June 3, 2021 – The next staging of wire Southeast Asia—and its sister show, Tube Southeast Asia—will now be held Feb. 9-11, 2022 at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) in Bangkok, Thailand.

A press release from organizers Messe Düsseldorf said that the event, which was to be held Sept. 22-24, is being moved to the new dates to “allow for optimum international participation.” It noted that in the past, over 90% of the exhibitors came from overseas countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan and Korea. “It is anticipated that by next year with further easing of travel restrictions and ongoing successful vaccine deployments worldwide, there will be a more optimistic environment for companies to do business safely and effectively at these trade fairs.”

The two trade fairs were first held in 1997. At the last staging in 2019, international exhibitors from 29 countries participated at the trade fairs, while 45% of trade visitors came from outside Thailand.

June 3, 2021 – Subsea cable supplier SubCom will provide two next-gen subsea cables to support data capacity for Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio), a mobile digital service provider in India.

A press release said that the two systems, each of which will provide more than 200 Tbits of capacity, will require cable to span some 16,000 km. They will employ open system technology and the latest wavelength switched RoADM/branching units ensures rapid upgrade deployment and the ultimate flexibility to add/drop waves across multiple locations.

The first system, the India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) system, will connect Mumbai and Chennai in India eastbound to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The second system, the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) system, will connect India westbound to Italy, landing in Savona, and additional landings in the Middle East and North Africa.

Both systems will be connected to the Reliance Jio Global Fiber Network beyond Asia-Pacific and Europe, connecting to both the east and west coast of the U.S. IAX is expected to be ready for service mid-2023, while IEX will be ready for service in early 2024.
“To meet the demands of streaming video, remote workforce, 5G, IoT, and beyond, Jio is taking a leadership role in the construction of the first of its kind, India-centric IAX and IEX subsea systems,” said Reliance Jio President Mathew Oommen.

June 3, 2021 – Alphagary announced that, pending certain customary closing conditions, it will acquire a majority share ownership in Shakun Polymers Private Limited, a privately held and family-owned market leader in the production of compounds for the wire and cable markets in the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.

A press release said that the transaction represents “an important strategic investment.” The investment will allow Alphagary to expand its product and regional footprints as Shakun continues to provide next-generation materials designed to meet the high safety and performance standards in Asia and Africa’s markets. Shakun has four manufacturing facilities in India that have a total installed annual capacity of more than 40,000 metric tons. Its compounds are used to make power cables, building wires, telecommunications and fiber optic cables, instrumentation cables and photovoltaic cables. Shakun’s product development focus is on halogen-free, flame-retardant compounds and PVC-based compounds for data and power cables, a mix that is a direct complement to Alphagary’s specialty product offerings that support a connected world. Shakun’s semi-conductive and cross-linkable compounds will also expand Alphagary’s portfolio, offering a growth platform and meeting customer requirements.

Key members of the Shakun management team will remain with the business, underlining the commitment of both organizations to create added value for customers and stakeholders. “We are very excited by Alphagary’s investment in Shakun and the opportunity it creates to deliver on our customers’ requirements,” said Shakun Joint Managing Director Rakesh Bansal. “I am delighted to be part of a team that will work together to offer a wider portfolio of materials and more efficient supply chains that help us focus on service.”

“While Alphagary has a broad reach from its facilities in the U.S., Europe and Mexico, the addition of Shakun’s market position in Asia and Africa coupled with the team’s entrepreneurial spirit will enable us to broaden our innovation horizons,” said Alphagary President Gautam Nivarthy.
Alphagary operates eight facilities in the U.S., U.K., Mexico and Colombia, and has a global sales and distribution network. It is a business of Orbia, which is active in 110 countries, with operations in more than 50. Orbia has five business groups, one of which is Polymer Solutions.

Orbia CEO Sameer Bharadwaj said in the release that while India faces difficulty with the current pandemic, he is confident in the resilience of the Asia-Pacific and African markets and long-term growth coming from these regions. “This investment provides us with a local presence, a wider scope for future-focused development and a strong customer base for our products and services that help to advance life around the world. We welcome Shakun to the Orbia family and look forward to their immediate contributions to our success together.”

June 3, 2021 – Nexans announced that it has won two contracts from Equinor, an international energy company present in more than 30 countries worldwide, for two offshore projects.

The first contract, a press release said, calls for Nexans to design, manufacture and supply 44 km of steel tube umbilicals and accessories for an offshore Brazilian project: the Bacalhau ultra-deep water, oil-field development project. It targets pre-salt reservoirs in the Santos Basin estimated to contain up to two billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe) recoverable reserves.

The order extends Nexans’s long-standing relationship with the Subsea Integration Alliance (SIA) formed between Subsea 7 and OneSubsea. It is responsible for the SURF (subsea, umbilical, risers, and flowlines) front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts for the Bacalhau project. Nexans’s Halden plant in Norway will provide the SIA with steel tube umbilicals to provide vital services for subsea equipment operating at water depths down to
2,100 m. This includes 2.5 km of gas-lift umbilical, 35 km of static umbilical, 6.9 km of dynamic umbilical and accessories. Nexans is scheduled to deliver the Bacalhau umbilicals in the last quarter of 2022.

The second order was for the fabrication of umbilicals for the Askeladd Vest project, which is in the southern Barents Sea. Nexans will provide static subsea umbilicals with a complex cross-section of power, fiber-optic communications and hydraulic elements for chemical injection, along with a range of connection and termination accessories.

The subsea template on Askeladd Vest will be tied back to the Askeladd field through a pipeline and an umbilical. The distance from the onshore production plant at Melkøya to the subsea field is 195 km, which is the longest distance ever for such a field development.
The main activity of assembling umbilicals and loading them onto installation vessels will be performed at Nexans’ plant in Halden. The control cables will be assembled at Nexans’ plant in Halden and unloaded on installation vessels. Fiber optic cables and power cables will be manufactured in Rognan. The contract value is estimated at nearly $12 million.

June 4, 2021 

The Wire Association International is pleased to announce that on May, 17, 2021, John Markowski officially became the manager for membership and social media.

It’s a familiar role for Markowski as he has been a member of the WAI staff since he joined as an intern in April 2018. He served in that function while attending Albertus Magnus College, where he earned a marketing degree.

“We knew instantly that John would be a great addition to the team, and we had hoped that he would stay with us upon his graduation,” said WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll. “His strong skills in social media have been on display for the past three years, and we recognize the critical importance of continuing to evolve and expand our voice. WAI’s already ‘well qualified’ yet lean staff just got stronger.”

In addition to his social media responsibilities, Markowski, an Eagle Scout, will manage the comprehensive membership activities as well as a range of support for the Association’s chapters. Over the past six months, he has been gradually performing more of the responsibilities of the position in anticipation of the planned appointment.