EuroWire November 2022

Editor ....................................................................................... David Bell

‘Exciting time’ for British Steel ‘An incredibly exciting time for our business’ is how British Steel CEO Xifeng Han described his company’s £80mn investment in the future at its site in Scunthorpe, UK. £48mn of that will be for the installation of a new billet caster, while the Scunthorpe rod mill will undergo a £32mn upgrade. Additional money is being spent at FN Steel, British Steel’s sister company in the Netherlands. The announcement came shortly after the company said it was conducting a feasibility study into the use of green hydrogen as a fuel source. “While we’re still in the early stages of our transformation, these projects are a major step forward for British Steel and our customers. The new technology and manufacturing capabilities will significantly enhance our product range and deliver improved operational performance and efficiencies,” added Mr Han. Once the upgrade is complete, the company’s wire rod offering will have improved tolerances and surface quality, with an extended product range with diameters up to 28mm. The product range will also offer improved mechanical properties and enhanced options for supply condition, such as normalised rolled and low-temperature rolled wire rod. The reconfigured mill layout and new equipment are expected to be commissioned in 2023. The full story can be found on page 6. Another UK company in the spotlight is Cimteq Ltd, a design support and manufacturing software provider for wire and cable manufacturing. The company has been acquired by applied safety science organisation UL Solutions, therefore strengthening its software capabilities to serve its small and large wire and cable customers across the product life cycle. Cimteq’s enterprise-level software enables manufacturers to be more efficient through improved productivity and streamlining of product development and manufacturing processes.

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“Emerging technologies within smart cities, Industry 4.0, mobility and communications industries all rely on wire and cable to serve as the delivery backbone for new service offerings,” said Jennifer Scanlon, president and CEO, UL Solutions Inc. For full details, turn to page 8.

David Bell Editor

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November 2022