The Ducab Group announced that it has been awarded the full EPC (engineering, procurement & contracting) contract to supply and install 400 kV cables and accessories to link Al Dhafra—which when operational will be the world’s largest solar plant in Abu Dhabi—with the Emirate’s main TRANSCO transmission grid (Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company) through its specialised division, Ducab HV.
A press release said that the announcement was made by Ducab Group CEO Mohammad Almutawa at the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX). “We are proud that Ducab is assisting the nation in achieving its ‘Energy Strategy 2050’.” The collaborative project partnership includes testing and commissioning, and with the order, Ducab now supplies cables for the three largest solar projects in the UAE.
Ducab has supplied its custom-made SolarBICC cables to Abu Dhabi’s Shams 1 project and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, two of the largest solar projects in the world. “As a champion of the “Made in the UAE” initiative, Ducab not only supplies solutions to leading power projects in the UAE but also supports products and counterparts in auxiliary industries to deepen the country’s industrial capabilities,” the release said. Ducab works with partners across the UAE industrial value chain, such as EGA, KIZAD, and Borouge, while acquiring many of its requirements from UAE-based organizations.
The Al Dhafra project supports the country’s Energy Strategy 2050’s goals that seek to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix from 25% to 50% by 2050. The facility will deploy technologically advanced bifacial solar panels that deliver electricity at the highest efficiency levels by using both the front and back of panels. The facility will have a capacity of two gigawatts and supply power to Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC).
When fully operational, the release said, Al Dhafra will be the world’s largest single-site solar power plant, mitigating 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 annually and using 3.5 million solar panels to generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes across the UAE.
Hitachi Metals Limited (HML) has agreed to an acquisition offer—from a consortium led by Bain Capital, a private equity firm—that includes Hitachi Cable America (HCA).
A statement from HCA said that the Bain-led consortium “recognizes HML’s R&D leadership, deep relationships with industry-leading customers, and technological superiority in each of its business units. Bain plans to support the company by enhancing our competitiveness in high-growth sectors.” No plant closures are expected, and HCA “will remain a U.S. company.”
The deal was described as a positive step for HCA, which has continued to invest in manufacturing capabilities, machinery, advanced quality control techniques, R&D (see p. 38), technical expertise and capacity expansions. “We stand by our commitment to manufacturing premium products, and the strong financial profile backing of Bain Consortium will empower us to accelerate investment efforts.”
HCA includes three divisions: the Performance Cable Systems & Materials Division, with 240 employees; the Automotive Products Division, with 100 employees; and the High Performance Medical Solutions Division, which has 180 employees. The Performance Cable division’s 300,000-sq-ft plant in Manchester, New Hampshire, designs and produces advanced copper and fiber optic based communication cable.
The agreement will see a branding away from the HCA name on Jan. 4, 2023, into Proterial Cable America, a portmanteau of the words “professional” and “material.”
Sweden’s Hexatronic Group AB (Hexatronic) has signed a binding asset purchase agreement to acquire all business activities of Rochester Cable from TE Connectivity (TE).
Per an announcement issued by Hexatronic, it will pay $55 million to acquire Rochester Cable, a U.S. designer and manufacturer of cables based in Culpeper, Virginia. The company has 130 employees and a production site of some 40,000 sq m. The deal, expected to close by the end of next March, will include all the land and buildings for the operations.
The agreement broadens Hexatronic’s offering within fiber optic submarine communication cables to include dynamic working cables that can transmit electrical signals and power in addition to transmitting optical signals. Rochester Cable’s electro-optical cables for operation in harsh environments are highly engineered to meet specific requirements in demanding industries such as oil and gas, sensing, defense, oceanographic and subsea applications. Product sales are mainly in the U.S. but also in the EMEA and APAC regions.
Over the last decade, TE significantly invested in increasing capacity, and the production facility provides many possibilities for further growth. The acquisition will include the land and buildings of the production sites and office buildings. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close no later than March 31, 2023.
“We are happy to have reached an agreement with TE Connectivity ... (as) Rochester Cable is uniquely positioned with its know-how and application expertise, which has been developed as a market leader for decades,” said Hexatronic Group CEO Henrik Larsson Lyon.
Hexatronic has been a supplier of fiber optic submarine communication cables since the 1990s. Combining the know-how, geographical footprint, and product portfolio of Rochester Cable in the U.S. and Hexatronic submarine business in Sweden provides exciting opportunities for the future,” said Hexatronic Group CEO Henrik Larsson Lyon.
Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group (BBRG) announced plans to close their manufacturing plant in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to improve the business portfolio of the European rope activities.
A press release said that Bekaert has decided to consolidate the BBRG’s European ropes manufacturing platform in the U.K. and phase out the production activities in Gelsenkirchen by the end of 2023. The business portfolio of the European rope activities will further be improved by exiting lower-margin market segments and focusing on the segments with growth perspectives and higher value creation potential.
The competitive position of the Gelsenkirchen plant has been under pressure and the current business level no longer provides the ability to generate a financially sustainable performance. The decision to close the loss-making plant will affect 77 employees.
All European steel rope manufacturing activities will be centralized in the Doncaster and Newcastle production sites to ensure long-term competitiveness by better leveraging efficiencies and by improving the business portfolio. “The management regrets the personal consequences of the restructuring decisions and will diligently evaluate the options to mitigate the social impact for the affected employees,” the release said.
Bridon-Bekaert The Ropes Group (BBRG), was formed in 2016 by the addition of Bridon Group to Bekaert’s steel ropes and advanced cords businesses. The entity has a global footprint that includes 16 manufacturing locations (including Gelsenkirchen), providing strong positions in the U.S. and Europe, Latin America, Canada and Australia.
LS Cable & System announced on Oct. 20 that it has won a cable contract valued at approximately $166 million to supply the Boreas wind farm in the North Sea of the U.K., the largest ever order from Europe received by a South Korean cable company.
Per the announcement, the Boreas offshore wind farm is being developed by Sweden’s state-owned power company Vattenfall, near Norfolk in the United Kingdom. When completed in 2026, it will produce about 1.3 GW of electric power, equivalent to one nuclear power plant.
LS Cable & System will supply 320 kV ultra-high voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine and underground cables for the wind farm. It will mark the company’s first supply of HVDC cables that use cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) as an insulating material.
XLPE cables are becoming the mainstream in renewable energy projects in Europe and North America due to their convenient installation and connection and easy maintenance. However, so far, only a few companies have succeeded in developing them. The latest order is expected to help LS Cable & System accelerate its penetration of the XLPE cable market. The company plans to expedite its market expansion in Europe as well as North America and Asia where demand for XLPE cables is growing rapidly.
Interwire Call for Papers
The WAI is seeking papers for Interwire 2023. Accepted papers will be presented at the event, to be held May 9-11 at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Papers are sought that address advances in the industry that fall under: Industry 4.0 trends, wire and cable- making strategies, workforce insights and technical progress in all sectors. Abstracts are due Nov. 18, 2022, notice of acceptance is Dec. 2, 2022, and manuscripts are due March 3, 2023.
Abstracts can be submitted at https://goo.gl/svxgvq. Accepted authors receive a one-year WAI membership and complimentary conference registration.
Had any personnel changes the last few years? It’s a rare company that hasn’t either lost or added staff during the Covid period, and it’s not a bad idea to make sure that the industry knows who your key people are.
This is an ideal time to take a minute to look at the 2022 edition of the Wire Journal International Reference Guide and see whether you need to make some updates. Companies can now either enter or update their company profiles for the 2023 edition of the Wire Journal International Reference Guide and WAI’s online Industry Search.
New and updated entries will be accepted until Nov. 30, 2022, for the printed publication. An instructional video on submitting a free listing is at wirenet.org: (www.wirenet.org/industry-search-instructional-video).
The WJI Reference Guide lists contact information for international manufacturers and suppliers to the wire and cable industry. Company listings include more than 1,100 product types.
With Interwire 2023 six months away, the exhibit space at the Georgia World Congress Center has been expanded by 2,000 sq ft to 82,000 sq ft.
A modest floor plan extension is likely in early November, explained WAI Sales Director Shannon Timme. At this time, more than 200 exhibiting companies are now represented on the show floor. It has been an extremely busy period for the industry as well as for the Association as it too tries to service customers, she said.
“The industry has seen a significant amount of role changes and retirements within the last two years,” Timme said. These company personnel changes have largely attributed to the delay in messaging and communications with some companies who have yet to renew for exhibit space.
The last staging of Interwire at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta saw 3,514 wire and cable industry professionals representing 39 states and 47 countries in attendance. More than 400 manufacturing facilities had at least one representative at the event, and WAI’s day-long Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing course drew a record 161 attendees. More details will be presented in future issues, including at the official event website, www.interwire23.com.
The Southeast Chapter enjoyed a picture-perfect day on Sept. 25 at the Rock Barn Country Club in Conover, North Carolina, but it had a weighty start.
Sikora’s John Dognazzi, who emceed the event, started with a moment of silence in memory of Chapter President Christopher Shannon McGill, a plant manager at Southwire’s factory in Huntersville, North Carolina, who died June 2 at age 52 from brain cancer. There was a moment of silence before Dognazi, who is serving as interim chapter president for the remainder of this year, started the tournament.
The field of 100 players found the course in very good shape, and golfers enjoyed the pace. The winning CommScope team of Chris Giddings, Brian Deese, Cody Lail and Paul McConnell shot an impressive 56 (15 under par) to walk away with top honors. The overall feel was so good that the Board plans to lock in a return to the Rock Barn course next year. The other big winner was the chapter’s Scholarship Program, which earlier this year issued four $1,800 scholarships.
Premium sponsors for the golf tourney were Carris Reels, Inc.; Chroma Color Corporation; Commission Brokers, Inc.; Henderson Sales & Service Inc.; The MGS Group; Process Control; Sikora; Sonoco Reels; Teknikor; and Wire & Plastic Machinery. Hole sponsors were: Accel International; Carris Reels Inc.; Chase Corp.; Chroma Color Corporation; Gateway Recovery Inc.; Gem Gravure Co., Inc.; GEON; M. Holland; Magnum Mfg. LLC; Process Control; Sonoco Plastics; Sonoco Reels; Teknikor; and Wire & Plastic Machinery.
The 18th annual Ohio Valley Chapter Educational and Sporting event was one for trying something different and it seems to have worked. With the program increasing in popularity, the OVC board decided to flip the sporting event with the educational portion for a smoother program. On top of that, we added an unsanctioned event for those who prefer firing ranges to fairways.
In a first-ever adjustment, while golfers were busy at the Kennsington Golf Club, a troupe led by former enlisted Marine Brennan Mai of Hobart Brothers rode a battlewagon over to On Target Outfitters (OTO) for some target practice. The sharpshooters matched skills with OTO pro and retired police officer Jeff Solic. Using a variety of firearms, they became the first participants of what we hope will someday become a sanctioned OVC event.
While sharpshooters were piercing targets, the players back at the golf course were busy sinking eagles. The winning team stroked in three eagles, coupled with 10 birdies for an OVC course record score of 16 under par. The inadvertently stacked team of Tom Kern of Condat, Paul Douwes of Advaris and Brett Hambleton of Select Arc, dominated what is typically a very difficult course. Perhaps the most impressive eagle of the day was scored by Chad Betris of Glen Carbide who sunk a 50 yarder on the fly. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good as his eagle contributed to his team coming in second place.
That afternoon, the technical presentations began with Jeff Danaher of Abbott Furnaces, who provided an education about the keys of furnace optimization: time, temperature and atmosphere. Jeff was followed by Jim Miller of Scientific Forming Technology, whose presentation on the Deform system of the drawing process simulation crossed several industries. His presentation connected fastener deformation in cold heading, stress points in the tooling, and material flow of laminated and superconductor materials. The final speaker was Paul Douwes of Advaris, who served as a last-minute substitute when a scheduled speaker was unable to make the trip. Paul introduced smart manufacturing concepts that connected administration, manufacturing and logistics for tighter process control and scheduling for on-time deliveries. The triose gentlemen made the event a huge success!
If you are new to the wire industry, OVC events are for you! As two-year member Brennan Mai attested, he was drawn to OVC 2022 by “the blend of fun events with the ability to network with people from other industries without the commercial feeling of a formal plant visit.” Added colleague, Jonathan Will, operations manager, Hobart Brothers, “I attended specifically to learn more about the wire drawing industry and network with other people in the wire industry.” OVC events offer a unique blend of education, networking and fun.
The chapter would also like to thank the event sponsors, which included Bechem Lubes, Blachford Corporation, CONDAT Corp., Die Quip, GEON, George A. Mitchell Company, Premier Wire Die, Rainbow Rubber & Plastics, SIKORA and Wire Tech.
Mark your calendar for OVC 2023 on August 23, 2023!
Report by Dave Rascati, Premier Wire Die
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