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.