Madison, Connecticut, USA – August 7, 2024 – The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. reports that to date 90% of its available INTERWIRE 2025 exhibit space has been contracted by 200 companies. The exhibition will be staged in Hall A of the Georgia World Congress Center, and open to visitors May 13-15, 2025. Companies interested in exhibiting can view available space at the event website: Interwire25.com. Contact WAI’s sales department: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details.

EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS
• Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing Course. Leading off the conference, this full-day, essential primer on wire manufacturing processes will be held Monday, May 12, 2025. The course features a general track in the morning for all participants splitting into simultaneous ferrous and nonferrous tracks in the afternoon.

• Advanced Extrusion Workshop. WAI will debut this new dynamic program from 9:00 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, that will build on the extrusion principles introduced in the Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing Course. Presented by Rick Chamberlain and a co-instructor, the workshop is designed to take participants to the next level of understanding and application. The workshop, which is limited to 50 participants, will include breakout sessions to ensure a comprehensive learning experience. The workshop will also include visits to exhibitors to witness extrusion machinery in action.

• Global Continuous Casting Forum (GCCF). This, WAI’s fourth forum for copper and aluminum continuous casting, will run May 12-15, 2025 in conjunction with INTERWIRE. The GCCF registration will include an Opening Reception on Monday, lunch and coffee breaks, a group dinner on Wednesday, and time to explore the INTERWIRE exhibit floor.

WAI will offer sponsorship opportunities for both the GCCF and INTERWIRE; contact WAI’s education department This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and sales department This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., respectively for details.

EVENT BACKGROUND: Introduced in 1981, INTERWIRE is the largest and longest-running wire and cable marketplace in the Americas. Hosted biennially, INTERWIRE is an international trade event that includes exhibiting companies, speakers, and visitors from around the world. WAI, founded in 1930, is a not-for-profit association with more than 2,000 individual members in 50 countries. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services.

WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exposition and Wire Expo and publishes the Wire Journal International and the Wire Journal International Reference Guide.

Media Contacts: Janice E. Swindells, Director Marketing & Corporate Communications, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-2777, x. 117; Steven J. Fetteroll, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-1777

Madison, Connecticut, USA – August 1, 2024 – The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. reports plans to host its fourth Global Continuous Casting Forum (GCCF) for copper and aluminum May 12-15, 2025, concurrently with INTERWIRE 2025 at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The conference provides a forum for academics, researchers, metallurgists, and professionals to meet and exchange innovative ideas and information on all aspects of continuous casting. A welcome reception is planned on Monday, May 12, as is an attendee dinner on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.

The Association is currently accepting abstracts for review, a process that remains open until the October 2, 2024, deadline. Submitted presentations should align with one of the following tracks: General; Copper; Aluminum; Lubrication & testing; or Automation & safety. Welcome topics include:

• Casting technologies
• Electrical energy
• Global copper & aluminum markets
• Cost-saving opportunities
• Filtration concepts
• Molten metal
• Combustion Systems
• Furnaces
• Degassing
• Metal flow
• Refractories
• Aluminum & Copper Alloys
• Sustainability

Abstracts should be submitted at: bit.ly/WAIabstracts by October 2, 2024. Accepted authors will be notified by November 7, 2024. Final manuscripts are due February 13, 2025.
Sponsorships are available with details at: https://www.interwire25.com/conference/castingforum
For questions or to secure a sponsorship contact: WAI’s Education Department | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Tel.: 203-458-4044.

WAI’s Global Continuous Casting Forum committee members include:
Chairman Chris Tucker, Encore Wire; Richard Baker, Cableforce Consulting; Kurt Breischaft, SDI LaFarga COPPERWORKS; John Hugens, Hugens Metallurgy & Combustion; Martin Lecours, Rio Tinto; Giuseppe Marcantoni, Properzi International Inc.; Juan Sanchez, Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.; Janusz Sekunda, Prysmian; Patrick Slaughter, Southwire Co.; Florin Teglas, Nexans; and Rob White, Hazelett Strip-Casting Corp.

WAI, founded in 1930, is a not-for-profit association with more than 2,000 individual members in 50 countries. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services. WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exhibition and Wire Expo and publishes the Wire Journal International and the Wire Journal International Reference Guide.

Media Contacts: Janice E. Swindells, Director Marketing & Corporate Communications, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-2777, x. 117; Steven J. Fetteroll, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-1777.

MADISON, Connecticut, USA – June 14, 2024 – The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. reports another successful staging of its Wire Expo trade event on June 11-12, 2024, at the Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA.

1108 participants from 38 states and 21 countries filled the exhibit hall and conference rooms for this much-anticipated occasion. The biennial event was last staged at the Mohegan Sun in 2016.

WAI’s popular Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing Course on June 10 preceded the activities with 130 participants.

The exhibit included a full complement of products and supplies from 168 participating companies. Conference attendees represented 300 discrete companies.

Describing the event WAI 2024 President Daniel Blais said “What a great turnout at this year’s Wire Expo. We held the annual clock winding ceremony outside of the WAI headquarters for the first time. Breaking with tradition reminds us that our industry is in constant evolution and that we should never be afraid to try something different. The increased attendance and energy this week show how important it is for our members to stay connected and learn firsthand what is happening within our industry. A truly great week!”

Added highlights:

Keynote Speakers
This year’s keynote speakers shared their perspectives on improvement and manufacturing excellence, both to a full audience.

On Tuesday, June 11, H.O. Woltz, Chairman, President, and CEO of Insteel Industries presented his keynote address “Success based on committing to continuous improvement and a passion for manufacturing.” On that same day he accepted the 2024 WAI Champion Award, an honor given to an individual from the wire industry in recognition of being a strong supporter of The Wire Association International and the wire industry.

Paul Furtado, COO, Prysmian presented his keynote address on Wednesday, June 12, titled: “Elevating operations: Paving the way to manufacturing excellence.”

Top Honors
WAI presented its highest honors on Wednesday to award recipients: William Bigbee – Mordica Memorial Award; Jan Sørige - Donnellan Memorial Award; Raúl García Martínez - President’s Award. 

Welcome Reception
This year more than 400 attendees gathered outside for WAI’s Welcome Reception on the Sun Patio to network and relax with refreshments and live music.

WAI had the generous support of the following sponsors:
Elite: Encore Wire; James Monroe Wire & Cable Corp., Lloyd & Bouvier Inc.; Prysmian; SDI LaFarga COPPERWORKS; Southwire Co.; and Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp; Platinum: Carris Reels Inc.; Gem Gravure Co. Inc.; and Insteel Industries Inc. Silver: Blachford; Niehoff Endex; RichardsApex Inc.; Sikora International Corp.; and Sonoco Reels & Spools Bronze: Baum’s Castorine; Cable Components Group; Fort Wayne Wire Die; Gendon Polymer Services Inc., Graham Engineering; and Precision Payoff Systems.

The Wire and Cable Industry Suppliers Association (WCISA) is an industry partner with WAI.

WAI’s Operations Summit & Wire Expo will be held in the spring of 2026.

About the Organizer:
WAI, founded in 1930, is a not-for-profit association with 1,800 individual members in 50 countries. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services. WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exhibition and the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo and publishes the Wire Journal International and the Wire Journal International Reference Guide.

Italy’s Prysmian reports that it has finalized three contracts collectively worth about €5 billion with Amprion, a leading European TSO, for two offshore grid connection systems—BalWin1 and BalWin2—and DC 34, an underground cable project.

A press release said that the package deal is the largest in terms of value and km of cable ever awarded to Prysmian. It calls for some 4,400 km of HVDC cable and DMR (Dedicated Metallic Return) cable, of which around 3,400 km are land cables and 1,000 km are submarine cables.

The contracts follow the selection of Prysmian as a preferred bidder last August. At that time, it was noted that each cable system would consist of two single-core ±525 kV HVDC copper cables with XLPE insulation for the submarine sections and P-Laser insulation for the land underground sections, plus a dedicated metallic return cable and a fiber optic cable. BalWin1 will use about 1,070 km of cables along a 358 km route while BalWin2 will use about 1,100 km of cables over a route of 376 km. DC34 will use two single-core ±525 kV HVDC copper cables with P-Laser insulation, including a dedicated metallic return cable. It will consist of up to 2,100 km of cables for the cross Germany route.

The three projects are part of Germany’s overall plan to install 70 GW of offshore wind energy by 2045 and will support the transmission of the energy generated in the North Sea to consumers in the Western and Southern regions of the country. BalWin1 and BalWin2 each will transmit up to 2 GW of offshore wind energy from areas 9 and 10 of the German North Sea to the grid connection points. DC34, part of the Rhein-Main-Link, will connect the substation in Lower Saxony to a second substation in the federal state of Hesse to transmit up to 2 GW of wind energy to the Rhine-Main metropolitan area.

“The three contracts with Amprion are an important milestone for Prysmian as they underline once again the trusting cooperation between the two companies,” said Hakan Ozmen, EVP Prysmian Transmission Division.

“We have secured the necessary cable resources for three important energy transition projects,” said Dr. Hendrik Neumann, CTO of Amprion. “For us, this is a major step towards project success.”