Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) announced that it has won the contract for the Eastern Arctic Undersea Fiber Optic Network (EAUFON), a project that calls for 1,200 km of fiber optic submarine cable.
A press release said that the contract, funded by the Kativik Regional Government, (KRG), an oversight body, calls for connecting five communities in northern Québec that have been primarily dependent on satellite links. The goal is to provide a reliable, affordable and secure high-speed broadband Internet connectivity.
The EAUFON system, based on two fiber pairs and designed to offer a speed of at least 10 Tbps on each fiber pair, will be extendable in the future to connect other communities in northern Canada. The ASN system will integrate the latest versions of its subsea products, including high bandwidth repeaters, OADM Branching Units, SoftNode Submarine Line Terminal (SLTE), and modular duplicated Power Feed Equipment (PFE).
ASN President Alain Biston said that the company was honored to be selected by KRG. He noted that a key was ASN’s “previous experience in successfully installing advanced coherent submarine cable systems in the remote and harsh Arctic environment.”
ASN will manufacture the fiber optic submarine cable system at its facilities located in France and the U.K., and will deploy it using a purpose-built subsea cable ship. The system deployment will require adjusting to difficult weather conditions and complying with the regulatory, logistical, scheduling, and operational constraints associated with marine activities performed in the Hudson Bay. “This will be a real challenge, and ASN will draw upon its experience from four previous projects in the Arctic region to meet this new challenge,” the release said.
The EAUFON system is scheduled to be commissioned at the end of 2021. The Kativik Regional Government encompasses most of the Nunavik Region of Quebec. Nunavik is the northern half of the Nord-du-Quebec administrative region and encompasses all the territory above the 55th parallel (500,164 sq km).
Alcatel Submarine Networks, part of Nokia, notes that it has installed more than 650,000 km of optical submarine systems, enough to circumnavigate the globe 15 times.
The Properzi In House Fair 2020 will be held Monday, Dec. 7, through Friday, Dec. 11, with a range of virtual technical events and opportunities to talk to staff will be offered throughout the week.
The Properzi In House Fair 2020 will feature presentations, face-to-face meetings, videos and many other opportunities that present Properzi technical know-how. There will be a series of webinars dedicated to many facets of Properzi technology and a virtual tour of the company’s facility, where participants will be “accompanied” by the Properzi team. The schedule for each day can be seen at www.properzi.com.
Face-to-face private meeting time slots can be scheduled on Dec. 9-11. There is a limited number of slots. To arrange for a meeting contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Superior Essex Inc., the parent company of Essex Magnet Wire, and Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., both specialists in magnet wire product development and custom products, announced the finalization of a global joint venture.
A press release said that the joint venture will expand upon a previous magnet wire partnership to create a global market leader, with the combined company to operate as Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire LLC, using the “Essex Furukawa” brand. It said that customers should benefit “from significant synergies, including expansion of custom product solutions, the sharing of best practices, and the ability to better service customers with additional points of shipping, expanded global sales and technical teams, increased global rod and foundry resources, and a diversified global innovation team, especially for EV/HEV developments.”
The release cited a number of advantages of the new global joint venture, as it will allow Essex Furukawa to “lead the industry in technological advancements; have market command positions in North America, Europe, Asia, and Japan; allow for strategic customer partnerships; and expedite R&D advancements. Essex Furukawa will offer the same consistent, quality products with advanced technology—especially for electric vehicles—while offering all of our customers a more robust global network on three continents.”
The release said that there will be no change to the current contracts being honored by either company due to the creation of Essex Furukawa. Of note, earlier this year, Essex Magnet Wire was recognized with a 2019 Business Partner of the Year Award from DENSO, the world’s second largest mobility supplier.
LIBERTY Steel USA, part of the GFG Alliance, announced that it has completed the acquisitions of Ohio-based companies Solon Specialty Wire and Shaped Wire from Leggett & Platt.
A press release said that adding the companies will provide LIBERTY new product markets and avenues for growth in the U.S. Solon, a manufacturer of drawn steel wire, cold‐rolled shapes and aluminum products, will be incorporated and managed under the LIBERTY Johnstown Wire business.
“Solon’s wide range of wire size capabilities will complement (our) existing North American wire operations in Peoria, Illinois, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania,” said LIBERTY Steel USA Chief Executive Greg Jones. “(Our) Solon’s operations have been strongly profitable historically and will drive synergies and growth across LIBERTY’s wire business.”
Leggett & Platt confirmed that Solon Specialty Wire, part of the Leggett & Platt Wire Group, was sold on Oct. 9 to an undisclosed buyer as part of a focus on core products.
The company, based in Solon, Ohio, produces a range of steel wire and steel wire products. It was acquired by Leggett & Platt in 2000, and in 2005, it was combined with another business (part of the sale) that provides aluminum wire and wire products.
The “sale closed” sign is posted on the Hilco Industrial website for the assets sale of Wrexham Wire, a U.K. company that saw its outlook decline, with Covid-19 a contributing factor.
The company, which manufactured cold heading, bedding and seating, and galvanized and engineering wire, closed on August 3 as part of an annual shutdown, but did not reopen for business. Efforts to find a buyer/investors did not succeed, and the company was placed into administration. Some 80 jobs were lost.
Per multiple media reports and the company’s website, the operation produced an average of 50,000 tons of finished products a year at its base in the Wrexham Industrial Estate. The company, which exported to 14 countries and was once the U.K.’s largest producer for the automotive and construction sectors, could not continue operations. It had been scheduled to be an exhibitor at wire Dusseldorf 2020.
Anthony Collier and Ben Woolrych, partners at specialist business advisory firm FRP, were appointed as joint administrators. The company previously fell into administration in 2015, when it traded as Caparo Wire.
“Wrexham Wire, like many of Britain’s industrial businesses, has faced a catalogue of challenges in recent months as it contended with a weakening global economy, political uncertainty and the disruption of the pandemic,” Collier said.
NKT has completed an upgrade to a high-voltage power link that saw the replacement of four existing power cables that were installed in 1973 with the company’s 400 kV XLPE HVAC power cables.
A press release said that NKT completed the upgrade of the high-voltage power link connecting Denmark and Sweden. The original power cables were the world’s first low-pressure, oil-filled power cables installed offshore at this voltage level.
Since 1915 the power grids of Sweden and Denmark have been connected by a power cable providing exchange of energy between the neighboring countries. For NKT, the project was executed to a tight time schedule, and the new power cables for the historical power link are now in full operation.
Interconnectors are essential to the power cable infrastructure needed to ensure an efficient integration of the increasing amount of renewable energy produced in Europe. We are happy to upgrade the cables across Öresund playing a key part in maintaining the high transmission security of both countries and to strengthen the interconnection of the European power grids, says Executive Vice President Claes Westerlind, head of the Swedish high-voltage NKT factory in Karlskrona.
The power link across Öresund is owned by the Swedish national grid operator Svenska Kraftnät that awarded NKT the project in a consortium with Boskalis. In a joint effort, the two companies successfully replaced the original oil-filled cables with four new 400 kV XLPE HVAC power cables in close collaboration with Svenska Kraftnät and Energinet in Denmark. The new cables were made at the company’s high-voltage power cable factory in Karlskrona, which is running on 100% green electricity.
Of note, the original power cables were produced by the cable division within ASEA, a unit now part of NKT. In collaboration with Boskalis, NKT removed the old power cables which were sent for recycling before the new power cables were installed at the same location and connected to substations at the shores on both sides.
Global Optical Communication Uzbekistan (GOC-UZ) has started construction of a fiber-optic cable production plant in the free economic area in the city of Jizzax in Uzbekistan.
Per a report in TELCOMPER, GOC-UZ already produces cable in an existing building in Jizzax, with 58 employees working at the joint venture. One hundred new jobs will be created in 2021, and the plan is to later expand this to 300 people. The goal is to manufacture 50,000 km of cable in 2021, up from 10,000 km this year.
Construction is due for completion in the first quarter of 2021. This year in Uzbekistan, 26,500 km of fiber-optic lines have been deployed.
GOC-UZ is a joint venture by two Korean companies—Global Optical Communication Co. Ltd. and Uni Asset Global Co. Ltd.—and Uztelecom, Uzbekistan’s national operator. The two South Korean companies hold a 55% stake in the joint venture, with the remainder owned by Uztelecom.
Organizers of Wire & Cable Guangzhou, which originally had been scheduled to be held in June and was rescheduled to November, report that the event will now be held in 2021.
A press release said that the move was made “due to the impact of Covid-19 on global industrial activity, and the corresponding impact on the wire and cable industry in Southern China.” After extensive consultations with the fair’s stakeholder groups, the event organizing committee of Wire and Cable Guangzhou decided that deferring the fair to 2021 was the best course of action for the industry. The new dates for the event, to be held at the China Import and Export Fair Complex, will be announced at a later time.
“With a strong recovery expected in 2021, we believe it is in the best interest of our exhibitors to reserve their marketing efforts for a more vibrant fair next year,” said Emeka Hu, general manager of Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co. Ltd. At that point, she said, “participants will be able to take advantage of a more prosperous business environment, and the fair can continue its growth trend.”
The release said that Wire and Cable Guangzhou has experienced consistent year-on-year growth since 2009, including a 14% rise in visitor numbers at its 2019 edition. Established in 2009, Wire & Cable Guangzhou provides a showcase for exhibitors that included manufacturers and solution providers for cable and wire, testing instruments and smart grids. The 2019 exhibition had 220 exhibitors and 26,410 attendees from 41 countries and regions. For more details, go to www.wire-cable-china.com or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Spain’s Delta Tecnic has opened a new plant in Querétaro, Mexico, becoming the first manufacturer in the country to specialize in color concentrates for automotive wire and cable as well as other products.
A press release said that the factory in Mexico will produce masterbatch for distribution throughout the Americas. Delta Tecnic has two production plants in Sant Celoni (Barcelona), with a total surface area of 15,000 sq ft and a multidisciplinary staff of 160 people. The Mexico plant has a surface area of 3,000 sq m, expandable to 5,000 sq m, and currently has 10 employees, and is forecast to have between 20 to 40 workers within a year. The company, which formed its Deltacolor Masterbatch division in 1989, now exports to more than 50 countries.
“Delta Tecnic is proud to have a resilient model based on innovation that allows us to grow in strategic industries,” said company CEO Eric Xirinachs. He noted that the micromasterbatch has a smaller pellet size that improves dilution when extruding cables. They are applied to both PVC and polyolefins, and provide better control and optimal color homogeneity, improved product quality, increased cable production speed and lowers costs.
Besides auto, the company is pursuing growth for products related to environmental awareness, such as renewable energies and, consequently, to cabling for wind and photovoltaic energy, and more. Of particular importance in the plastics market is thermal insulation, with new designs for more complex profiles that result in lower energy consumption in public and private building as well as an increase in the market for telecom cables and wiring applications for large, domestic appliances, where the greater complexity in energy saving programs is creating an increased demand in the needs for electrical wiring.
Xirinachs said that he is confident the new factory will allow Delta Tecnic “to consolidate its position as a technological leader, as well as to supply products to companies in various sectors anywhere in the world.”
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