steel in Guangzhou, JISCO, SKS, Taishan Steel. The production from domestic steel mills with large steelmaking capacity stood at 515,670 tons, of which 400 series accounted for 198,210 tons, 300 series 242,580 tons and 74,880 tons for 200 series. 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  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japanese September copper cable shipments down 17% y/y Japanese copper wire and cable shipments fell by over 17 percent in September from a year earlier, extending a year-on-year decline into the 12th straight month due to a lack of strong demand from the construction sector. The country's demand for copper, used in areas such as electronics and automobiles, tumbled from late last year due to the economic downturn. Shipments amounted to an estimated 57,800 tonnes last month, down 17.4 percent from a year earlier, although they were up 14 percent from August, data from the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association showed on Friday. 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 24th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - 24 Base metals surge, copper gains 3% at $6660.25 on demand from speculators. LME inventory rise as industrial demand slow Copper price surged this past week reaching a 13- month high Tuesday earning gains of more than 3% from its previous session, as weakening trend on the green back and major economic news from Australia, provided substantial support on major traded base metals. The copper reached a high of $6665 highest since September 25th 2008 and settled at $6660.25 an increase of more than $250 from its previous session. The steps taken by BHP Billiton to declare ‘Force Majeure’ on Australia’s Olympic Dam which was crippled by a runaway skip that took out its Clark Shaft operation, the largest in the country. Copper supply may be reduced as the operations came to a complete halt affecting the supply to about 70,000 tons. The prices rose also due to weakening US currency, as the greenback fell again at a month-low. Also providing support were the stockpiles at LME warehouses showing an increase of 360,000 tons as on OCT.21, higher by 50% since mid-July. Zinc touched $2,184 a tonne on the LME, its highest level since late May last year. See Extended Story.. October 24th, 2009  - Reports Mount Airy North Carolina - Insteel Industries reports improved 4th Q and Fiscal Year 2009 financial results Insteel Industries, Inc. this past week reported earnings from continuing operations of $2.8 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 compared with a loss from continuing operations of $1.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Earnings from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 were $15.6 million. Including the results of discontinued operations, net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 were $1.7 million compared with a net loss of $1.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The loss from discontinued operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 reflects a $1.8 million impairment charge ($1.1 million after-tax) to write down the carrying value of the real estate held for sale associated with the industrial wire business, which the Company exited in 2006. Net earnings in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 were $15.7 million. Net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 ($61.1 million) increased 7.2% compared with the third quarter of fiscal 2009 ($57.0 million) and decreased 42.5% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 ($106.3 million). Shipments increased 16.4% from the third quarter of fiscal 2009 and decreased 4.4% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. Average selling prices decreased 7.9% from the third quarter of fiscal 2009 and 39.9% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. See Extended Story.. 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 23rd, 2009  - General Stuttgart Germany - Fastener Fair Stuttgart 2009 pronounced success The largest dedicated fastener and fixing exhibition ever to be held in Europe, took place over two days in October. A record breaking 625 exhibitors, a 43% increase on the 2007 show, packed the two 10,000 square metre halls, to provide a stunning backdrop for the biggest gathering of fastener professionals in Europe. “The hefty increases in both exhibitors and attendees, amidst still challenging economic conditions, shows the resilience of the fastener and fixing sector,” says Organiser Jerry Ramsdale. “It also shows the unique opportunity Fastener Fair Stuttgart presented to re-establish key trade links across the global fastener market.” See Extended Story.. October 23rd, 2009  - Reports Paris France - Nexans 3rd Q sales down 18.9% Nexans announced Thursday 2009 third-quarter sales of 1,267 million euros (at current non-ferrous metal prices), 988 million euros at constant non-ferrous metal prices*, which correspond to an organic decrease in cable business sales of 18.9%. For the first nine months of the year, the organic drop in cable business sales is a negative 17.2%**, compared with a negative 16.4% at the end of the first half. This deterioration is attributable to the combined effect of an ongoing sharp base effect (sales at September 30, 2008: + 7.2%) and a slight intrinsic deterioration in the third quarter 2009 compared with the second quarter of the same year. This situation was compounded by a slight decline in building cable sales in Europe and Asia-Pacific coupled with a temporary setback in the execution of High Voltage contracts, which should be absorbed by the end of the year.For full press release use this link October 23rd, 2009  - General Minsk Belarus - Belarus steel pipe and wire rod production sharply down in first 9 month 2009 According to the data released by Belarus' National Statistical Committee, in January to September 2009 the country crude steel production down by 6.3%YoY to 1.9 million tonnes and a 3.4% drop in its finished steel product output to 1.8 million tonnes. Some products like steel pipe down by 37.5%YoY to 76,500 tonnes, wire rod down by 44%YoY to 37,700 tonnes and steel cord down by 30%YoY respectively to 50,800 tonnes. As of October 1st 2009, Belarus' steelmakers have accumulated 4,700 tonnes of steel pipes in their warehouses which is 77.1% of their average monthly pipe production volume. Compared to October 1st 2008, the producers steel pipe reserves have increased by 91.7 percent. Meanwhile, steelmakers' reserves of wire rod have increased by 6.7 times YoY to 3,000 tonnes which is 15.9% of their average monthly wire rod output volume. The total volume of steel products accumulated in the warehouses of local steelmakers amounts to Belarus RUB 107.1 billion. 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  - Product Releases Winona Minnesota - RTP introduces new line of fluoropolymer color masterbatches Compounder RTP Company has commercialized a line of melt processabl fluoropolymer (MPFP) color masterbatches for the wire and cable industry. These masterbatches provide an easy-to-use solution that is ideal for coloring complex MPFP resins used as plenum space jacketing materials. The new range is initially available in fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) resin systems. As it comes in 10 common wire and cable industry colour-coding formulations, the line helps processors colour-code wire and cable insulation materials, says the US compounder. The masterbatches also maintain the flame retardancy and low smoke emissions that allow fluoropolymers to be used as a sheathing material for plenum spaces. October 22nd, 2009  - Personnel Camden New York - International Wire announces a change in board bembership International Wire Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets: ITWG) today announced that Mark K. Holdsworth, Chairman of the Board of Directors, has resigned in order to focus on other aspects of the business of Tennenbaum Capital Partners (“TCP”), and the Board of Directors has appointed Hugh Steven Wilson as a new director and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Wilson is a Managing Partner of TCP. Prior to joining TCP in 2005, he retired from the international law firm of Latham & Watkins where he was a senior partner and was Global Co-Chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group and former Chairman of both the National Litigation Department and the National Mergers and Acquisitions Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Wilson is Vice Chairman and a director of Burford Capital Limited and a director of Alabama Aircraft Industries, Inc. He holds a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School. Mark K. Holdsworth said, “It has been a distinct privilege to serve on International Wire’s Board for the past five years and I am confident that under the leadership of Steve Wilson and Rod Kent, CEO, the Company will continue to meet the challenges of this difficult economic environment.” 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  - Press Releases Wrexham U.K. - A Webinar to Announce a New Release of CableBuilder Cimteq have recently enhanced their cable design software CableBuilder, with many developments that are designed to make it easier and faster to integrate into the cable manufacture’s enterprise.  A full demonstration of the application as well, as the details of new features is now planned with an online webinar in late November.  Software for cable design has been under used in the cable industry.  The majority of manufactures rely on spreadsheets to manage their cable design process.  Spreadsheets are flexible and easy to use, however, they are notoriously difficult to manage in large volumes and pose a security threat to the companies more valuable asset, their intellectual properly. Cimteq plan to show how modern design software like CableBuilder can be used to help a cable company manage their intellectual properly effectively, remove waste, reduce scrap, look professional and win more orders. Registration through Cimteq’s website with this link. See Extended Story.. 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 21st, 2009  - General Hamburg Germany - Aurubis Monthly summery of the Copper market The LME Week, during which the copper world meets in London each year to exchange opinions, is now over, but nothing has changed in the „wait and see“ attitude of many market participants. This also applies for the copper price, which is still moving above the US$ 6,000/t mark. Although attention is again on the production side due to the ongoing collective bargaining and possible strikes, the focus is mainly directed on the demand side of the market. Almost everyone is in agreement that the strong decline in global economic activity has come to an end and is bottoming out. Even the International Monetary Fund has meanwhile announced an end to the economic and financial crisis. But the concrete recovery signs in the real economy are rare and differ greatly, both regionally and from industry to industry. The extent of the recovery is also unclear, because global trade and production are still at a very low level. It is however expected that the emerging markets, which play an increasingly important role in the trend in copper demand, will recover from the crisis relatively quickly. For the complete Coppermail number 66 use this link October 21st, 2009  - Reports Pune India - Sterlite Technologies continues to deliver strong performance Q2 EBITDA up 83% Sterlite's current optical fiber facility of 6 Million-Km is already under expansion to 12 Million-Km, which would get established in the current fiscal. Sterlite has decided to further enhance this capacity to 20 Million-km, which would position Sterlite amongst the Top 3 manufacturers globally. Additionally, Sterlite has decided to enhance the capacity at its power conductors facility to 160,000 Metric tons, which would position the Company as the largest manufacturer globally. Both of these expansion projects are well within their completion schedules. See Extended Story.. October 20th, 2009  - Acquisitions Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg - Bekaert one of four potential buyers of Goodyear’s Luxembourg steel cord plant Goodyear has openly stated its desire to sell the company’s Luxembourg steel cord factory. As it disclosed to the “Luxemburger Wort” newspaper, talks with “four potential buyers” are underway, including with Belgium’s Bekaert, global top supplier of steel cord. The newspaper adds that the wire plant’s sale could be interpreted to be part of “Goodyear’s new management policy, one it wants in future to focus as far as possible concentrate upon the core business of tyre production, a change in strategy that Goodyear’s employees were recently informed about through an internal notice.” A company spokesperson told the newspaper that no contracts have been made and no offer as yet given. A buyer has also not yet been selected. Negotiations are still in an early stage, the spokesperson added, however a “change of ownership at the Goodyear Wire Plant,” is not out of the question.” The Goodyear Wire Plant in Luxembourg has been in operation since 1971 and outside of the company’s steel cord factory in Asheboro, N.C., is the company’s sole wire facility worldwide. October 20th, 2009  - General Weybridge Surrey U.K. - Could copper really fall to $1,500 a tonne by mid-decade? A copper price scenario that suggests a sharp fall, followed by a boom, followed by an even more precipitous collapse as the world dips into a second phase of this current recession. One can hardly call copper and China specialist, Simon Hunt, a copper bull, but his latest assessment of the global copper market is gloomy to say the least. However Hunt is not the first to suggest a copper price below US$ 2000 a tonne. As late as in February this year CRU dtated that based on industrial consumption and availability of copper a price around US$ 2000 a tonne was not out of the question. Presently speculators and a falling dollar are driving the price forcing wire cable and tube producers to tie up more and more money in work in progress inventory. See Extended Story.. October 20th, 2009  - General Chicago Illinois - Wind powers expansion at a Chicago suburban firm A far west suburban manufacturer has teamed up with an experienced Spanish firm to expand its wind power components business in the U.S. Chicago Industrial Fasteners LLC, based in Sugar Grove, will at first market and distribute large bolts and rods made in Spain by Matz-Erreka SCL, which has been making wind turbine parts for 17 years. The high-strength bolts are used to attach massive blades to wind turbines and to hold wind turbine towers together and anchored to the ground. Matz-Erreka will control 51% of the joint venture, with the remainder controlled by Chicago Industrial Fasteners, said John Price, the suburban firm’s president. Eventually, manufacturing is expected to shift to Sugar Grove, creating “conservatively 10 to 20 jobs,” he added. Between current exchange rates and transportation costs, “we can be a lot more competitive if we don’t have to ship it from Spain.” October 20th, 2009  - Acquisitions Brunswick, Ohio - French firm rumoured to have purchased the Ohio-based fastening manufacturer Tinnerman Pharos-Tribune carried a news item Friday suggesting that Tinnerman Connection Engineering had been purchased a French company. Plant manager Mike Englert at the Ohio-based fastening manufacturer said Friday he could neither confirm nor deny a report circulating among employees at the Logansport plant that Tinnerman will begin operating under the name A Raymond starting Monday. Englert said he would announce the sale of the company if such a development occurred. “At this point, I really can’t comment,” he said. The company employs about 210 workers locally. A call to Tinnerman headquarters in Brunswick, Ohio, was not returned Friday afternoon. Tinnerman makes fasteners for the transportation, electronics, construction and medical industries. A Raymond, according to its Web site, is an international company based in France that manufactures similar products. A Raymond employs 3,200 people at 29 companies in 20 countries. Skip Kuker, president of the Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation, said Friday he had heard a rumor of the sale, but he said company officials had not contacted his office. In Logansport, Tinnerman has undergone multiple name changes over the years. Before Tinnerman, the company was known as Tinnerman-Palnut, which purchased the local facility from Textron Fastening Systems in 2005. The plant was also formerly known as Elco-Textron and Elco Industries. October 19th, 2009  - Product Releases Jarfalla, Sweden - Windak Announces Breakthrough Coiling Solution Windak has announced that the first of its new generation of automatic coilers, the FC5, has been successfully installed in Finland.  According to Urban Bollo, Managing Director of Windak Sweden, the FC5 automatic flex coiler is the first machine Windak has introduced as part of its new generation of Affordable Automation Packaging Solutions.   "We understand that the market today demands cost effective solutions that have a short pay-back time with maximum flexibility and output".  See Extended Story.. October 19th, 2009  - Market Stats Istanbul Turkey - Turkish wire rod exports in September up by 109 percent YoY According to the statistics released by the Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters Association, in September Turkey's total wire rod exports amounted to 124,500 tonnes increasing by 109.16% YoY and up 20.35% over August 2009. Meanwhile, the revenue generated by these exports totaled USD 60.57 million down 11.34% compared to the same month of the previous year and up 27.93% MoM. In September, the average export price of Turkish wire rod amounted to USD 486.46 per tonne up USD 28.8 per tonne or 6.3% from August levels but indicating a decrease of USD 661 per tonne or 57.61% from USD 1,148 per tonne in September 2008. On the other hand in the January and September period of the current year, Turkey's wire rod exports surged 13.94% YoY to 792,200 tonne totaling a value of USD 362.68 million down 41.86% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. October 19th, 2009  - General Brussels Belgium - Bekaert expanding U.S. metal coating operations Like everyone else, racing teams are trying to stretch their dollars. Many teams and engine builders send certain high-performance parts out to have special coatings applied to them to decrease friction and make them last longer. Racing teams in Europe have used a Belgium-based company, Bekaert, for this for about 15 years. The company, which employs 23,000 worldwide, has been involved in American motorsports for about five years, and its presence in America is growing. Founded in 1880, the company's advanced materials coatings business is a natural counterpart to another one of its core businesses - steel-cord products, which are used to reinforce one in every four tires in the world. Prior to establishing a facility devoted to motorsports in Research Triangle Park, N.C., See Extended Story.. October 19th, 2009  - General Highland Heights Kentucky - GENERAL CABLE joins green suppliers network General Cable accelerates its environmental commitment through the participation of the Green Suppliers Network (GSN) technical review of its Marshall, TX Utility Plant. Sponsored by a Corporate Champion of GSN, General Cable was nominated as one of five suppliers to partake in the review and be designated a Green Suppliers Network Partner. The Green Suppliers Network, managed jointly by U.S. EPA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST/MEP), leverages a national network of manufacturing technical assistance resources to help companies become more sustainable. The onsite technical review, which takes approximately three to four days, audited all aspects of General Cable’s manufacturing processes, including recycling, power usage and waste. Under the GSN program, General Cable’s Lean corporate culture will be aligned even more directly with environmental improvements to produce products with sustainable environmental performance. See Extended Story.. October 17th, 2009  - General Indianapolis Indiana - Thermax Seamless chosen for the New Gulfstream G650 Thermax is proud to announce that it has been selected to provide its Seamless-T composite aerospace wire for the new Gulfstream G650 aircraft. Gulfstream selected Thermax's composite wire because of its superior electrical properties, smaller diameter, and light weight; thus helping to accomplish the G650 goals of technological advancement, superior range, and speed. Thermax, a division of Belden, is a world leader in the development of specialty wire and cable products. Thermax is at the forefront of wire and cable technology, designing and manufacturing products used in high-performance and harsh environments. Thermax specializes in the use of high-temperature fluoropolymer insulations used in the aerospace, military, transportation, and industrial markets. October 17th, 2009  - Reports Bridgewater Massachusetts - Chase Corporation 4th Q revnue down 20% Chase Corporation today reported revenues of $28.4 million for the quarter ended August 31, 2009. This represents a decrease of 20% compared to $35.7 million in the fourth quarter of last year. Net income of $2.8 million decreased 26% from $3.8 million in the prior year period. Revenues for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2009 were $107.6 million which represented a 19% decrease compared to $132.5 million in the prior year. Net income for the fiscal year was $6.4 million in fiscal 2009 compared to $12.4 million in the prior year. Peter R. Chase, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "2009 has been a challenging fiscal year for Chase Corporation, particularly as it followed our best year ever. Beginning with the financial crash in the middle of the first fiscal quarter we had to face continued declines in the U.S. housing market and a rapid plunge in the automotive sector worldwide. Like many companies we have been part of the supply chain to these important industries supplying electronic coatings for circuitry used in cars and in appliances for home use. Chase also produces tapes and sealants for cables that supply power, voice and data to homes, offices and industrial sites. 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 16th, 2009  - Press Releases Garibaldi, RS, Brazil - Madem Operations are 100% HT - ISPM 15 Certified WorldWide With the final implementation and HT certification at operations in Romania and Bahrain, all Madem plants worldwide are now exclusively working with HT ISPM 15 certified materials. The HT standard evolved from the need for pest and insect control in wooden packaging for shipment.  Every year these requirements continue to tighten on customers in countries all over the world. Madem Group anticipated this trend and proactively prepared for global operations to adopt this certification in Brazil, USA, Spain, Romania, and Bahrain. “Aside from the obvious question of pest and insect control for packaging, HT certification has an additional positive environmental impact, because the HT process doesn’t use harsh chemicals and conforms to ISO 14.000 standards” said Leandro Mazzoccato, Director of Corporate Marketing and Sales. He adds, “Madem currently uses only HT certified renewable lumber, which makes us a truly ‘Green’ company. October 16th, 2009  - General Beijing China - Steel Price decline in China will force output cuts Steelmakers in China, the world’s largest producer, will be forced to cut output in the next two months as prices continue to decline because of oversupply, Jiangsu Shagang Group Co. said. Prices may drop by between 5 percent and 10 percent for the rest of the year, Shagang Chairman Shen Wenrong said at the recent World Steel Association conference in Beijing. The Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province-based steelmaker is the nation’s fifth-largest mill and the biggest maker of steel wires and rods used in construction. Steel prices in China have dropped 25 percent since reaching a 10-month high on Aug. 4, as overproduction offset rising demand created by government spending. Wuhan Iron & Steel Group, China’s third-biggest, may carry out annual maintenance which will reduce output, Wuhan General Manager Deng Qilin said this week. “Prices will drop further until a large number of the steelmakers record losses,” Shen said. “Overcapacity in flat products is worse than long ones. That would hurt bigger steelmakers because they are the major producers of flat products,” he said. See Extended Story.. October 16th, 2009  - General Perth Australia - Valin’s Li seeks acquisitions to double steelmaking capacity Bloomberg news reported that Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Group, a Chinese investor in Australian iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., is seeking acquisitions to double its steelmaking capacity to 30 million metric tons in three years. The mill will buy competitors through a joint fund with state-owned China Huarong Asset Management Corp., Chairman Li Xiaowei, 57, said in an Oct. 13 interview in Beijing. Hunan province-based Valin is China’s ninth-largest steelmaker, and its output last year was a third of Shanghai’s Baosteel Group Corp., the nation’s biggest producer. China, the world’s largest steelmaking nation, is working on plans to advance mergers among its mills to curb excess capacity and boost their buying power for raw materials, the nation’s steel association said this week. An acquisition may occur by the end of the year, Li said. “We’ll have a noteworthy achievement during China’s reshuffle of the steel industry,” Li said. “We’ve got an investment fund to carry out acquisitions. We will inject those assets into our listed unit later.”. The Valin group produced 11.3 million tons of steel last year. See Extended Story.. October 16th, 2009  - General Millom, Cumbria, UK - Man dies after accident at Tornado Wire Ltd A man who suffered head injuries while working at the factory in Cumbria has died. Michael Pattinson, 59, of Queen’s Park, Millom, had been using a fork lift truck to put rubbish into a skip at the town's Tornado Wire steel wire makers on the Devonshire Road Industrial Estate. He was found lying on the ground with serious head injuries and taken to Furness General Hospital in Barrow, where he died. Acting Sergeant Laura Robinson, based at Millom police station, said: "We can confirm that Mr Pattinson has passed away." An investigation was launched after Mr Pattinson was found shortly before 6.30pm on Monday. Police said it is possible Mr Pattinson had climbed onto the skip and then fallen to the floor. Officers said a metal barrel was found next to him. A spokesman for Tornado Wire was unavailable for comment. A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said: “At the moment it is a police-led investigation but the HSE are working with police. Should there be a need, HSE will set up our own investigation.” Tornado Wire’s 50-strong workforce was given the day off yesterday while the police investigated. October 16th, 2009  - General Nairobi Kenya - Surge in global copper price hurts Kenyan cable companies Fluctuating copper and aluminum prices in international markets coupled with reduced business from regional power utility firms is hurting the profit margins of wire and cable firms in Kenya. Local manufacturers hope demand for copper and aluminum from China will wane in the coming months, stabilizing prices and enabling their businesses recover lost ground. Amid growing global demand, especially from China, and persistent supply concerns, the benchmark price of copper has risen sharply from $3,748 in March to $6,195 a tonne in September a 90 per cent increase. The rally follows an almost 50 per cent drop in price in 2008. Local manufacturers of electrical wire and cables have taken a hit to their bottom line as most have been unable to pass the full value of the price increase on to their customers for fear of losing business. “This is significant to our industry because copper is the primary component in cable manufacture and as such, a price increase of this magnitude is bound to eat into a company’s margins. “We have felt this effect as we seek to absorb this rise in our costs and try to maintain a competitive price position in the market” says Mr Joseph Kenyua, commercial manager for Kenwestfal Works Limited, local manufacturers of low and medium voltage energy cables. See Extended Story.. October 15th, 2009  - General Bangkok,Thailand - Wire and Tube Investments Anticipated with Economic Upturn at WSEA 2009 wire Southeast ASIA / Tube Southeast ASIA exhibition was held again for 3 days of the latest in technology and solutions. Organizer Messe Düsseldorf Asia reports over 300 exhibitors from 30 countries were in attendance at the shows.  Both wire and Tube Southeast ASIA have consistently received the strong support from leading international and regional associations and this year’s events welcome the participation of national pavilions and groups from Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and USA. Khun Sorayut Phettakul, Vice-Minister of Industry, Thailand officiating the joint opening of the two events at BITEC, Bangkok October 2009. With the recovery of the global economy in sight, the role that Asia will play in this impending recovery is becoming increasingly apparent by the day. Asian countries such as Thailand will be responsible for the major proportion of global growth in the immediate and long-term future as the world rises up from recession and, importantly, countries that have strong manufacturing bases will continue to attract investments and grow stronger. This underlying trend highlights the relevance and timely convening of wire / Tube Southeast Asia 2009 at BITEC, Bangkok. See Extended Story.. October 15th, 2009  - General Moscow Russia - Severstal metiz opens Teci Rus and Teci Istanbul service centers SteelGuru reports that the Severstal-metiz Group of Companies have opened two service and distribution centers Teci Rus and Teci Istanbul to handle the groups wire rope business in Russia and Turkey. Following the strategy to become a leader in the world steel rope market, the Severstal-metiz Group and its subsidiary company in Italy, Redaelli Tecna have implemented their first joint projects on development of a network of service centers. The two new retail outlets selling wire ropes and providing service to customers are situated in two key markets for the Group Russia and the Mediterranean. These service centers are an extension of the Teci service and distribution chain a specialized division of Redaelli which has been providing clients with products and service for more than 100 years. See Extended Story.. October 15th, 2009  - General Caracas Venezuela - Cuba to start laying fiber optic cable to Venezuela Installation of 1,630 kilometers (1,013 miles) of fiber optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela will start Wednesday, Venezuela's science and technology chief said. Caracas is communist Cuba's closest ally in Latin America, and a leading financial support through oil and trade deals. Cuba claims that not having access to US Internet firms' services has kept it from extending Internet access to all Cubans. But critics say whatever bandwidth the government has available, most Cubans still cannot gain free access to all information available on the web. Venezuelan Science and Technology Minister Jesse Chacon said "starting that day (Wednesday) we will be laying the cable which is a really vital element of relations between the two countries." "This is something that we hope will be ready in two years' time," Chacon said in a statement. The hookup will have a 640-gigabyte capacity and multiply Cuba's ability to connect by 3,000, experts from both countries say. See Extended Story.. October 15th, 2009  - General Beijing China - Steel giants refuse to cut output despite price plunge China's steel prices have dropped around 1000 yuan per ton from its peak in August. However, most domestic steel producers say that they won't reduce output as long as they are still profitable. Wu Chunxi, an advisor at China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), pointed out that judging from the country's steel output in September, China's total steel output in 2009 may top 618 million tons. In the first eight months this year, the apparent consumption of steel has increased by 16 percent. If the steel mills refuse to cut production, the growth of apparent consumption of steel is expected to exceed 100 million tons. "That is too much for China's domestic steel market," said Wu. See Extended Story.. October 15th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - Not wire tube or cable news, but interesting dilemma all the same. The FCC has started an investigation into Google Voice. The new service offers users a phone number with a number of call and messaging management features. Incoming calls can be forwarded, while outgoing calls make use of the Bandwidth.com IP network, resulting in cheap calls in the US and Canada. Google Voice is a call-back service, where the user gives both the number of who he wants to call as well as his own number (fixed or mobile) that he wants to use. The service is still restricted to a limited number of users and available by invitation only. See Extended Story.. October 14th, 2009  - General Santa Fe Springs California - Philatron Officially Changes Corporate Name to "Philatron Wire and Cable" Philatron Wire and Cable (formerly Philatron International, Inc.), the leading premier custom electrical wire and cable manufacturer, announces the launch of its new corporate name and logo. Philatron's new name, "Philatron Wire and Cable", signifies the company's core competency - Wire and Cable. The new logo signifies the ability to make the electron spin world wide, around the globe to all countries. The name change and logo incorporates elements that reflect the Ramos Family's rich heritage in Wire and Cable - and commitment to provide solutions and provide "power" to the world today, tomorrow, and for future generations. See Extended Story.. October 14th, 2009  - General Albuqerque New Mexico - Superconductor electricity pipelines to be adopted for America's first renewable energy market hub. American Superconductor Corporation today announced that Superconductor Electricity Pipelines have been chosen for The Tres Amigas Project, the nation’s first renewable energy market hub. Superconductor Electricity Pipelines comprise transmission-level direct current (DC) superconductor power cables powered by AMSC high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire and high-powered voltage-source AC/DC power converters. The Tres Amigas Project, which will be announced today in Albuquerque by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, focuses on uniting America’s three power grids for the first time to enable faster adoption of renewable energy and increase the reliability of the U.S. grid. See Extended Story.. October 14th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - The World Steel Association forecasts improved short range outlook. The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is forecasting that apparent steel use will contract worldwide by -8.6% to 1,104 mmt in 2009 after declining by -1.4% in 2008. This is an improved figure over the spring forecast issued in April 2009 which predicted a decrease of -14.1%. The improvement is largely due to the exceptionally strong growth in steel demand in China. With signs, from the beginning of the second half of 2009, of a recovery across the world now apparent, global steel demand in 2010 is forecast to grow by 9.2% to 1,206 mmt which is a recovery to the level of 2008. See Extended Story.. October 14th, 2009  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Taiwan's wire rod market remained sluggish last week. There were only very few deals and the price continuously slid. Even though Quintain Steel Co., Ltd. and Yieh Hsing Enterprise kept the same price level in October, the wire rod market was nevertheless sluggish last week due to rather weak demand. If scrap and rebar prices are keeping on downward, it will be harmful to the future wire rod market. In addition, China's wire rod price will also have an impact on the whole market after the National Holiday. Although the domestic material is very limited, Taiwanese wire rod market is not optimistic this week due to lower demand. October 13th, 2009  - General Jakarta Indonesia - Indonesian wire producers lose 40pct utilized capacity to China The Jakarta Post reported that Indonesian domestic wire producers have seen their utilized capacity drop from 80% to only 40% because of a jump in imports of much cheaper Chinese wire in the past 4 years. Mr Ario N. Setiantoro Indonesia Iron & Steel Industry Association's head of nail and wire producers said Friday he would submit a petition by the end of October at the latest, on behalf of at least 10 domestic wire producers. “We admit that the first time we proposed tariffs on imports of Chinese wire, along with nails, there were only three or four affected factories hoping to benefit, and the data we submitted was insufficient,” he told The Jakarta Post. “So we had to accept the fact that our petition was dropped. “But that hasn’t necessarily ended our opportunity to file another one,” he added. Ario said an article in a 2002 presidential decree on measures taken to save domestic industries from potential or ongoing losses caused by a jump in imports would justify the petition. See Extended Story.. October 13th, 2009  - General Tokyo Japan - Japanese wire rod makers price hike may not stick JMB reported that Japanese electric furnace steel wore rod makers' effort to improve the selling price is likely to be tougher than expected for commodity grade products. As per report, they showed the willingness for price hike when offshore market price rebounded and ferrous scrap price increased. However, their price hike could be resisted when the surrounding situation has changed since mid September. 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 13th, 2009  - General Hobart Tasmania - Corning Cable systems selected as for Tasmania’s National Broadband Network. Corning Cable Systems was chosen to provide the cable requested in the very first tender to go out for the whole National Broadband Network project, which closed in August. This fibre will go to the first stage of the roll-out, to be completed in the second quarter of 2010, which involves extension of the state's existing fibre backbone from Cambridge via Midway Point to Triabunna, from Port Latta to Smithton, and from George Tow via Scottsdale to St Helens. Deliveries of the fibre are expected this month and next. The fibre will see 5000 homes in Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point communities linked to the network, according to the company. See Extended Story.. October 12th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - Canada Celebrates Thanksgiving There will be no newsbulletin today News reporting will resume Tusday October 13 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 10th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - Kick the enemy in the face when he lies in the gutter - It is called survival of the fittest and lets the winner take all. Reuters reported that CEO of Germany's second largest steelmaker sharply criticized rivals like ArcelorMittal for plans to increase production in the middle of a structural crisis in the industry. Dr Wolfgang Leese CEO of Salzgitter AG in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland while referring to demand stemming from inventory restocking he said that "We only have a small temporary peak that in my view will last until the end of the year roughly.” He added that "It is incomprehensible that steelmakers are starting to ramp up their blast furnaces.” Mr Leese said he could not say when his own third blast furnace, which has been out of operation since the end of March, would be brought back on line. October 10th, 2009  - General Washington D.C. - US ITC to conduct AD review on stainless steel wire rod from Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain and Taiwan US International Trade Commission has voted to conduct full 5 year reviews concerning the antidumping duty orders on stainless steel wire rod from Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain and Taiwan. As a result of the vote, the Commission will conduct full reviews to determine whether revocation of these orders would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. The Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires the Department of Commerce to revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, or terminate a suspension agreement, after 5 years unless the Department of Commerce and the USITC determine that revoking the order or terminating the suspension agreement would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidies and of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. October 9th, 2009  - Market Stats London, New York - Markets - Stockpiles Shrink, Dollar Sinks, Copper Soars Copper shoots higher with the help of a weak greenback and a decline in available inventories. Copper for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division ended up 4.55 cents (U.S.), or 1.7 per cent, at $2.7270 a pound, after dealing in a session range from $2.6530 to $2.7370. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper for three-months delivery rose $41 to finish at $5,920 a tonne. In after-hours trade, the metal used in power and construction crossed the psychological $6,000 level after U.S. stocks added to their session gains, sending the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 1 per cent. The price of copper, used in power and construction, has surged more than 90 per cent since the start of the year, driven by Chinese restocking, speculative interest and improved macroeconomic data signalling a recovery from recession. October 8th, 2009  - General Jakarta Indonesia - Government safeguards against Chinese and Malaysian nail, wire rod The Indonesian Trade Security Committee (KPPI) has officially imposed tariffs on nails and wire rods imported from China and Malaysia. A Trade Ministry press release Wednesday said the measure was effective from Oct. 1 this year to Sept. 30, 2012, with the tariff varying based on the value of the imported goods. In the first year, from Oct. 1, 2009, until Sept. 30, 2010, nails and wire rods imported from China and Malaysia are subject to a tariff of 145 percent of their respective values. The fees will decline to 115 percent in the second year and then to 85 percent in the final year. The move is meant to protect the domestic industry from an increase in imports of any products that may or have seriously undermined the domestic industry producing similar or directly competitive products. The ruling is expected to halt the flow of imported nails and wire rods into the country dramatically. The KPPI ruling also stipulates that importers who order nails and wire rods from other countries besides China and Malaysia need to provide information of the goods’ country of origin. 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 7th, 2009  - General Beantford Ontario - wireworld.com safe to access thanks to swift intervention after attack. Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter if you are a gazelle or a lion, when the sun comes up you better start running. As any internet security firm will tell you your website’s “safety from attacks” is a matter of degree. Should your server, despite all precautions, be the subject of an attack, it is a matter of plugging the “hole in your security wall” asap. Attacks and posting of malicious software scripts on popular high traffic web sites like wireworld.com are only too common, Fortunately, various antivirus programs are swift to pick-up new threats and the search engines will instantly “flag” websites hosting these threats and the team of back office boys at wireworld.com were indeed on the ball and had the malicious script removed and the password to the site changed within minutes of the attack More serious attacks are those where the attacker retrieves sensitive information. A most recent example is the break-in and theft of e-mail addresses and passwords from Yahoo.com, hotmail and googles gmail, yesterday . Thanks to sitesolutions.com the company we use for our site submission to the search engines the flags on the over 140000 reference links on various search engines were likewise removed. SiteSolutions.Com – the SEO Specialists can be reached at USA - Toll Free (877) 855-2003 * USA Direct (916) 771-4756 USA * FAX (916) 771-7934 Austria - Vienna (+43) 1 99456002 * Canada - Toll Free (877 )855-2003 France - Paris (+33) 1 72 81 35 76 * Spain - Madrid (+34) 91-829-2672 UK - London (+44) 20 7993 2729 October 7th, 2009  - Reports Pune India - Sterlite Technologies records strong and consistent growth - Q1FY10 EBITDA In Q1FY10 Sterlite earned net revenues of Rs. 436 Crores (US$ 90 Million). The operating profit (EBITDA) for the quarter was Rs. 80 Crores (US$ 16.5 Million) up 93% year over year, with an improved margin of 18%. Revenues from international sales reached 36% of total revenues. Says Pravin Agarwal - Director, "We have had a very good quarter and are focused on continuing on our growth path. These results are due to our efficient and enduring business model and we will continue to invest in areas that will help drive growth of our business, to create value for our shareholders and customers." October 7th, 2009  - General Paris France - Nexans to supply power cable for the development of the Saudi Kayan industrial complex Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, will provide power cables, for a global amount of 2 million Euros, to the Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company. The cables supplied by the distributor, Noskab, will be manufactured by Nexans plant in Turkey and should be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2009. Nexans will supply a range of low voltage (LV), medium voltage (MV) and instrumentation cables to The Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company for the construction of the Saudi Kayan industrial complex, located at Jubail Industrial City. See Extended Story.. October 7th, 2009  - Product Releases Independence,Ohio - TPC Wire & Cable intruduces new cable which is flexible at extreme temperatures The new Super-Trex Extreme Temperature cable from TPC Wire & Cable is a portable power cable that offers exceptional flexibility in extremely cold or extremely hot conditions. It is rated from -70C to 150C per ISO Standards. (UL/cUL 105C) This cable has a heavy duty jacket made of cross-linked polyolefin (XLPO). It provides protection from cutting, abrasion, water, oils and chemicals. The insulation on the individual conductors is also XLPO. This combination provides maximum protection for high and low temperature applications. The selection of XLPO for the insulation and jacket material with the high strand count on the conductors adds to the flexibility factor. Tinned copper conductors are used to resist corrosion in harsh industrial environments. See Extended Story.. October 7th, 2009  - General Cleveland Ohio - Flame Retardant Demand to Reach 950 Million Pounds in 2013 US demand for flame retardants is expected to reverse its decline and is forecast to expand 2.7 percent per annum to 950 million pounds in 2013, valued at $900 million. Flame retardant advances will reflect renewed vigor in key markets such as insulated wire and cable, and construction. Other stimulants include more stringent fire codes and flammability requirements. Price increases will moderate significantly due to more normal energy and raw material costs. These and other trends, including market share and product segmentation, are presented in Flame Retardants, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm. See Extended Story.. October 7th, 2009  - General Moscow Russia - Russian steelmakers’ plans for world domination are in tatters. A spending spree on U.S. mills meant to lift their billionaire owners into the industry’s top rank is instead forcing them to renegotiate debt and write down assets. OAO Severstal, the biggest producer, may sell some of the U.S. plants it bought for almost $4 billion at fire-sale prices or seek bankruptcy for them, Uralsib Financial Corp. analyst Dmitry Smolin said. Outstanding debt at Severstal and next- largest producer Evraz Group SA almost tripled after they ramped up buying in 2006, while the cost of funding debt in Russia has risen by about 50 percent, according to data Bloomberg compiled. See Extended Story.. October 6th, 2009  - General Taipei Taiwan - Yieh Hsing cuts stainless steel wire rod prices Yieh Hsing Enterprise has announced to cut its stainless steel wire rod domestic prices by TWD 3,000 per tonne for October. The company said it will remain its price unchanged for carbon steel wire rod. Taiwan's domestic stainless steel wire rod market remained sluggish. Walsin also cut its price by TWD 5,000 to TWD 6,000 per tonne for October, and planned to stop offering price next week in order to avoid more loss. October 6th, 2009  - Personnel Nuremberg, Germany - Leoni extends the contract of its CEO The Supervisory Board of Leoni AG has, ahead of schedule, extended the contract of Management Board chairman Dr Klaus Probst for 5 years. The new contract runs until 31 December 2014; the existing contractual agreement would have expired on 30 June 2010. Probst (56) has been with the Leoni Group for 20 years and was appointed to its Management Board in 1997. He has been the Board’s chairman since July 2002. See Extended Story.. October 6th, 2009  - General London U.K. - Copper price may zoom to $7,500/t by 2010 Everybody is guessing very few, if anyone knows. One thing can be assumed, the purchasing power of the US dollar will fall so Fortis Metals Monthly newsletter that suggests that we will see a copper price of $ 7500 per ton in 2010 may not be that far off. Fortis argues that China remains important in determining copper's price direction, but its influence is starting to become diluted, with the metal market's attention now a bit more focused on the shape of Western economic recovery. The decline in Chinese imports of unwrought copper and copper products in July and August symbolises this changed sentiment. After successive monthly increases since October 2008 (apart from a minor blip in January 2009), July and August saw a reversal of that trend. See Extended Story.. October 5th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - World Bank and IMF join global attack on the dollar! This week, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have begun adding their voices to the international choir calling for a new global reserve currency. World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned that the dollar's status will be challenged and shouldn't be taken for granted. It's likely that the role of special drawing rights (SDRs) based on a basket of currencies will be discussed as an alternative to the dollar during meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Istanbul next week. Meanwhile, global governments, central banks, companies and investors continue to slash their dollar holdings. According to the IMF, in April through June of this year, the greenback's share of global currency reserves fell to the lowest level in a decade. Holdings of euros, by contrast, rose to a new all-time record high. All this adds weight and momentum to the devaluation of the dollar. See Extended Story.. October 5th, 2009  - General Baltimore Maryland - Sparrows Point once the largest steel mill in the world to cut 580 jobs or 1/3 of its present workforce. United Steelworkers Local 9477, that represents 2,500 Sparrows Point steel mill workers, said that the plant's Russian owners' proposed restructuring could affect nearly a third of the work force. Mr John Cirri president of United Steelworkers Local 9477 said that Russian steel company Severstal's restructuring proposal details different ways about 580 jobs could be affected, including reductions, retirements or transfers. Severstal bought Sparrows Point last year in an USD 810 million deal and it's working out what to do with its five US plants, which have lost significant business because of the economic downturn. Mr Cirri said that Sparrows Point is making about 8,000 tonnes of liquid iron a day and has the capacity to make 10,000 to 10,500 tonnes. He added that any decisions on job losses would have to be negotiated with the union. 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 5th, 2009  - Personnel Brussels Belgium - Mr Wolfgang Eder elected as new president of EUROFER Dr Wolfgang Eder chairman & CEO of voestalpine AG took over the presidency of EUROFER on October 1st 2009. He was elected unanimously by the board and general assembly of EUROFER succeeding Dr Karl Ulrich Köhler of ThyssenKrupp Steel AG. Mr Eder studied law at the University of Salzburg, where he received his doctorate in 1976. In 1978, he joined voestalpine to build up a new department 'Corporate Law/Mergers and Acquisitions'. His career within the company led to his appointment as a Member of the Managing Board in 1995. In 2001, he became deputy chairman of voestalpine AG and its chairman and CEO in 2004. October 3rd, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - Ontario Will there be life after the stimulus money is spent? (Editor’s weekend reflection) Not surprising September was a grim for the nation's automakers: Ford Motor today said sales were down 5.1 percent from a year earlier, Chrysler sales plunged 42 percent, and for General Motors, sales were down a staggering 45 percent. As for foreign automakers, Honda said its North American sales dropped 23.3 percent, and Toyota's sales were down 16.1 percent. In a country with more than one car per person all the government's Cash for Clunkers program did was to push buyers to make deals before the program expired. There were some glimmer of hope for the rest of the US industry as manufacturers continued to report a fairly widespread improvement in activity levels last month as the inventory de-stocking cycle ends and final demand picks up slightly. The Institute of Supply Management (ISM)'s composite business activity index (52.6) remained above the 50-point threshold dividing expanding activity from a contraction for the second month running. The survey data is consistent with signs of a modest pick up rail freight movements, and points to a cyclical turning point. Manufacturers reported widespread increases in both current production (55.7) and new orders (60.8). Firms reporting month-on-month improvements outnumbered those reporting declines by a margin of two-to-one. See Extended Story.. October 3rd, 2009  - General Des Plaines Illinois - Gepco Showcases X-Band DBM Double Braid Cable at AES 2009 Gepco, a General Cable company and industry leader in the manufacturing and distribution of professional audio and video cables, will showcase its XB201DBM X-Band(tm) microphone cable at AES 2009 (Stand 151). The XB201DBM is an extra-flexible, high bandwidth microphone cable with a double braid shield for added noise rejection - ideal for recording studio facilities or live sound venues. Based on the XB201M, the XB201DBM has a wide frequency response and exceptional RF/EMI noise rejection. These attributes are achieved by utilizing a gas/polymer dielectric that significantly reduces the capacitance, as well as cabling the pairs with a tight and precise twist. Conductors are made from finely stranded, oxygen-free copper to maximize conductivity and protect against corrosion. Shielded with a double (2 x 95%) copper braid, the XB201DBM provides exceptional noise rejection. As with all cables in the X-Band series, the XB201DBM features proprietary matte PVC compound that is both flexible and durable. See Extended Story.. October 3rd, 2009  - Acquisitions Charlotte North Carolina - Carlisle acquires Electronic Cable Specialists Carlisle Cos., which makes truck brakes, tires, wheels and construction and roofing materials, said Thursday that it has acquired Electronic Cable Specialists Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. Electronic Cable, a privately held Franklin, Wis.-based company, designs and manufactures electrical and structural products for the aviation, medical and industrial markets. Its annual sales are $50 million. Carlisle said the acquisition complements its specialty wire and cable operations and broadens its product and engineering capabilities for its commercial and defense airframe customers. October 3rd, 2009  - Acquisitions Madison Heights, Michigan - JohnDow purchases fastener company A Barberton manufacturer has grown a new division. JohnDow Industries, which makes automotive shop equipment and supplies, has purchased the assets of Dynamic Merchandising Inc. in Madison Heights, Michigan. Dynamic will become a new division for JohnDow, supplying fasteners, hardware and parts, including brake and fuel lines, wheel studs and nuts and electrical components. Sometime between now and early 2010, Dynamic's inventory and equipment will be moved to JohnDow's 110,000-square-foot production and distribution facility on Snyder Avenue. Vice president Mark Pfleeger said the company, which currently employs 26, will add an undetermined number of workers in the near future. Dynamic's new name will be Dynamic Automotive Fasteners & Supplies, and its owner, Mike Davidson, will be hired by JohnDow as the division's national sales manager. See Extended Story.. October 2nd, 2009  - Personnel Collegeville,Pennsylvania - Allied adds new outside sales representative for Pennsylvania and surrounding regions Allied Wire & Cable is proud to introduce the newest member of the Allied Family, Debbie DeBowes. Debbie is an outside sales representative based in Pennsylvania. She will handle Pennsylvania and the surrounding states of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia and Ohio. With her most recent experience as a Regional Distribution Sales Manager for Amphenol, Debbie has spent 23 years in the electronics industry. Also a Branch Manager for Allied Electronics and a Field Sales Representative for PEI Genesis, she has extensive experience with electronic components, which includes wire & cable and accessories. See Extended Story.. October 2nd, 2009  - General Dewsbury west Yorkshire U.K. - Wire rope and fittings supplier Tecni Cable, invests GBP 12,000 in 150 ton Swager from Talurit Tecni-Cable, a one-stop shop for small diameter wire rope & fittings based in Somerset, has recently invested over £12,000 on a new state of the art splicing press to significantly increase the company's wire rope assembly manufacturing capabilities by up to 40%. Tecni-Cable purchased the 150-ton Swager from Talurit - renowned for producing mechanical splicing systems for wire ropes. The new machine will enable Tecni-Cable to manufacture large lifting equipment and slings with ease, place end fittings onto crane and elevator cables and produce larger stainless architectural and marine cables for individual design or specification. The splicing press has been designed with flexibility and versatility in mind, and is able to increase the hexagon swaging (bending or shaping of cold metal) capability for stainless steel fittings of up to 10mm diameter wire rope. In addition, it can form looped and reinforced thimble eyes in up to 22mm diameter wire rope. The machine can be used horizontally, vertically, bench mounted or free standing, and an electronic foot pedal enables straightforward operation, as both hands can be free when swaging. October 2nd, 2009  - Personnel Hamburg Germany - Prof. Dr.-Ing. E. h. Wolfgang Leese appointed to the Supervisory Board of Aurubis AG Effective October 1, the Hamburg District Court appointed Prof. Dr.-Ing. E. h. Wolfgang Leese, Chief Executive Officer of Salzgitter AG, as one of the shareholders’ representatives on the Supervisory Board of Aurubis AG. Thomas Leysen, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Umicore SA/NV, Brussels, had resigned from the Supervisory Board as of 30 September 2009. Prof. Dr.-Ing. E. h. Wolfgang Leese has been CEO of the Lower Saxony steel group since 2000. His appointment to the Supervisory Board of Aurubis initially is effective until Aurubis’ next Annual General Meeting on 3 March 2010. It must then be confirmed by the Annual General Meeting until 2012. The other Supervisory Board members have already been elected until 2012. Aurubis’ Supervisory Board must be made up of representatives of the employees and the shareholders in equal measure, at the present time six of each. October 2nd, 2009  - General Mumbai India - NALCO announces new chairman Indian state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd said on Thursday that A.K. Srivastava was its new chairman and managing director following the retirement of C.R. Pradhan on Sept. 30. Srivastava was earlier the chairman and managing director of state-run Cement Corporation of India. October 1st, 2009  - General Frankfurt Germany - Deutsche Bank sees EU steel output to remain sluggish According to a report released by Deutsche Bank, production in the European Union's all important steel industry will remain sluggish in the coming years. Deutsche Bank also stressed the need for innovation in the steel making industry, in order for Europe to remain competitive against the booming rise of the Asia as a steel producer. The current situation in the steel industry makes for a grim reading. As the international financial crisis deepened in September 2008, the international steel industry spiraled into an abrupt decline. In the first-half of 2009 crude steel output in the EU 27 was down 43% on the previous year as demand plunged. European wire rod prices remain unchanged as demand remains weak as stockists and fabricators continue to run down stocks. 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.. October 1st, 2009  - General Mumbai India - Aksh Optifibre plans to raise $20 million Cable maker Aksh Optifibre today said it has received the approval from its board for raising funds up to $20 million (about Rs 95 crore) through preferential basis. The board has "approved the proposal to raise funds up to $20 million through preferential issue for its services division comprising IPTV and VoIP businesses," Aksh Optifibre said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. October 1st, 2009  - Product Releases Bracknell U.K. - 3M ACCR Launched to Support High Voltage Power Transmission 3M U.K. announced the launch of 3M ACCR, or the aluminum conductor composite reinforced conductor in the United Kingdom, as a replacement for existing electrical conductors used in overhead power transmission. The launch of 3M ACCR will be aimed primarily at supporting 110-400kV-power transmission nationwide. 3M ACCR features advanced multi-strand aluminum composite core design. The conductor weighs just half as much as steel core conductors and is able to continuously handle 210 degrees Celsius with considerably less sag than traditional conductors, 3M officials said. Developed with the support of the US Department of Energy and with early contributions by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, 3M ACCR conductor contains wires and each core wire contains many thousands of very high-strength aluminum oxide fibers. See Extended Story.. September 30th, 2009  - General Toronto Ontario - Unusually rapid recovery in industrial metal prices. Copper prices were little changed in New York and fell on the London Metal Exchange as a stronger dollar curbed demand from investors who buy commodities as a hedge against inflation. A "modest" rise in commodity prices this August is yet another a signal that the global economy is beginning to revive from the ravages of the recession, according to Scotiabank's commodity price index. The bank said Tuesday its gauge of price trends in 32 of Canada's major exports was up 3.5 per cent in August, after falling in July, with base metal prices returning to profitable levels as demand picked up from China and India. Scotiabank noted that its index hit a bottom that was higher than normal, compared with previous economic downturns, citing "an unusually rapid recovery in industrial metal prices." See Extended Story.. September 30th, 2009  - General Highland Heights Kentucky - Industryweek Magazine honors General Cable plants Three of General Cable Corp.’s North American manufacturing facilities have been selected as finalists in INDUSTRYWEEK magazine’s 20th annual Best Plants competition. The company’s plants in Altoona, Pa.; Piedras Negras, Mexico; and Franklin, Mass., each received the recognition. Mark Thackeray, senior vice president for North American operations, said General Cable’s lean manufacturing and Six-Sigma initiatives have continued to drive significant improvements throughout the company. The competition covers practices and performance in a number of categories, including manufacturing operations and flexibility, environmental and safety programs, inventory management, productivity, quality and use of technology. INDUSTRYWEEK will select 10 winners among the 20 finalists. They’ll be announced in the January issue. General Cable has had 13 plants selected as finalists since 2001. Five have been selected as Top 10 plants: Altoona in 2003; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in 2005; Tetla, Tlaxcala, Mexico, in 2006; Indianapolis, in 2007; and Manchester, N.H., in 2008. Highland Heights-based General Cable makes cable and wire products for energy, industrial, specialty and communications markets. It’s nearest manufacturing plant is in Lawrenceburg, Ky. September 30th, 2009  - General Bucharest Romania - Cord Buzau to invest EUR 15million in copper wire unit. The management of Cord Buzau, recently taken over by investment fund Donau Finanz from local investors, will consult the shareholders on starting a EUR 15mn investment project for a copper wire unit production unit and another unit aimed at processing the iron wires. Cord has traditionally produced steel wires but once the demand shrunk starting last fall, the company increased its production of copper wires. September 30th, 2009  - Product Releases Claremont, North Carolina - Draka unveils 300-lb drop cable with bend-insensitive fiber Draka Communications – Americas announces an extension to its line of ezPREP Central Loose Tube fiber optic drop cables by launching a new 300 lb. tensile rated design with a choice of three different levels of bend insensitive fiber. In September 2009, Draka and Tyco held a joint national webinar through OSP Magazine to educate the market on smaller and lighter outdoor cables and the associated hardware that would soon be available. These products are made possible in large part due to bend insensitive fibers and are an important part of the market’s desire to install environmentally friendly telecommunications networks. See Extended Story.. September 29th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese domestic rebar prices have more room for adjustment Although Chinese steel market usually starts its busy season in September Chinese steel manufacturers faced opposite market conditions his time, wherein the prices continued to decline primarily due to the high inventories. Large steel enterprises in China recently lowered their EXworks price for rebars. For example, Hebei Iron & Steel Group reduced the rebar price by 10%. Specifically, rebars in 16mm to 25mm are now priced at CNY 3550 per tonne. At the same time, the wire rod price fell by CNY 350 per tonne and price of high speed wire rod 6.5mm is now quoted at CNY 3400 per tonne. But, these are not the lowest levels in 2009 as rebar price in Shanghai dropped to about CNY 3150 per tonne in the first week of April Thus hypothetically there is room for further reduction by about CNY 400 per tonne or say USD 60 per tonne. See Extended Story.. September 29th, 2009  - General Pueblo Colorado - Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel.wins Bekaert rod supplier award Things are changing at the former Rockefellers CF&I mill known for poor labor relations. Today they're popping open the champagne at Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel, and a new labor deal isn't the lone reason. The mill recently won top supplier honors from one of its biggest clients. Global wire products maker Bekaert, based in Belgium, fashions wire for use in a host of everyday products ranging from tires to cement-strengthening steel fibers. A quarter of all tires in the world run on Bekaert steel cord. The company even makes the wire for champagne corks. One of its key suppliers is the Pueblo mill. The mill's rod-and-bar unit cranks out huge rolls of "wire rod" - the basic stock used in wire making, delivered in giant coils - for shipment by truck to Bekaert plants in Arkansas and Georgia. Recently Bekaert executives from Paris and Atlanta traveled to Pueblo to present the mill the company's bi-annual "Rod Supplier Award." The event also was attended by local civic leaders. The supplier award represents a major achievement. "Our target for years has been to be recognized as a world-class mill, and this solidifies that," mill operations director George Schleining said of the Bekaert award. Among those in attendance for the presentation of the Bekaert Rod Supplier Award to Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel (left to right): Vern Bagley, rod products regional sales manager; Max Bellino, rod-and-bar mill manager; Nancy Laurie of Atlanta, North American purchasing director for Bekaert; Rob Simon, steel mill general manager; Philippe Armengaud of Paris, chief purchasing officer for Bekaert; Dave Romero, rod-and-bar mill technical services engineer; Bill Groom, director of rod-and-bar products; and Gary Cortese, rod-and-bar products sales representative. September 29th, 2009  - General Johannesburg South Africa - ArcelorMittal SA dismisses pollution claims AP via SteelGuru reports that ArcelorMittal SA has dismissed allegations of severe environmental damage and unethical business practices at the mill. In 2002, the company took over the 67 year old plant that residents and environmental groups say has polluted their lives. Company officials acknowledge there is air and water pollution but say that emissions comply with legislation and that clean up operations are under way. They also say there are regular meetings with communities to address their concerns. Ms Nku Nyembezi Heita CEO of ArcelorMittal SA was quick to distance the company from any damage caused by activities of the mill before the new management took over. She acknowledged that Steel Valley is an emotional issue but said there are no immediate plans to rehabilitate the land. She added that "Where we have caused harm, our duty is to take responsibility." See Extended Story.. September 29th, 2009  - General London U.K. - TATA Corus increases engineering steels product prices Corus announced an increase in prices on engineering steels, wire rod, bar and narrow strip. Apparent demand has improved from recent low levels as destocking has come to an end after a period during which consumption was hard hit by the economic downturn. On domestic and overseas deliveries of these products from October 1st 2009, Corus will increase base prices and put into effect revisions to prices for size extras, extra processing and services. The size of increase will be dependent upon product and pricing structure and will be discussed individually with customers. The base price rise range will start at EUR 50 per tonne and go up to EUR 200 per tonne in the case of some high value steels. Mr Peter Hogg GM of Corus Specialty Steels said that "The reductions in scrap and alloy surcharges as commodity prices dropped over the last 12 months have provided real value to customers at a difficult time in the market. The engineering steels sector worldwide has witnessed significant price erosion due to the weak market conditions and the improved conditions now support price corrections taking place." September 28th, 2009  - General New York City - Bankruptcy judge gives final approval of Delphi’s $250 million credit facility U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain on Tuesday gave final approval to the use of the credit facility, which will be provided by Delphi Corp.’s former parent General Motors Corp.The Troy, Mich.-based auto supplier will use the funding to keep itself going until the expected sale of some of its assets to an affiliate of private equity firm Platinum Equity or another party. If successful, the company could emerge from bankruptcy protection after nearly four years of court oversight as early as this summer. GM will provide $2 billion to help finance the deal. It also will acquire some of Delphi’s North American plants. September 28th, 2009  - General Taipei Taiwan - Probe into alleged THSRC profiteering intensifies A team of six Taipei prosecutors have seized documents at the Bureau of High Speed Rail and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) over the past two days as they probe alleged profiteering in land deals related to the rail system's construction. Hou Ming-huang, the chief prosecutor of the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, launched the investigation in January after he discovered abnormal fund flows at THSRC that may have been used to speculate on transactions of land surrounding high speed rail stations. According to the office, the team collected many documents related to THSRC's land transactions and construction contracts, including letters exchanged between the company and local governments and contractors. Prosecutors will require time to read and analyze the documents before they begin to interview people involved in the deals, the office said. THSRC's five original principal shareholders -- Continental Engineering Corp., Pacific Electric Wire & Cable, Teco Electric and Machinery, the Evergreen Group, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. -- are suspected of making illicit profits while contracting out the construction projects, the office said. See Extended Story.. September 28th, 2009  - General Tel Aviv Israel - Hod Metal cuts production due to lack of scrap Steelguru reports that Israel's leading producer and processor of reinforcing steel and steel wire products Hod Metal Products and Manufacturing Company Limited also known as Hod Assaf Industries Limited has cut its rebar production due to the lack of scrap in the local Israeli market. Production has been cut at the company's rolling mill located in the south of Israel. The Israeli producer's production cut is a consequence of the high price levels of scrap that the local market in Israel cannot afford as a result of which the scrap is sold to Turkey instead. See Extended Story.. September 28th, 2009  - General Cardiff Wales - Ex-steelworkers to rally for pensions compensation at Labour conference Former steelworkers battling for their pensions take their Echo-backed fight to the Labour Party Conference in Brighton next week. Former Allied Steel and Wire staff will call on the Government to speed up compensation packages. Hundreds of ex-employees at the Tremorfa site saw their pensions wiped out in 2002 and were left disappointed by pay-out delays. Campaigner John Benson said: “The campaign has put so much pressure on the UK Government that it made major concessions in the December 2007 announcement, but those concessions fell a substantial way short of what we have been campaigning for all these years.” Two years ago, then work and pensions secretary Peter Hain exclusively promised the Echo he would boost the Financial Assistance Scheme. But campaigners are still struggling for what they believe they are owed and are set to hold a noisy rally as Labour MPs, AMs and delegates arrive at the seaside for the conference on Tuesday. Editor’s note: As the global industrial realignment runs its course obligations to former employees takes second place to secured creditors. I believe that company funded pensions is a relic of the past but since they still exist government should put in place legislation that puts salaries and earned benefit obligations ahead of all other creditors. September 26th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - International capital flow off 82% since peak in 2007. A new report by the McKinsey Global Institute highlights the impact of the global financial crisis on global capital flows. The global financial crisis and worldwide recession abruptly halted nearly three decades of expansion for international capital markets. From 1980 through 2007, the world’s financial assets—including equities, private and public debt, and bank deposits—nearly quadrupled in size relative to global GDP. Global capital flows similarly surged. But the upheaval in financial markets in late 2008 broke this trend. The total value of the world’s financial assets fell by $16 trillion last year, to $178 trillion, the largest setback on record. One of the most striking consequences of the financial crisis was a steep drop-off in cross-border capital flows, which include foreign direct investment (FDI), purchases and sales of foreign equities and debt securities, and cross-border lending and deposits. These capital flows fell 82 percent, to just $1.9 trillion, from $10.5 trillion in 2007. (A sharp drop in cross-border lending was the biggest reason capital flows dried up.) The trend appears to have continued in the first quarter of 2009, with global capital flows falling to an estimated $1.5 trillion on an annualized basis. September 26th, 2009  - General Tokyo Japan - Japan’s Copper Alloy output may fall to 34-Year low Japan’s output of copper and copper alloy fabricated products may decline by 11.5 percent this fiscal year to the lowest in 34 years, according to the Japan Copper and Brass Association. Production for the year that began in April is forecast to drop to 713,930 metric tons from 806,999 tons the previous year, the association said today, citing preliminary data. That would be the lowest level since 1975, when the country produced 574,000 tons. Output dropped 21 percent to 55,700 tons in August from a year earlier, the smallest decline since November, the data showed. As earlier reported Japan’s August copper cable shipments down 17.7 percent yr/yrsee wirenews September 18th, 2009 See Extended Story.. September 26th, 2009  - General Moscow Russia - RUSAL repays $85.9 million Alfa debt after bankruptcy threat Indebted Russian magnate Oleg Deripaska's aluminium company said on Thursday it repaid debts worth $85.9 million to Alfa-Bank after the private lender threatened to pursue the bankruptcy of two RUSAL units. See also wirenews September 22nd, 2009 Rusal trying to restructure $7.4 billion debt after LIA talks fail UC RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium producer, said in a statement it had spoken to its major creditors and agreed to pay the money to Alfa-Bank to soothe a long-running feud over debts between Deripaska and Alfa's principal owner, Mikhail Fridman. "Alfa-Bank welcomes this step by UC RUSAL and we hope that we can reach constructive and mutually acceptable resolutions on other issues," the bank's deputy chief executive, Vladimir Tatarchuk, said in a statement confirming receipt of payments. Deripaska, rated Russia's richest man by Forbes magazine before the financial crisis struck last year, is in protracted talks with Russian and international lenders to restructure the debts faced by his various companies. The resolution of his various disputes with Alfa could prove crucial in his attempts to keep his industrial empire intact. See Extended Story.. September 25th, 2009  - General Brantford Ontario - Pittsburgh steels for G20 protests Activists gave an angry welcome for leaders of the G20 economies when they arrived in Pittsburgh Thursday, with anarchist factions marching on the summit venue. "The city has bought a thousand canisters of tear gas. That's something people are concerned about, like what to do if they're gassed," Noah Williams, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project told AFP. The world leaders at the G20 meeting were meanwhile closing in on a statement calling for new restraints on banker pay, but would not endorse specific monetary caps, a deal-breaker for the United States. Maybe the world leaders should instead focus on what to do with the millions of American and European workers that have been financially displaced by globalization. The trillion dollars spent to support ailing car plants and bailout banks is hardly going to change the fundamentals. September 25th, 2009  - General Vienna Austria - Voestalpine unveils new structure for special steel division The supervisory board of voestalpine AG has agreed for extensive restructuring of the special steel division Bohler Uddeholm AG, which will focus the division much more strongly on its key area as a highly specialized, global niche supplier of special steel. Aim of restructuring is to focus the Special Steel Division more strongly on its key areas of High Performance Metals and Special Forgings in addition to reducing management complexity. Welding Consumables area will be assigned to the Railway Systems Division. Precision Strip area will become part of the Profile form Division. As per announcement “The companies of the High Performance Metals and Special Forgings areas will be combined under their own holding company and will form the future Special Steel Division in the voestalpine Group. Bohler Uddeholm AG remains this holding company. The Welding Consumables area will be assigned to the Railway Systems Division as an independent area because Welding Consumables is an excellent complement to this division’s product range. The Precision Strip area will become part of the Profile form Division.” See Extended Story.. September 25th, 2009  - General Jiayuguan, Gansu China - Jiuquan Steel to see 15,000 tons cut due to wire rod line repair Jiuquan Iron&Steel, the parent company of Jiagang Hongxing, will repair a wire rod production line starting from September 28, which will last for nine days. The repair is estimated to decrease its output by 15,000 tons. No shortages are anticipated since local market is also supplied by Anshan Iron and Steel Chongqing Iron and Steel and Wuhan Iron & Steel September 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - International rebar and wire rod demand is weak and prices remains low in all markets International debar markets are sluggish and prices remain low. However, the price of scrap and other input raw material is still strong, squeezing margins significantly. Turkey's steelmills have had to reduce both production and prices, in the past two weeks. Mills say export prices have been maintained at US$500-510 per ton (CFR), but the deals are few, there are few shipments to Dubai, Latin America and Africa. Recently, Turkey tried to raise the offer and the latest quotation of debar for October shipment to Persian Gulf was US$520 per ton (CFR), but quotes were rejected. The main reason is that local debar inventory is still higher, and it is expected that the dealers' stockpiles will take three or four weeks to clear off, after that, they will return to market to supplementary the stock. See Extended Story.. September 24th, 2009  - General Seoul, South Korea - America Superconductor and LS+Cable form strategic business alliance. American Superconductor Corporation, a global energy technologies company, and LS Cable Ltd. (LS Cable) formed a strategic alliance Wednesday to advance commercial sales of superconductor cables. Under the alliance, LS Cable and AMSC will work collaboratively to deploy at least 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of superconductor power cables in commercial power grids over the next five years. LS Cable’s superconductor cable systems will utilize AMSC’s proprietary second generation (2G) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire, branded as 344 superconductors. This strategic alliance ensures that LS Cable will have an ongoing supply of high-quality HTS wire from AMSC. 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. See Extended Story.. September 24th, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - Steel imports decline in August preliminary figures show The American Iron and Steel institute reported that US total steel imports were 855000 tonnes. This includes 786,000 tonnes of finished steel (down 14% and 12% respectively versus July data). These are the lowest monthly import figures in 2009 and down 51% and 44% respectively versus August 2008 For full report use this link September 24th, 2009  - Acquisitions Carrollton Georgia - Southwire broadens product offering with Maxis acquisition Southwire Company today completed its acquisition of the assets of Phoenix, AZ based Maxis LLC. Founded by electrical contractors nearly 8 years ago, Maxis is known for applying leading-edge technology and years of practical experience to the development of tools and equipment used in the installation and management of electrical wire and cable products. See Extended Story.. September 23rd, 2009  - General Taipei Taiwan - Ex-Pacific chair strikes deal to repay overdue tax The Shihlin branch of the Administration Enforcement Agency decided yesterday not to take former chairman Sun Dao-cun of the Pacific Electrical Wire & Cable Co. into custody after the business magnate paid NT$100 million in owed tax and promised to pay up the rest within a period of six months. Sun made a surprise visit to the branch under the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in early morning in a bid to settle the case concerning his overdue taxes of more than NT$295.4 million. After paying up NT$100 million, Sun sought to reach a deal of repaying the remainder in monthly installments for a period of 18 months. But he eventually accepted the deal of clearing the debt in six months at the insistence of the law enforcement officials. The officials said they have no reason to place Sun into custody after he provided a guarantor ensuring that the owed sum will be repaid. There were media reports identifying Sun's daughter, Aimee Sun, as the guarantor. Officials declined to reveal the name of the guarantor, but said identity will be revealed only if Sun failed to honor his repayment promise. September 23rd, 2009  - General Johannesburg South Africa - Price fixing denied The Competition Commission’s case against 12 wire manufacturers, which stand accused of running a national cartel, is set to focus on how smaller players have arranged themselves into a coalition. Two weeks ago the Competition Commission referred a case against four South African steel manufacturers to the Competition Tribunal. The companies: ArcelorMittal South Africa, Cape Gate, Cape Town Iron & Steel and Scaw South Africa are alleged to have been running a cartel for almost 10 years. This was followed by the commission’s referral to the tribunal last week of 12 wire manufacturers which stand accused of running a national cartel between 2001 and 2008. The two cases appear to be linked, with Scaw and its subsidiary, Consolidated Wire Industries (CWI), having triggered the two cases last July by coming forward to blow the whistle on the cartels in exchange for corporate leniency, which will see them avoid prosecution. Central to the commission’s case against the wire manufacturers is the fact that 10 of the 12 accused have Rick Allen as a director or a “substantial shareholder”. 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 23rd, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Speculators and weak dollar continue to drive copper upwards despite rising inventories and slow industrial demand The dollar's return to one-year lows saw copper futures rallying as much as 3 percent on Tuesday, before worries over high inventories of the base metal led the market to settle off the session's highs. Copper for December delivery HGZ9 ended up 2 percent, or 5.90 cents, at $2.8645 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. The intraday peak was $2.8920, up 3 percent from Monday's close. Copper for three month delivery MCU3 on the London Metal Exchange ended at $6,270 a tonne from $6,190 at the close on Monday. In the previous session, the metal, used in power and construction, hit a 2-1/2 week low at $6,050. See Extended Story.. September 22nd, 2009  - Press Releases Wrexham, United Kingdom - SAP’s Crystal Reports enhances Cable Design Cimteq, the supplier of the cable design software CableBuilder, signed a partnership agreement with SAP to turbo-boost their software’s ability to generate professional reports, manufacturing instructions and on-line catalogues. CableBuilder the popular Cable Design software that is used by wire and cable manufacturers worldwide for design, quotations, costing, datasheets, etc. now contains an integrated reporting engine in the form of Crystal Reports. See Extended Story.. September 22nd, 2009  - Closures Paris France - Nexans axes 400 jobs, shuts Chauny production unit Nexans SA, the world's biggest cable maker, said last week it will shed some 400 jobs in France and shut a production unit in a move to reorganize its activities, hard hit by the economic crisis. The group aims to reduce the activities of Nexans France and Nexans Copper France to cap costs. "This project aims to restore their competitiveness and ensure their future in a market... hard hit by the economic crisis," the company said in a statement. As part of the project, 387 layoffs will take place in the production units of Clichy (Paris), Fumay (eastern France), Jeumont (northern France), Lyon (southeast France) Mehun (central France) and the Chauny production unit in Northern France which will be closed. Some 50 jobs will also be created in Nexans France and Nexans Copper France. See Extended Story.. September 22nd, 2009  - Mergers Amsterdam The Netherlands - Prysmian and Draka calls off takeover talks Cable maker Prysmian called off talks to take over Dutch peer Draka Holding NV . In brief, separate statements late on Thursday September 10, Prysmian and Draka said they could not reach agreement on the main terms and conditions. Prysmian said: With reference to the press release issued on 29 June 2009, the Board of Directors of Prysmian S.p.A. informs that the discussions with Draka Holding N.V. in relation to the possible combination between the two companies, to be implemented through a share per share cross-border statutory merger with Prysmian S.p.A. as surviving entity, have been terminated as the parties could not reach an agreement on the terms and conditions of the transaction. Prysmian S.p.A., consistently with its growth strategy, will continue to consider other possible opportunities. Draka Holding N.V. said: Further to our press release of 29 June 2009, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board of Draka Holding N.V. (‘Draka’) hereby inform that the discussions on a possible combination with Prysmian S.p.A. (‘Prysmian’), to be implemented through a share for share cross-border statutory merger with Prysmian as surviving entity, have been terminated. The parties could not reach agreement on the main terms and the conditions of the proposed merger. See Extended Story.. September 22nd, 2009  - General Donghae, Gangwon Province Korea - LS Cable aims to top subsea cable sales LS Cable, the world's No. 3 cable manufacturing firm, aims to achieve upwards of 1 trillion won in sales of subsea cables in 2015 to top the global market now dominated by three European companies, its chief executive said. "We are targeting 700 billion won to 1 trillion won in revenue from subsea cable sales in 2015, and will become the global No. 1 firm in the market that year," CEO said Son Jong-ho in a meeting with reporters at the company's plant in Donghae City, Gangwon Province, last Friday. In order to achieve the goal, the company earlier this month started production of submarine cables at the 180 billion won ($148.8 million) plant, the first of its kind in Korea, and the fourth in the world. "A revenue of 700 billion won would give the company about a 35 percent share in the global subsea cable market," Son said. See Extended Story.. September 22nd, 2009  - General Moscow Russia - Rusal trying to restructure $7.4 billion debt after LIA talks fail RusAl, the world’s largest aluminium producer, is racing to complete debt restructuring plans after talks with the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and other sovereign wealth funds failed, The Times of London reports. RusAl which is controlled by Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch, and which is estimated to have been worth as much as $30 billion at the height of the commodities boom has to restructure about $7.4 billion (£4.5 billion) worth of debt to foreign banks. See Extended Story.. September 21st, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Steel wire rod prices move sideways Steel wire rod prices has firmed up of late in North America but demand for low carbon grades is described as "lackluster" at best and buyers are far from interested in boosting sales prices much above the $531 price average in August. In fact, some buyers say the market price were closer to $525 this past week. "It's out there, but it's wavering a little bit," a rod buyer told the Steel Business Briefing online newsletter in regards to the pricing moves. Apparently, the shutdown of rod mills in New Jersey and South Carolina has triggered the attempted price hike by Gerdau Ameristeel, Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel and Charter Steel, among others. However, the market is weak and imports are increasing: After averaging 45,000 tons/month of low-carbon and high-carbon rod in the first seven months of this year, they came in around 75,000 tons in August, based on import license applications. Steel Business Briefing suggests that "a similar level is expected this month and falling home market prices in China could prompt an even bigger increase of imports later in this year. See Extended Story.. September 21st, 2009  - General Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - Temporary layoff notices issued at General Cable Temporary layoff notices have been issued to workers at the General Cable’s Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada Energy Cables manufacturing facility The 36 workers were notified of the layoffs early Thursday morning, said the plant’s manager, Ray Funke. He said the temporary layoffs will take effect Nov. 16 and are anticipated to last for 90 days. “The communication was that it was going to be a lights-out shutdown at the plant for 90 days.” Funke said the reason for the shutdown is due to a continuing decline in the market the Moose Jaw plant serves. The multi-national company that owns the plant, which manufactures fibre optic wire and cable for energy, saw a $225 million decline in sales during its second quarter. Funke said the plant in Moose Jaw is not the first in North America to feel the pains of the recession. “The United States and to a lesser extent Canada have been experiencing a decline in demand for almost a full calendar year.” He said there have been plants in the U.S. that were temporarily closed earlier in the year. As well, a plant in Quebec received its 90-day shutdown notices simultaneously to the plant in Moose Jaw. “So, this has been shared throughout our entire energy team. Moose Jaw is not the only team affected; every plant been affected by this market downturn.” September 21st, 2009  - General Tokyo Japan - Japanese companies turn optimistic. Japan’s manufacturers turned optimistic for the first time in almost two years and demand for services rose for a second month in July as the world’s second- largest economy emerged from its deepest postwar recession. Tatsuta Electric Wire & Cable Co. raised its first-half net income outlook by a quarter to 250 million yen, citing a recovery in electronics materials demand. While some companies are optimistic, the rebound in global demand hasn’t spurred capital investment. Machinery orders, a key gauge of outlays of plant and equipment, slid to a record low in July and companies including Toyota Motor Corp. are shutting assembly lines paring spending plans. September 21st, 2009  - General Manchester, New Hampshire - Hitachi Cable Manchester utilizes Corning's OM4 fiber Hitachi Cable Manchester (HCM) continues to be a leader in fiber optic cable development. With the approval of EIA/TIA 492AAAD grade multimode fiber, enhanced versions of OM3 50 µm optical fiber will now carry the designation of OM4. Though frequently used in the past as the defacto nomenclature for enhanced OM3 glass, the OM4 designation, which identifies 50-micron glass capable of 10 gigabit Ethernet out to 550 meters, will more clearly identify cable performance levels. HCM uses Corning optical glass for all its standard products. All HCM fiber optic cable constructions will be available with Corning's OM4 fiber optic glass. The OM1, OM2 and OM3 fiber nomenclature originated in the ISO / IEC-11801, second edition standard and is presently being adopted into TIA and other standards. It is expected that the OM4 term will be used in upcoming releases of ISO / IEC documents.

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