1/3/2022 – The New England Chapter is ready for the Feb. 24 return to the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, where more than a hundred people are expected to attend its annual meeting.

The annual dinner will be held for the first time at the casino’s Cabaret Theater. The event format will be the same, starting with a reception at 5:30 pm, where chapter members and others can mingle, an opportunity that has been all too rare the last two years. The new officers for 2022 will be introduced, as well as an update on the chapter’s college scholarship program.

“It will be great seeing everyone again at Mohegan Sun,” said 2021 WAI Chapter President John Accorsi, M. Holland, whose term will have ended. “It is always a fun venue for the meeting.” He said that it was unfortunate it could not be held in 2021, but the chapter was still able to remain active, holding its annual golf tournament as well as a successful on-line webinar.

The chapter meeting will also include the traditional raffle, which along with the annual golf tournament are the key sources for funding the scholarship program. The chapter hopes to see the same level of prior year company donations for the raffle as well as sponsorships, of which there are three levels: gold, $500; silver, $250; and bronze, $150.

The cost for the event is $120 for New England Chapter members, $130 for WAI members and $140 for non-WAI members. There also is a new WAI member package of $145 for dues and the dinner, and for $15, an existing WAI member can become a New England Chapter member.

For more details on this, contact WAI’s John Markowski at 203-453-2777, ext. 121, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Markowski, who began working as an intern for WAI in 2018 and became a full-employee last May, is the main contact for all of the Association’s chapters.

1/3/22 – Nexans has won a more than €80 million contract from Equinor, a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company, to manufacture and install a power cable system that will deliver electricity directly from the Norwegian power grid to its Oseberg Field Centre.

A press release said that the cable system consists of a single three-core 132 kV AC cable with the capacity to transport and supply 180 MW to the main platform at Oseberg. The power cables will include two fiber optic cables, each fitted with 48 SM fiber optic elements. They will be connected to a central DTS system that allows operators to detect early warning signs of any technical issues in the cables. The cables will be manufactured at Nexans’ plant in Halden, Norway.

Nexans is Equinor’s long-term partner in renewable energy projects. Nexans cabling system will allow Oseberg to operate using renewable energy harnessed from hydropower and achieve about 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in those areas of the field.

Oseberg is located in the North Sea, around 140 km northwest of Bergen. The cable deployment will be done by the Nexans’ Aurora, which is designed to lay the cables in one compact installation. That method will save time and lower costs while also reducing the environmental impact of the operation due to smaller transport distances.

“Electrifying business operations in the energy sector plays an important part in reducing CO2 emissions and supporting the global transition to net zeros,” said Ragnhild Katteland, executive vice president for Nexans subsea and land systems business group.

Of note, last July Nexans was awarded an Equinor a contract to supply power export cable for what will be the world’s first floating solar plant that can operate in rough offshore waters.

1/3/2022 – People hires/promotions

The Copper Development Association Inc. (CDA) has promoted Andrew G. Kireta Jr. to president and CEO. He brings nearly 30 years of copper industry experience to the role. He has been with CDA since 1992, having previously served multiple roles in market development, strategy, and organizational management in regional and national roles, most recently as vice president of market development across all copper and copper alloy product and market areas. He has served in various team roles with the International Copper Association (ICA), as leader of the global strategy team, and as a board member on the executive committee of ASTM International, including a term as the 2020 board chair. He succeeds Thomas S. Passek, who retired at the end of 2021 after seven years with the organization. He had previously worked for 12 years for ASM International, where he was managing director, and two years for The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, where he served as the executive director.

Service Wire Co. reported three staff changes. Bruce Kesler has been promoted to director of commercial and industrial sales. The newly created role will see him responsible for the company’s commercial and industrial effort in North America. He will oversee regional sales directors and managers, and national sales managers for industrial. He has more than 35 years of experience in the electrical industry, 15 with the company, where he started out as a central regional manager in 2007 and became director of sales in 2018. Corey Jarvis has been promoted from assistant sales manager for the Eastern/Central United States and Canada to sales manager of the company’s sales office in West Virginia. He has been with Service Wire for more than 11 years. Aaron Patten has been promoted from territory account representative to assistant sales manager of the West Virginia office. He has more than 11 years of sales and management experience, including four with the company. Based in Culloden, West Virginia, Service Wire is a second-generation, family-owned wire and cable manufacturer.

Mike Cunningham is the new European director of sales and service for Montalvo. He is responsible for developing and coordinating partnerships, forming new alliances with key players while bringing new innovations into the market. He holds an engineering degree from the Brunel University School in London. Based in Gorham, Maine, the Montalvo Corporation specializes in tension control products for multiple industries that include wire and cable.

1/3/2022 – Sweden’s Elcowire reports at its website that the company has entered into an agreement to acquire KME’s rod and wire assets and business located in Hettstedt, Germany, with 180 employees.

“For Elcowire this means doubling the capacity to 300,000 metric tons for copper rod and adding a large share of the market with a wide range of capabilities for wire and strands solutions,” the company stated. It noted that the deal will strengthen Elcowire and give access to a larger customer base and product portfolio, as well as expand the geographical coverage.

“The acquisition has a perfect strategic fit and will add capacity and capability for a wider product range as well as being able to serve a larger market with our solutions, which substantially will contribute to lower the CO2 footprint,” Elcowire Group CEO Paul Gustavsson said.

Together with the acquisition and the current operations in Sweden and Germany, Elcowire will be a much stronger player in the rod and wire business and be able to build further on its value-added offering in Elcowire’s other business units (high voltage, rail and specials).The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Elcowire is one of the leading suppliers in Europe, developing products and services based on copper and aluminum wire rod for the electrical and infrastructure industry. Operations are located in Sweden and Germany. Elcowire consists of four business units: Rod, Rail, High Voltage and Specials. Elcowire, which employs 200 people, is one of seven businesses owned by the Liljedahl Group.

The KME Group was described as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of copper and copper alloy products and high-performance copper and copper alloy special products.

1/3/2022 – The GFG Alliance reports that it plans to re-open its LIBERTY Steel Georgetown (LSG) rod mill in Georgetown, South Carolina.

A press release initially said that the reopening was expected to happen in mid-January. LGS will integrate operations with LIBERTY’s plant in Peoria, Illinois, to meet a strong order book and clear a customer backlog. Billet will be manufactured in Peoria, taking advantage of the plant’s additional melt capacity, then delivered to Georgetown for conversion into 10,000 metric tons of finished rod a month. LGS has also implemented efficiencies such as utility cost savings, rental equipment returns and contractor reductions to improve profitability and develop a sustainable long-term plan for the plant.

The rod mill has had a storied history. Founded in 1969 by German industrialist Willy Korf, it at one time had as many as 1,500 employees. It had multiple owners, including the government of Kuwait in 1984 and the International Steel Group in 2004. It was bought in 2005 by Lakshmi Mittal. The mill closed in 2009, and following the Mittal merger with Arcelor, it was reopened by Arcelor Mittal in 2011, only to be closed in May 2015. The Liberty House Group, part of the GFG Alliance, purchased ArcelorMittal’s Georgetown steelworks in 2017.

The news was part of a larger update by the GFG Alliance, which included restructuring and refinancing progress for all its operations. LIBERTY Steel Group’s Restructuring and Transformation Committee (RTC) was formed in May 2021. Chief Restructuring Officer Jeffrey Stein said that the restart of the Georgetown plant reflects “further evidence of healthy market conditions and strong infrastructure spending across much of the globe.”