Leoni, a global provider of energy and data management solutions in the automotive sector, plans to extend its production capacities in Morocco.

A press release said that the German company will build an additional plant for wiring systems, in Agadir, that will focus on the commercial vehicles segment. The plant should provide 3,000 new jobs. The company recently signed agreements for several investment projects with Moroccan representatives.

In Agadir, Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch presided over the signing ceremony of two memoranda of understanding and a framework agreement for the implementation of six investment projects. Leoni will enlarge its existing nine plants in the Casablanca-Settat region as well as establish a new facility in Agadir, thus creating more than 7,000 new jobs by 2027. The additional wiring systems plant in the Agadir industrial acceleration zone will provide 3,000 jobs in administration, engineering and production.

“I am very pleased about the agreement between our company and the Moroccan government,” said Ingo Spengler, Leoni’s COO and a member of the Executive Board. “Leoni will seize the opportunity to expand its footprint in the county, which provides favorable conditions in terms of availability of skilled workers, competitiveness and logistics. The state of Morocco, in return, is developing the industrial sector being the main pillar of the national economy.”

The new plant will specialize in producing wiring systems for the Commercial Vehicles segment, one of the growth fields of the company’s Wiring Systems Division. Leoni is supplying a growing number of truck and engine manufacturers with harnesses and associated components as well as off-road sector including agricultural, construction and industrial vehicles.

Germany’s Kocks Group reports that Yantai Walsin Stainless Steel Co., Ltd., has begun manufacturing with its new RSB® 370++/4 mill whose capacity will be used for multiple products and applications and as a feeder for a wire rod line.

A press release said that the new sizing block represents the latest advancement in long product production technology and is designed to deliver superior surface quality and dimensional accuracy while reducing operating costs over the entire mill line.

Production has begun at Yantai Walsin, which is a subsidiary of Walsin Lihwa, a Taiwanese manufacturer of specialty steel. The corporation has a long customer history, having installed the very first Kocks Reducing & Sizing Block in 1991, as well as a RSB 500 Intermediate Block and a recently installed RB 500++/4 at the company’s rolling mill in Tainan, Taiwan.

The new Kocks RSB 370++/4 sizing block for Yantai Walsin has four 3-roll stand positions for optimal deformation behavior and yield strength and is part of a newly built rolling mill for SBQ products in Yantai, Shandong province. It is positioned after 20 stands in H/V arrangement. The sizing block from Kocks finishes round dimensions from 18 to 100 mm, hexagonal dimensions from 18 to 80 mm and feeders for the wire rod line.

In addition to the machine, Kocks supplied the roll-shop equipment and its proprietary software solutions. The advanced block enables a new level of efficient production at Walsin Yantai. The RSB is equipped with the measuring gauge 4D Eagle® and connected to Kocks’ Size Control System (SCS®) which allows real-time adjustments of the operating parameters of the rolling block. This ensures transparent process monitoring and the quickest possible adjustments whenever necessary.

Nexans announced an expansion of its presence in the offshore wind and interconnection market by adding a third cable laying vessel to its fleet in 2026.

A press release said the new ship will build on the cutting-edge technology of Nexans’ flagship vessel, the Nexans Aurora. The new ship will have an improved design, comfort and capabilities. Equipped with three turntables, it will have 13,500-metric ton loading capacity, and host subsea tooling such as jetting and ploughing tools.

The vessel will be capable of laying up to four cables simultaneously to meet specific customer requirements, especially on large-scale projects. It will have an advanced hybrid power system and be capable of running on a biodiesel mix.

“This new vessel will be the most technologically advanced cable layer ever deployed” said Nexans COO and Senior Vice President Vincent Dessale. “Fitted with a range of high-tech cable installation and burial equipment, it will enhance the capabilities of our subsea cable operations to tackle projects on an unprecedented scale. This new strategic asset will support the Group’s long-term growth, consolidating its leadership in the interconnection and offshore markets. It perfectly embodies Nexans’ strategy to electrify the future, and its innovative features illustrate our ever-increasing commitment to meeting our partners’ needs.”

The Prysmian Group is investing approximately €120 million in its strategic plant in Pikkala, Finland, that produces high-tech cables for land and submarine interconnections and for both onshore and offshore wind farms all over the world.

A press release said that the investment—in addition to the €100 million already provided in 2022—is aimed at further increasing the production capacity of the 525 kV HVDC submarine cable systems, supporting the growing market demand driven by the need to develop and upgrade power transmission grids for the energy transition. It calls for new Vertical Continuous Vulcanization (VCV) lines that will more than double the Pikkala plant’s existing production capacity of 525 kV extruded submarine cables and 400 kV AC cables by 2026.

“The investment is part of the around €500 million capex per year that the Group is implementing to support the energy transition, electrification and digitalization processes, which require the upgrade of power grids and telecom networks,” said Prysmian Group COO Massimo Battaini. He noted that the massive investment plan was made possible thanks to the Group’s financial solidity and proven cash generation capability.

The release said that the global power transmission cable market is expected to grow to €15 billion by 2030 from around €8 billion reported in 2022.

“Our global strategy is to rely on three state-of-the-art power transmission cable hubs: one in Northern Europe, thanks to the increasing investments in the Pikkala plant in Finland, another one in the Mediterranean area, where we are investing around €100 million in the existing plant in Arco Felice, Italy, and the third one is the completely new submarine cable plant in the U.S., Massachusetts, serving the very high potential North American market,” said EVP Projects BU Hakan Ozmen. “This will allow us to support our customers’ needs, while also continuing to pursue our own climate change commitments,” commented Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects BU.

The release said that Prysmian’s 525 kV submarine cable technology is specifically designed to support the energy transition thanks to its key features that enable a massive increase in transmission capacity to 2 GW, which is more than double the value achieved with the 320 kV DC systems currently in service.

“This investment confirms the strategic importance of the Pikkala plant, which is already considered the Group’s energy transition flagship factory,” said Prysmian Group Finland CEO Ferdinando Quartuccio. “Thanks to its switch to green energy sources, this plant is to date the first cable plant in the world to have achieved the net-zero goal.”