2/8/2021 -- Germany’s EJP Maschinen GmbH announced that it has purchased a “significant portion” of Italmec, a manufacturer of wire drawing machines and peripheral equipment located in Poland that last year had joined it as a strategic partner.
A press release said that, with the drawing lines from Italmec and the cleaning systems from EJP (previously known as EJP WITEC GmbH), EJP’s structure now allows it to offer complete production lines for the entire process chain, from wire rod to finished coil. Founded in 2006, Italmec Sp. z o.o. has extensive industry knowledge and experience. In November 2018, Italmec acquired the WWM (Welding Wire Machinery) brand, which included the know-how of its employees as well as all projects and patents. At EJP’s website, it notes that it also offers combined drawing machines, drawbenches, peeling machines and straightening machines

Last September, EJP and Lothar Köppen co-founded EJP WIRE Technology, which supplies machines and related process technology for pretreatment of wire. “There were many changes in the international market in 2020,” said EJP Managing Director Jacques Paraskevas. “Through the participation in Italmec and WWM, we are filling a gap that was created last year.” He observed that the involvement in the two companies was another logical step towards complete solutions for the wire industry: EJP is now one of the few suppliers that produce complete plants for the entire “wire” process chain and at the same time have a global sales and service network. There are also synergies to other long products, such as “rods, tubes and profiles.”

The two other EJP companies include EJP-TOSCA, which supplies shot blasting equipment; and EJP Italia, which provides butt welding equipment for wire.

2/8/2021 -- The Ames Copper Group (ACG)—a joint venture between U.S.-based Prime Materials Recovery, Inc. (PMR), and Spain’s CuNext Group—to build a secondary copper smelter in North Carolina, USA. 

Per the PMR website and reports in recyclingtoday.com and areadevelopment.com, the SMS Group will supply the smelter. It will have the capacity to annually process up to 50,000 tons of copper anodes. The plant, scheduled for startup this year, will be the first secondary copper recycling facility in the U.S. to produce copper anodes from copper scrap and copper fines.

“The manufacturing industry is critical to our success as a nation, and this will be the only smelter in the U.S. manufacturing custom copper anodes,” said PMR CEO Bernard Schilberg. He said that China’s restrictions on copper scrap imports and the oversupply they have created in the U.S. market prompted the venture, as did the demand for copper anodes in North America. “We will be able to compete globally with the new efficient technology we are implementing.”

Based in East Hartford, Connecticut, PMR operates processing facilities in Canastota, New York; Willimantic, Connecticut; Orangeburg, South Carolina; and Hickory, North Carolina. PMR processes and brokers in excess of 35 million pounds of nonferrous metals a month. Its affiliate, IMC Metals America in Shelby, North Carolina, manufactures copper for wiring and lightning rods, as well as applications in the defense industry.

Schilberg said that CuNext has experience in copper mining and refining while PMR has experience in direct melting of copper scrap. ACG will purchase birch/cliff, No. 2 copper chops with a minimum of 90 percent copper content and copper-bearing scrap, and copper alloys with a minimum of 85% copper content. The smelter will consume 54,000 tons of scrap annually to produce 50,000 tons of 99.7% copper custom anodes. U.S. wire and cable manufacturers are key customers.

SMS will supply a tilting refining furnace, anode casting wheel, gas cleaning system, and electric and automation systems. The plant will be prepared for a future upgrade with additional digitalization features.

2/8/2021 -- The CEO of National Cable Factory, which was established in Oman in 2013 and began production in 2018, is exploring sales to foreign markets.

A press release from the company said that its factory in Raysut Industrial City in Oman has continued to sustain production to help provide electrical and flexible cables for the domestic market, despite the challenges by Covid-19. Now, the company is looking to do more.

“With high efficiency and excellent quality of products, the factory plans to explore foreign markets in the near future to promote these products overseas,” said National Cable Factory CEO Nayef bin Hamid Fadel. He noted that the company is positioned to do this. “The company’s annual production volume has amounted to 10,000 tonnes of all types of electrical cables. Besides, the company has introduced new production lines in correspondence to the requirements of a fast-moving market.”" He emphasized that the company pays great attention to providing job and training opportunities for the national cadres. “The National Cable Factory, in cooperation with the Technical and Administrative Training Institute, will train a number of diploma holders as part of training for employment.”

Per the company’s website, the company produces a range of building wire, power cable and flexible cable at its 40,000-sq-m plant. The company has quality certifications from BASEK, BRE, BSI, DGMS, TAG and VDE. It was established by “Omani Investor Group and Turkish cable industry know-how.”

2/8/21 -- Maillefer announced that it plans to strengthen its support and presence in India by introducing local manufacturing and supply of brand name technology for low-voltage wire and cable manufacturers within the region.

A press release said that the Indian subcontinent is seen as one of the fastest-growing wire and cable markets in the world. Maillefer has long had a presence there, supporting the growth of this market through its office and team in Mumbai. It now will be able to provide local equipment as well as testing capability and service/support. “We are happy and enthusiastic to announce our latest investment, strengthening this support and presence.”

The company also announced that the Maillefer India team now includes Mr. Reddy of Herlin Products and Services Pvt. Ltd. as the key contact in the region for low-voltage solutions. He can be contacted directly at tel. 91-95157-88679 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) has been awarded a contract for the Stikine Crossing Submarine Cable Replacement Project from Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) through its subsidiary, Sumitomo Electric USA.

A press release said that the project calls for removing and discarding the existing 138 kV OF (oil filled) submarine power cable. It will be replaced by an environmentally friendly 69 kV XLPE (Cross-linked polyethylene) submarine cable, with ancillary equipment, for a fully functional system located in the Stikine crossing (approximately 16,700 ft high) between Vank and Woronkofski Islands, near Wrangell, Alaska, USA. In 2018, SEI completed a similar project in relatively close waters for Orcas Power & Light Cooperative, Washington, USA.

“The Sumitomo Electric Group will carry out this project soundly with the highest priority on quality and safety, and through constant optimization in project execution gain further experience to capture demand for power grid renewal projects in the U.S. market, which is expected to rise in coming years.”

In other news, SEI has passed the approval test for its 525 kV DC cable system with a DC gas-insulated switchgear (DC GIS) interface in accordance with CIGRE TB496 by a collaboration with Siemens Energy and German cable supplier Südkabel. DC GIS provides a compact solution for connecting HVDC cable lines to offshore converter platforms and onshore transition stations. Südkabel supplied its DC XLPE cable using Sumitomo Electric’s DC XLPE compound materials and connected it to Sumitomo Electric’s XLPE cable and joints.