GEON Performance Solutions, a global supplier of performance polymer solutions, announced that it has started up a new thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) manufacturing line at its Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, Mexico facility.

A press release said that the new line will produce a range of polymer compounds, including TPE and thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV), supporting GEON’s strategic expansion of its polymer capabilities and enhancing its longstanding leadership in the commercialization of polyolefins. This expansion builds on the technology and expertise obtained from GEON’s acquisition of PolymaxTPE in December 2023, and is a response to significant customer demand for these premium materials.

The addition of TPE to GEON’s portfolio of performance polymers drove investment in the company’s Dyersburg, Tennessee, facility where TPE and TPO manufacturing capabilities were commissioned to support growing customer demand. With TPE manufacturing facilities in Mexico, U.S. and Nantong, Jiangsu, China, GEON is well-positioned to serve customers globally with a simplified supply chain across a diverse range of industries.

The Ramos Arizpe facility began operations in 2003. GEON Performance Solutions has 12 production plants.

Nexans announced that the company has separated the business of its specialty industrial cable operations, formerly known as Nexans Industry Solutions & Projects, and renamed it Lynxeo.

A press release said that the separation will provide increased clarity in the market, strengthening Lynxeo’s role as a fully integrated player, serving a diversified range of critical infrastructure industries including railways, rolling stock, automation, shipbuilding, wind, aerospace and healthcare. “Today’s announcement is yet another step in the continued successful execution by Nexans of its ‘Electrify the Future’ strategy,” it said.

With 2,000 employees in nine countries and annual standard sales of more than €700 million euros, Lynxeo is “a powerhouse in specialty industrial cables.” The move will allow Lynxeo to further enhance its role in critical industrial segments. It has a heritage of more than 100 years serving industrial champions, and boasts a global manufacturing presence in Europe Asia, and the USA.

Oman Cables Industry SAOG, a cable manufacturer based at Al Rusayl Industrial City in Muscat, reports that it will make a substantial investment in its subsidiary, Oman Aluminum Processing Industries SPC (OAPIL), to establish a production facility in Suhar, the capital of Oman.

A press release said that the expansion is aimed at manufacturing advanced composite core conductors. Board Chairman Cinzia Farise said that the project would expand OAPIL’s operational scope as well as increase profitability and diversification for Oman Cables.

Founded in 2008, OAPIL has played a key role in Oman’s aluminum and electrical transmission sectors. The new facility will strengthen the company’s presence in international markets, especially in energy infrastructure sector. Part of Prysmian, Oman Cables Industry (SAOG) has offices in Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and KSA, and an extensive network across the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Russia and India (MEART) region.

It took eight years, but the ownership of Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN)—the submarine telecom cable production and installation subsidiary of Finnish equipment manufacturer Nokia—has finally been resolved, with the owner being the French government.

A press release said that on Nov. 5, Antoine Armand, the French economy minister, and Marc Ferracci, the French industry minister, signed a contract to acquire 80% of the capital at the company’s plant in Calais. ASN was a subsidiary of Alcatel, then Alcatel-Lucent, until it was acquired by the Finnish group Nokia in 2016. “The proposed sale of ASN to the French State is the result of extensive discussions which concluded that the French State is the most relevant custodian of ASN,” Nokia said, in a statement.

Per a report in Le Monde, the transaction is worth around €100 million, with the state taking on ASN’s €250 million debt. Nokia will retain a 20% interest that can be bought out later.

An on-line report said that Nokia had been seeking to divest ASN since it completed its Alcatel-Lucent purchase in 2016. “At one stage it even looked like Nokia was resigned to hanging on to the company itself. But ultimately, Alcatel Submarine Networks is a strategic asset for the French state and as such the government has decided to put its hand in its pocket, regardless of the distraction of an upcoming election.”

Ducab Metals Business has signed an agreement that will see the company more than double the size of its existing plant in the UAE’s Khalifa Economic Zone.

A press release said that the 50-year lease agreement, signed by Khaled Lootah, chairman of Ducab Group, will result in Ducab Metals Business adding 51,015 sqm to its existing 50,000 sqm facility in KEZAD. The expansion will enable the company to increase its production capacity of copper and aluminum industrial products. This expansion brings Ducab Metals Business’s presence in KEZAD to over 100,000 sqm.

The project will provide new jobs, further the company’s R&D work and enhance Abu Dhabi’s reputation as a hub for the new varieties of advanced metal products.

As a stand-alone company within Ducab Group, DMB is the largest such company in the region. The company has annual capacity of 180,000 metric tons of copper rod and 50,000 metric tons of aluminum rod and overhead conductor capacity. DMB also designs solutions that will be manufactured in Ducab’s existing copper rod and aluminum factories, both of which are based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.