wiredInUSA december 2018

Season’s

Issue No. 90 - December 2018

www.wiredInUSA.com

Greetings

America’s online magazine for wire and cable

wiredIn USA

Power for rural areas Page 9

Education first. Page 10

Fastened together. Page 27

Peace-ful progression. Page 33

Quick Reliable Service Always there to help

www.zumbach.com • sales@zumbach.ch

EDITOR

More than seven million rural businesses and residential customers across the USA will benefit from a $1.6 billion investment from the US Department of Agriculture for rural electric utility infrastructure projects across 24 states. The projects will help build or improve 5,833 miles of line and include $307 million for smart grid technologies to improve system operations and monitor grid security. See page 9 for full details. Commercial Metals Company has bought four US rebar mills and 33 rebar fabrication locations from Gerdau Long Steel North America. The deal gives CMC additional annual rolling capacity of around 2.5 million tons. Full story on page 14. I would also like to take this opportunity, on behalf of everyone at wiredInUSA, to wish you all Season’s Greetings and a healthy, happy and prosperous 2019.

David Bell Editor

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

December 2018 Issue No.90 CONTENTS

06 PAGE

Show Diary 2019

09 PAGE

Making the News Industry news from the USA

26 PAGE

Europe news The latest news from Europe

32 PAGE

Asia & Africa News The latest news from Asia & Africa

38 PAGE

Products, Machines & Technology The latest news from machine industries

wiredInUSA - December 2018

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wiredIn USA

© 2018 Intras Limited UK ISSN 2046 - 9497 Publishers of EuroWire and Wire & Cable ASIA magazines

INTRAS OFFICES Europe: 46 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 4HY, UK

Tel: +44 1926 334137 Fax: +44 1926 314755

Email: read@wiredinusa.com Website: www.wiredinusa.com

USA: Danbury Corporate Center, 107 Mill Plain Road, Danbury, CT 06811, USA Tel: +1 203 794 0444 Email: doug@intras.co.uk News Editor David Bell david@wiredinusa.com Features Editor (USA) Dorothy Fabian Features Editor (Europe) Gill Watson Publisher Caroline Sullens

Sales & Marketing (International) Sales Director Jason Smith jason@wiredinusa.com +44 1926 834 684 Accounts Manager Julie Case juliecase@intras.co.uk

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Diary Shows & Events 2019

february 28 February to 2 March 2019 Istanbul TEL Fair Istanbul, Turkey www.tel-fair.com

june 13-15 June 2019 Guangzhou Guangzhou, China www.julang.com.cn march 5-7 March 2019 Cables 2019 Düsseldorf, Germany www.ami.international

may 13-16 May 2019 Interwire Trade Exposition Atlanta, Georgia, USA www.wirenet.org

September 18-20 September 2019 wire Southeast ASIA Bangkok, Thailand www.wire-southeastasia.com

October 1-3 October 2019 wire South America São Paulo, Brazil www.wire-south-america.com

For more info visit: www.wiredinusa.com/showinfo.php

wiredInUSA - December 2018

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Power for rural areas M A K I N G T H E NEWS

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $1.6 billion in 46 rural electric utility infrastructure projects across 24 states. “Reliable and affordable power is an underpinning for economic development and quality of life,” said Anne Hazlett, assistant to the secretary for rural development. The projects will help build or improve 5,833 miles of line, and will include $307 million for smart grid technologies to improve systemoperations andmonitor grid security. The investmentsareexpectedtobenefit 7 million rural business and residential consumers across the country.

will use a $124 million loan to add 144 miles of line, improve 205 miles of line, and make other system improvements including a $24 million investment in smart grid technologies. Minnkota Power Cooperative, with a service territory of approximately 35,000 square miles and a population of 300,000, will use a $67.4 million loan to finance generation and transmission improvements. Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC) will use $93.9 million to finance transmission improvement projects for over 1.8 million consumers. GTC owns and maintains approximately 3,410 miles of transmission line and is the largest cooperative-owned transmission system in the United States.

Beneficiaries include Ohio’s South- Central Power cooperative, which

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Education first

Wire Association International’s first regional Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing workshopwas reportedas agreat success. The workshop’s first time as a stand-alone event, held in McKinney, Texas, attracted 105 industry professionals. Course attendance has risen steadily over the years at WAI’s annual conventions. Steven Fetteroll, WAI executive director, explained: “The increasing interest in the program ledWAI to test the format in Texas, where two nearby companies, Encore Wire, and Wire and Plastic Machinery Corp, graciously hosted facility tours to round out the educational schedule.”

services, said: “The popularity of the course shows us that the demand for basic wire and cable manufacturing information is high, and it likely reflects the turnover in manufacturing jobs at industry plants.” The course covers the mechanics of wire drawing; drawing dies; wire drawing lubricants; wire breaks and surface damage; stranding cable; cleaning and coating of rod and wire; extrusion; basics of electrical testing; ferrous heat treatment; used machinery; manufacturing problem solving; testing and properties; and ferrous metallurgy. The course will again be on offer at WAI’s 89 th annual convention during Interwire in Atlanta, on 13 th May 2019.

Remarking on the event, Marc Murray, WAI’s director of education and member

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Cables acquisition

High Road Capital Partners, New York, a private equity firm, has completed its acquisition of Radix Wire, Cleveland, Ohio, a manufacturer of high temperature and fire-resistant wire and cable. “Radix is a recognized leader in the niche high temperature and fire- resistant market, and its deep expertise across multiple engineering disciplines, proprietary material blends, and product innovation and customization capabilities, differentiate the company and

contribute to strong, long-term customer relationships,” said Ben Schnakenberg, partner at High Road Capital Partners. “Radix is well positioned for continued growth, and we look forward to supporting the company’s strongmanagement team to execute on those growth strategies.”

The company will be renamed Radix Wire and Cable.

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Transmission acquisition

Invenergy has revealed its intention to acquire all the development assets of the Grain Belt Express transmission project — planned to carry power from western Kansas to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and neighboring states. The new infrastructure is critical to supporting significant additions of renewable and clean generation sources to the nation’s electricity mix.

of transmission infrastructure in the US will provide American homes and businesses with access to some of the lowest-cost renewable energy in the country. The company has successfully developed over 20,000 MW of renewable and other clean energy generation and storage projects. Development of the Grain Belt Express will further Invenergy’s commitment to rural economic development and job creation.

According to Invenergy, adding the Grain Belt Express to its existing 400 miles

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Strategic network partnership

António Nunes

Multinational telecoms company Angola Cables has announced a strategic business partnership with Silica Networks in Argentina and Chile to connect terrestrial fiber networks to the recently commissioned South Atlantic Cable System (SACS). SACS will be Silica Networks’ preferred route in the Southern Hemisphere, providing fiber operators and content providers in Argentina and Chile with a direct route between South America and Africa, with onward connections to Asia. Angola Cables CEO António Nunes said: “SACS is already starting to function as a strategic point of connection, for the South Atlantic region, for South American operators interested in reachingmarkets in the east, at latencies five times lower than those that exist in the market today. The SACS cable will enable Africa to become an important bridge and pivot point for

the exchange of information and data between east and west.”

Horácio Martinez, CEO of Silica Networks, commented: “This is a milestone for the digital economies of Argentina and Chile as it opens up new fronts for entrepreneurship for operators, fiber optic networks, and broadband providers accessing the high capacity services provided by SACS and Angola Cables to the African and eastern markets.” digital connectivity between Argentina, Brazil and Chile with a network that crosses the Andes at four points and approaches São Paulo by two routes — a terrestrial and a submarine network. Nunes added: “This connection will certainly boost business development in the Latin American, African, Middle and Far Eastern markets.” Silica Networks provides

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Photo by Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash

Change for the rebar market

Gerdau Long Steel North America has completed the sale of four US rebar mills and all 33 of its rebar fabrication locations to Commercial Metals Company (CMC). According to a KeyBanc analyst, the deal gives CMC additional annual rolling capacity of approximately 2.5 million tons, along with an incremental 2.7 million tons of melt capacity, which gives the company an approximate total of 7.2 million tons of global melt capacity at the close of the transaction. CMC is said to be honoring previous pricing agreements from Gerdau in some cases, but immediately transitioning others to their

own pricing. One source said they were switching to daily pricing with CMC, away from the longer-termagreements they were getting from Gerdau. “It seems like [transaction changes are] on a case-by-case basis,” commented one Midwest US buyer. “We’re just transitioning a lot of logistical things with [CMC] right now, it’s not too bad. If it were the spring, it would be worse.” He added that he had heard of employee turnover between the mills during the first week of the transition, and predicted more to come as things settle. “I think there’s going to be a lot of duplication [of personnel], in the southeast especially,” he added.

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Wire and cable specialist finds new appointment

Proton Products, of Sharpsburg, Georgia, has appointed Greg Goss as sales manager. Grant Latimer, president of Proton Products, said: “Greg has a long affiliation with the wire and cable industry having workedat Southwire; thenwebothworked for Beta Instruments in the late 1990s and Beta LaserMike in the early 2000s. Greg has also represented Proton Products as an independent sales representative

for a number of years, and brings with him a huge breadth of knowledge and experience of instrumentation and control systems, which are designed and developed for wire and cable applications.”

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Cash dividend

EncoreWireCorporation is amanufacturer of a broad range of electrical building wire for interior wiring in commercial and industrial buildings, homes, apartments and manufactured housing.

Daniel L Jones, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Encore Wire Corporation, has confirmed that: “Two- cent per share dividendwill be paid on 18 th January 2019 to stockholders of record at the close of business on 4 th January 2019. “Any future quarterly dividends will be paid subject to earnings and cash flow considerations. We appreciate our stockholders’ commitment to the continued growth of Encore Wire.”

wiredInUSA - December 2018

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Improving supply in Brazil

ABB has signed a $20 million contract with Furnas–Centrais Elétricas SA to boost transmission capacity and improve power quality for electricity consumers in southeast Brazil, while optimizing the use of hydropower. Under the deal, ABB will supply electrical systems to enable existing alternating current lines to transmit higher levels of power to densely populated areas. Series compensation technologies are part of ABB’s Flexible Alternating Current

Transmission Systems (FACTS) technologies, which boost transmission capacity while improving power stability. “ABB has been a long-standing partner in helping develop Brazil’s power infrastructure,” said Patrick Fragman, head of ABB’s grid integration business unit, a part of the power grids division. “This latest FACTS power quality installation will enhance the availability of power and improve reliability for consumers in Brazil’s capital.”

ECC offers a broad portfolio of customized elastomeric or polyolefin based compounds utilized for medium/high voltage as well as certain low voltage flame retardant applications including: • EPR and Polyolefin Compounds • Elastomeric, Crosslinkable, and Thermoplastic Compounds • Flame Retardant and Halogen Free Compounds • Moisture Crosslinkabe Compounds • Specialty/Custom/FR Masterbatches • Insulation, Jacketing, and Bedding Compounds • ISO 9001 certified manufacturing process ensures quality, efficiency and ultimately customer satisfaction. • Non-carbon black product lines produce super-clean, elastomeric high voltage cable compounds. • Personalized customer service and support to customers worldwide. Wire & Cable Customized Compounds

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Fasteners forecast

years, and includes a discussion of key vendors operating in the market.

Credence Research’s report, “Industrial fasteners – global market size, analysis, share, trends, growth and forecast to 2026” is a full market analysis of the world’s major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions and the main countries (United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).

The Beta LaserMike brand has been faithfully serving the wire and cable industry for over 50 years and we have thousands of satisfied customers that rely on our measurement systems every day to improve quality, increase productivity and deliver manufacturing savings. We are committed to your success. Precision Measurement & Control Solutions The report suggests that the global industrial fasteners market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 5.3 percent during the forecast period 2018- 2023, exceeding $107 billion by 2023, and concludes with SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.

The report describes themarket landscape and its growth prospects over the coming

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A first for optic network

SouthernCross Cable is deployingCiena’s WaveLogic Ai tunable coherent optics and the 6500 T-series to enhance the scale, programmability and intelligence of its network. Ciena said Southern Cross Cable is the first subsea deployment of its WaveLogic Ai over compensatedcableand includes the first deployment of 200Gbps wavelengths between Sydney and Auckland. Ciena’s WaveLogic Ai allows Southern Cross to monitor links in real-time, so it can determine the ideal capacity for each channel across any path. WaveLogic Ai also provides scalability by allowing Southern Cross to add an additional 6.4 Tbps of wavelength expansion across its subsea and terrestrial networks. Southern Cross’s existing programmable infrastructure is further enhanced with the introduction of the Ciena 6500 T-series

platform that scales to 24 Tbps OTN switching capacity for efficient traffic groomingand includes Ciena’s advanced multi-layer control plane software to maximize network resiliency. “Our customers’ needs are changing, almost daily, as they move towards the cloud and larger, web-scale data flows, particularly between continents,” said Southern Cross Cable’s network director of marketing and sales, Craige Sloots. “Southern Cross Cable is setting a new industry benchmark by creating a more intelligent and programmable network that can adapt, and quickly respond, to dynamic customer demands,” said Rick Seeto, Ciena’s vice president and general manager, Asia/Pacific and Japan.

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Belden Inc has inaugurated its first “One Belden” manufacturing unit in Pune, India. The factory is equipped with the latest equipment and proprietary technology to serve Belden’s key industrial, enterprise and broadcast segments. With an investment of $35 million across two phases, Belden has established a strong footprint in India and south and south- east Asia to augment existing commercial operations and meet customers’ mission- critical signal transmission and management needs. The facility has been established with support from the Indian government’s Mega Project program. Key products from the new plant will include low voltage cables for high-end applications, connectivity and assemblies for data transmission, and ethernet switches, routers and firewalls for industrial and building automation. The first phase, which included a $20 million investment, was completed in September 2018. Work on the second phase will commence soon, with an additional $15 million investment. In 2019, once at full capacity, the project is expected to provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to over 300 people.

First “One” in India

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EUROPE NEWS

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Helicoil insert

Fastened together

UK manufacturers Bollhoff Fastenings and Bollhoff Armstrong, have merged to form Bollhoff Ltdwith effect from1 st November 2018. The family-owned and run Bollhoff group, which purchased Hull-based Armstrong Precision Components in 2010, has seen sales of its Helicoil threaded inserts treble in the last eight years, led in part by buoyant aerospace, defense and automotive markets. At the same time, Willenhall-based Bollhoff Fastenings, established in the UK in 1985, has seen its business base grow by 300 percent over the same period. The company has been responsible for a widening portfolio of some Bollhoff brands, including Rivnut,

Onsert, Rivtac, Snaploc, Quickloc, andRivset. The group will continue to invest in both its Willenhall andHull locations, andwill expand staff numbers and manufacturing capacity at each site tokeeppacewith risingdemand. “These are great times for Bollhoff,” said UK director and country manager Leigh Burgoyne. “We have established a reputation as innovators, manufacturers and suppliers providing high-tech, practical fastening solutions across all industries. Our Helicoil brand, arguably the best-known threaded insert worldwide, will continue to be produced in our Hull plant and, since becoming part of the Bollhoff group, the company has invested significantly in new technology.”

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Sea crossing

EU import quota take-up

Photo by Matt Holmes on Unsplash

The rate at which the European Commission’s import safeguard quotas for wire rod and rebar are filling up is accelerating, and may give domestic long steel producers an opportunity to raise prices, despite slow demand. The European quotas were introduced in mid-July in response to the imposition by the United States of wide-ranging import tariffs on industrial goods, including steel. They will initially run until 3 rd February 2019 before an expected renewal for a further year. Over 70 percent of the initial quota for wire rod imports has been used up, according to the EU tariff quota consultation on 11 th November, accounting for 745,894 tonnes. Rebar imports under the quota system currently total 436,455 tonnes, or 61.05 percent of the initial quota. It now seems certain that wire rod and rebar quotas will be filled in advance of a renewal in February. Metals analyst Fastmarkets estimates that this will happen in December for the wire rod market, and January for rebar, leaving a one or two month window during which imported material will be taxed by the EU at 25 percent of its value. This will price imports out of the market until the quotas are renewed, and would allow domestic producers to increase their market share or raise their prices, or both.

NKT has an order to replace the high voltage AC interconnector system between Denmark and Sweden. The order was won by a consortium with VBMS BV (now Boskalis) and consists of design, production and installation of four 400 kV high voltage power cables, and the removal of the old system. The original cables for the interconnector system across the sea of Öresund were installed in 1973, and thepower link is owned by the Swedish national grid operator Svenska kraftnät. “Interconnectors between countries are essential to ensure an efficient energy distribution across the continent and we are always happy to take part in the development and maintenance of the power grids,” said Andreas Berthou, executive vice president and head of high voltage solutions at NKT. The 36km of 400 kV HVAC extruded power cables will be manufactured at the NKT factory in Karlskrona, Sweden, during 2019, and the project is expected to be completed in 2020. NKT will handle the cable design, manufacturing and onshore installation, and Boskalis will retrieve and recycle the old oil-filled cables and carry out the offshore section of the cable installation.

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Renewable plans

UK firm looks to the US

The Netherlands plans its use of renewable energy to reach 14 percent of the energy mix in 2020 and 16 percent by 2023. A major milestone will be reached in 2020 when Ørsted brings its Borssele 1 and 2 wind farms online. Nexans will supply between 170km and 190km of 72.5 kV subsea cable to provide the inter-array connections between the turbines and the offshore substations. Borssele 1 and 2 are located around 23km off the Dutch coast in 14m to 36m water depths. The two wind farms will have a total of 94 wind turbines generating 752 MW of power, which is enough electricity to meet the needs of around one million domestic households. Nexans has been awarded a contract by Ørsted to supply and install three-phase 66 kV copper cables with two cross-sections. These will be used for internal cabling of the wind farms: the array cables connect the wind turbines to each other and to the transformer stations, from where the electricity is transported to the mainland. The array cables for Borssele 1 and 2 will be produced at the Nexans Hanover plant, for delivery in 2019. Nexans’ subsea and land systems division will complete connection to the turbine bases during 2020.

JDR Cable Systems and McAllister Towing have established a memorandum of understanding for the development and collaborative operation of a US East Coast- based subsea power cable service base with an integrated cable training center. The new facility will be developed on an existing McAllister quayside waterfront property in the north eastern United States. The site has been selected for its proximity to the current offshore wind leases and what the companies describe as “the enormous potential of the region” in the use of renewable energy sources. Initially the base will serve as a staging area for subsea power cables to enable local storage, maintenance and deployment to the offshore wind fields. Longer term plans include office, storage, workshop and training facilities to develop offshore high voltage electrical and fiber optic competencies. David Nemetz, director for the Americas at JDR, said: “I amconvinced our joint venture will bring significant benefits to anyone interested in wind-related development of the East Coast of the USA.”

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Spooled bar coils

Second phase contract

Image: Danieli

NKT has won a project to install 200km of 80 kV high voltage DC offshore power cables for the second phase of the Johan Sverdrup oil field development project in Norway. A press release said that the award is conditional upon finalization of the formal contract, which is likely to take place within a few weeks. The cable system, which will offer a ±80 kV HVDC solution, is expected to be in use in late 2019. The cable will transmit power from the Norwegian power grid to the Johan Sverdrup offshore oilfield, described as among the five biggest oilfields on the Norwegian continental shelf. Earlier in 2018, NKT completed supply and installation of the high voltage DC offshore power cable solution for the first phase of the Johan Sverdrup project. Installation was conducted by the NKT Victoria , operating at 600m depth, which marks one of the deepest installations of bundled high voltage DC cables in the world. The Johan Sverdrup 1 solution from NKT now constitutes the world’s longest extruded offshore cable to an offshore oil and gas platform facility.

Danieli has recently fulfilled orders for K-Spool lines for Japanese producer Topy Industries Ltd, and US-based Commercial Metals Company. The K-Spool line represents the latest technology for the production of hot rolled compact coils, with customized layout configurations that take specific quality and productivity requirements into account. The K-Spool line at Topy’s Toyohashi rolling mill, Aichi prefecture, has been designed for an output capacity up to 240,000 tons per year of D10, D13 and D16 in compact coils up to 3.5 tons in SD295A and SD345 grades. It uses two Danieli horizontal spooler stations independently served by separate lifting forks. A two-pass fast-finishing block with a Hi- Profile measuring system will upgrade the finishing mill. The second K-Spool line, installed in Durant, Oklahoma, upgrades CMC’s micromill by adding compact coils in the range #3 to #6, using a four-pass fast finishing block and two Danieli horizontal spooler stations, fed by the endless MI DA ® rolling mill. With the application of the endless rolling process, the plant can produce compact coils in weights up to 11,000 lb.

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Protecting steel ropes

More tidal power on- stream

image: Metalube

Lubricant specialist Metalube has supplied its biodegradable lubricants for use on the lifting cranes employed to build a multi- billion dollar, 55 km bridge linking Hong Kong to Macau. As one of the world’s longest sea bridges there was a need to ensure that products used over open ocean were biodegradable, and harmless to the environment. Metalube’s Ropetek WRD 40-1 offers effective lubrication whilst remaining environmentally friendly, and was used on ropes throughout the bridge’s construction. Ropetek WRD 40-1 provides effective lubrication and corrosion protection to the steel ropes of the floating cranes, offering greater rope longevity whilst also protecting the sea water environment. The product provides high resistance to moisture and oxidation, and protects against corrosion- induced failure. It also has high-load carrying solids that minimize friction and wear between wires and strands.

Image: Minesto

Swedish marine energy developer Minesto has entered intoacollaborationagreement with SEV, themain power utility on the Faroe Islands, for the installation of two DG100 100 kW tidal energy devices. The collaboration will cover installation, commissioning and operation of two grid- connected DG100 units, part of Minesto’s Deep Green subsea kite technology. According to Minesto, installation of the first unit is planned for late 2019 or early 2020, with the following unit to be installed in 2020. SEV will provide the required infrastructure, such as grid connection, and resources for consenting processes. Site development is in progress with an identified site in Vestmannasund, a strait in the north-west part of Faroe Islands. The collaboration is the first phase of a long- term ambition to add further tidal energy capacity to the Faroe Island’s energy mix. Faroe Islands has set a goal of meeting its entire electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2030, including transport and heating.

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

ASIA & AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - December 2018

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Peace-ful progression

PEACE Cable International Network Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Hengtong group, has announced, in conjunction with Huawei Marine Networks, that the PEACE cable project has entered into the cable and material manufacturing stage. The 12,000km PEACE cable systemwill connect Asia, Africa and Europe and is scheduled for service in the first quarter of 2020. The high speed 200G, 16 Tbps per fiber pair system will offer the shortest routes from China to Europe and Africa, dramatically reducing latency and providing a new information expressway for interconnection between the regions. PEACE Cable has signed cooperation agreements to land the network in Somalia and Seychelles to boost local network service quality in both nations. The project’s cable contract was awarded to Hengtong Marine, also a subsidiary of Hengtong group.

Sun Xiaohua, chief operating officer of PEACE Cable, said: “PEACE Cable has created a new business model in the submarine cable industry that builds a bridge for these regions’ communications and provides connectivity opportunities to players all along the route by investing in the branches and gaining bandwidth on the trunk in a more efficient way.” Zhang Hongxiang, project delivery director of Huawei Marine, added: “We are glad to work with this creative network, which is open to connect along the route on any of the potential points. However, with the commerce of cable manufacture, such extensions are dependent on the plan of work. Players who get on board soon will secure better flexibility on this network.”

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

Moves to meet transmission demand

Compounding assets

Image: Borealis

Polyolefin and base chemical supplier Borealis is to acquire a controlling stake in South Korean compounder DYM Solution Co Ltd, subject to regulatory approvals. Based in Cheonan, South Korea, DYM Solution was founded in 1992 and is a provider of compound solutions for the global wire and cable industry. It specializes in semi-conductive, halogen- free flame-retardant rubber and silane cured compounds. Borealis is seeking to extend the global wire and cable asset footprint it has with Borouge. Borealis will build upon its extensive portfolio with complementary products and technologies for semi- conductive, flame retardant, rubber and silane cured compounds. “Having access to an Asian manufacturing base would significantly expand our ability to foster continuing organic growth for Borealis and Borouge, and enable us to meet the requirements of our wire and cable customers even better,” explained Borealis chief executive Alfred Stern.

The Australian state of New South Wales has outlined plans to spend around $1.9 billion to accelerate the development of transmission capacity for wind and solar power. According to Reuters news agency, New South Wales alone has solar and wind projects worth around $19 billion, with a further 20 GW of capacity in the design stage. “For every twenty projects looking to connect, only one can. So we’re going to change that,” saidNewSouthWales energy minister Don Harwin. The state is working with transmission operator Transgrid, owned by a consortium led by Spark Infrastructure group, to speed up planning and feasibility work on four projects. The facilities are needed between 2022 and 2024, to boost connections between New South Wales and its neighboring states of Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

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Maintenance and support

Island proposal

Image: gulf-insider.com

A Bahrain project calls for a submarine power cable to connect the mainland to the Hawar Islands, an archipelago of desert islands situated off the west coast of Qatar in the Gulf of Bahrain. The 25km power cable will run from Al Bar, the southernmost tip on the island of Bahrain, to north-western Hawar. The goal is a permanent electricity grid for Hawar, rather than relying on temporary power generators as it does at present. A statement from Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, a Bahraini deputy prime minister who heads the ministerial committee for reconstruction and infrastructure work, said the project is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2019 and be completed in the last quarter of 2020. The electricity and water authority has submitted a proposal for the cable route. Bahrain said it plans to develop sections of Hawar Island, in line with Bahrain’s national economic strategy for 2030. The electricity supply needs to be upgraded in order to sustain the development and to meet increasing demand. The project is funded by the Saudi Fund for Development.

Huawei Marine has signed a three-year maintenance and support agreement with Suriname Guyana Cubmarine Cable System (SGSCS). This is the third maintenance and support contract SGSCS has signed with Huawei Marine. As the first large-capacity broadband submarine cable network in the region, the 1,249km SGSCS cable system connects Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad. During its eight-year warranty period, Huawei Marine’s professional maintenance team provides customers with 7x24x365 helpdesk andcustomer service request handling, and provides remote emergency support for critical issues, meeting the SLA time limit of the contract. During Huawei Marine’s eight years working with SGSCS, the transmission equipment’s software and NMS software were successfully upgraded. Under the new support agreement, Huawei Marine will optimize the maintenance service based on the SGSCS network’s running status in recent years to provide technical support services for new devices. Based on facilitating a stable network operation, the aim will be to develop an equipment health check and network evaluation optimization to detect hidden issues and potential risks. The 2018 SGSCS new maintenance contract signing ceremony

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wiredInUSA - December 2018

African acquisition

Group deal

African telecoms and subsea connectivity provider Seacom has announced its acquisition of FibreCo to increase the company’s presence in Southern Africa. FibreCo owns and operates a nationwide dark fiber network in South Africa, and the acquisition will allow Seacom to boost its business and enterprise service offering in the region, and better position itself for the rollout of 5G services. “The acquisition enables the delivery of high speed Internet connectivity and cloud products into smaller cities and towns across the country, which have typically been under-serviced,” Seacom said in a press statement. “This acquisition represents another major milestone towards Seacom achieving its vision to expand its African footprint through the consolidation of fiber assets. Seacom believes this is necessary for the evolution of the market, particularly as we move into the 5G environment with its requirement for pervasive fiber networks,” the company said. Seacom owns and operates a number of subsea cable systems supplying connectivity between Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Photo by Finding Dan | Dan Grinwis on Unsplash

Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

Oman Cables has signed a contract with the Nama group to supply its group members across the Sultanate of Oman. A press release said that Oman Cables, which has long been a supporter of the Nama group, will supply a mix of 11 to 33 kV electrical cables. The deal was one of three signed by the group at the 2018 Energy and Water Conference, said to have a collective value of approximately $106 million. The contracts will run for three years, with the option of a two-year renewal. The company said, “For Oman Cables this represents an ongoing commitment to the local market in Oman, and signifies clearly the competitiveness, on a global scale, of locally based industries.” Nama group’s chairman, Hassan bin Mohammed al Lawatiaid, said the deal includes nine group companies that can purchase cables as needed to suit their purposes.

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Oman network

Floating solar

Image: Sunseap

LS Cable and System has been selected as one of the companies to build Oman’s first optical fiber communication network. LS Cable and System has announced it will be responsible for the design and engineering of the network, as well as the supply of optical cables, in the project to link the Oman capital, Muscat, to major cities by 2021. Oman plans to further expand the optical fiber communication network in the region by 2030.

The Singapore-based Sunseap group is developing an Offshore floating photovoltaic (OFPV) system to be located along the Straits of Johor. Supported by the Singapore economic development board (EDB), the 5 MW floating solar system is expected to generate about 6,388 MWh of renewable energy per year. The five-hectare OFPV pilot is expected to be commercially operational early in 2019. Most large-scale floating PV systems are built on freshwater ponds, lakes or reservoirs. Sunseap’s installation is one of the largest sea-based photovoltaic projects. Frank Phuan, co-founder and CEO of Sunseap group, said: “In land-scarce countries like Singapore, the widespread use of PV systems is hindered by space constraints and limited roof space. The successful delivery of this project is important in opening up similar opportunities for sea- based floating photovoltaic systems in Singapore and the region.” Sunseap has previously participated in the floating PV test-bed at Singapore’s Tengeh Reservoir. Results so far suggest that floating PV systems perform better than typical rooftop solar PV systems in Singapore, due to the cooler temperatures of the reservoir environment.

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Products, Machines & Technology

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Speed and accuracy The new Beta LaserMike LaserSpeed ® Pro gauge from NDC Technologies is designed to improve process control for wire and cable manufacturers by enabling accurate measurement of product length and speed. This non-contact laser gauge also offers expanded capabilities in connectivity, communication and control, consistent with Industry 4.0, for easy integration into production networks. The device works by projecting a pattern onto the surface of the wire or cable, which is then reflected back to the unit and translated into speed. Pulses are generated at a rate proportional to the speed. The pulse output is sent to a control system, such as a PLC, to indicate length and trigger process actions. A new processing engine enables length and speed measurements to be made up to 100,000 times per second, and pulses can be driven up to 5 MHz to control process actions. Measurements are said to be performed with better than ±0.03 percent accuracy and ±0.02 percent repeatability for a depth of field of up to 100mm and full velocity range.

deceleration rates, and can measure down to true zero speed.

The new gauge can replace error- prone contact tachometers and, having permanent calibration and no moving parts, needs no maintenance or scheduled downtime. Making copper go further 10Gtek, a data center interconnect supplier and online retailer, is offering active copper cables (ACCs) using Spectra7’s GaugeChanger TM technology. GaugeChanger technology allows copper to extend to much longer lengths, without the cost and power penalty of optics. It works equally well at 25 Gbps NRZ and 50 Gbps PAM4, enabling new connector standards of 100/200/400 Gbps. “Spectra7 has created a revolutionary solution to address the dramatically increasing power and cost of data center interconnects,” said Alan Wong, general manager at 10Gtek. “We are pleased to be moving forward on several new designs with Spectra7, based on our technology assessment and customer interest.” “10Gtek is a leading supplier and online retailer in the data center interconnect market,” said Spectra7 CEO Raouf Halim. Spectra7 said its

LaserSpeed Pro tracks minute product movements, even at rapid acceleration/

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of the product are short-circuit tested to IEC61914.

“The adoption of our GaugeChanger technology by 10Gtek will offer us a strong sales channel into the enterprise and HPC data center markets.” Cleat expansion Ellis has extended its range of plastic trefoil cable cleats to accommodate diameters up to 83mm. Trident, a trefoil polymeric cleat, was originally available in sizes ranging from 24 to 54mm, but now covers 24-83mm and features nine different sized products. Richard Shaw, managing director of Ellis, said: “We developed Trident to put us on a level playing field with those who already manufactured and sold all-plastic trefoil cleats in Europe – especially in Germany and Holland where such products have been popular for a long time. “The success we’ve enjoyed with it since then, both in these specific markets and others, including here in the UK, meant we had absolutely no hesitation in extending the range to cover all the most-used cable sizes.” Trident has an FEA-optimized design and is manufactured as standard in V0 0H 30 percent glass-filled nylon. It is also available in a London Underground (LUL) approved polymer that meets London Underground standard 1-085. Both versions

“We pride ourselves on having the strongest and deepest product portfolio of any cable cleat manufacturer,” continued Mr Shaw.

Keeping copper in the data center Siemon has launched an end-to-end Tera category 8.2 copper cabling system, delivering transmission performance up to 2 GHz to support emerging high speed 25G and 40G applications in data center switch-to-server applications. Siemon’s Tera category 8.2 system includes cable, patch cords, connectors and pre- terminated cable assemblies. The system is founded on Siemon’s Tera connector, that was originally chosen as the ISO/IEC 11801 interface for category 7A/ class FA and that also now meets category 8.2 compliance.

Combining the Tera connector with category 8.2 S/FTP 2,000MHz cable and

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developed for applications that require precise electrical length connectivity. Huber+Suhner has designed a reliable interconnect solution to suit a wide range of applications where phase stability is key. The assemblies are designed to meet all requirements in radio frequency, aerospace and defense, test and measurement, and industrial environments. They also offer an improved insertion loss stability over temperature, compared to standard coaxial cables. Eduardo Romero, product manager at Huber+Suhner, said: “The new assemblies achieve increased accuracy, stability and reliability over multiple temperature cycles, and there are no limitations, no matter the temperature or industry. The new and improved CT variants of the tried and tested Sucoform, EZ, Minibend and Multiflex product families are practical and cost effective, yet performance and reliability are never compromised. “Giving customers the option to control fluctuating temperature changes within their cable assemblies will ultimately lead to increased accuracy, stability and reliability.” Anchor improvements Index Fixing Systems has improved and extended its range of structural MTH anchors, with the introduction of a new MTH-A2 anchor. Improvements in the design

patch cords is said to deliver a complete end-to-end system that exceeds ISO/ IEC category 8.2/class II specifications for 2-connector, 30m class II channels in the data center. These channels, and the emerging 25G/40GBASE-T applications that they support, are specifically targeted for deployment at the data center edge, where server to switch connections are made. Mike Boisseau, Siemon’s business unit leader for copper systems, said: “Siemon’s fully shielded Tera connector has long been the highest-performing copper connector available, so it was no surprise that it easily achieved category 8.2 compliance with plenty of margin, and we are now excited to introduce our complete end-to-end Tera category 8.2 system.” Boisseau added: “Not only is the Tera connector far more robust than other twisted-pair copper connectors, but the category 8.2 system provides enhanced insertion loss and crosstalk performance over RJ45-based category 8 systems.” New assemblies Huber+Suhner launched its newest cable assemblies at November’s Electronica, in Munich, Germany.

Five new and improved phase invariant CT cable assemblies have been specifically

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harmonized technical regulations (TR ZU) of the participating countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The CTP standard focuses on the fire behavior of cables and the flame retardancy of the materials. The two approvals are intended to simplify business relations for companies exporting to Russia or EAEU member states. By using certified chainflex cables companies can save time and money at customs. An additional advantage of both certifications is that new and used machinery and equipment can be moved and sold across the borders within all member states of the customs union.

have allowed the company to increase load performance by up to 40 percent in all three versions (zinc, A2 stainless steel and A4 stainless steel).

The MTH range is designed for use in concrete, reinforced concrete and stone. Installation distances to the edge of the material, and between anchors, can be calculated using INDEXcal software.

Further national certificates of conformity, through GOST-R, TR or GOST-K, are no longer required with EAC and CTP approvals.

New cable meets approvals

Medical jacket Special cables supplier Hew-Kabel of Wipperfürth, Germany, has launched its Hew-Silindo ® jacket, suitable for cables used in diagnostics, surgery and patient monitoring. Sliding friction is permanently minimized by having no foreign matter within the silicone or on the cable surface, and even after autoclaving over five hundred times, Hew-

igus has introduced a new CAN bus cable for highly dynamic energy chain applications, such as in machine tools and productionequipment. ThechainflexCFBUS cable is available with an abrasion-resistant PVC (CFBUS.PVC.020) or oil-resistant PUR (CFBUS.PUR.020) outer jacket. Both jacket options have EAC and CTP approvals. The EAC certificate is official proof that imported machines, or components for production equipment, comply with the

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hydrogen peroxide gas, disinfection washing, ultrasonic sterilization, gas sterilization with ethylene oxide, gamma sterilization, and wipe disinfection.

Silindo was shown to prevent the stick-slip effect on patients or components.

Hew-Silindo can be sterilized and is biocompatible according to EN ISO 10993-5.

Depending on the application, Hew-Silindo medical cables offer many key benefits, even with small dimensions: products optimized for medical robots can combine fiber optic cables, coax elements, single wires and strain relief, and can resist considerable tensile as well as torsional loads.

As miniaturized low-noise cables, they minimize and eliminate external influences such as friction, torsion or vibrations; flexible flat cablesmaintain their reliabilityevenafter millions of flex cycles; hybrid connection cables for dental devices can combine electrical connections, water or air supply through integrated PTFE tubes. Hew-Silindo is resistant to conventional sterilization processes including steam sterilization, plasma sterilization with

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EDITORIAL Index

10Gtek

37 17 13 22 37 25 32 20 18 28 38 34 17 14 40 11

Index Fixing Systems

39 12 27 35 27 29 29 34 27

ABB

Invenergy

Angola Cables

JDR Cable Systems LS Cable and System

Belden Inc

Beta LaserMike

McAllister Towing

Bollhoff Ltd

Metalube

Borealis

Minesto

Ciena

Nama group

Commercial Metals Company

14, 28

Nexans

Credence Research

NKT

26, 28

Danieli

Oman Cables 34 PEACE Cable International Network Co Ltd 31 Proton Products 15 Radix Wire 11 Seacom 34 Siemon 38 Silica Networks 13 Southern Cross Cable 20 Sunseap group 35 Topy Industries Ltd 28 Wire Association International 10

Ellis

Encore Wire Corporation

10, 16

FibreCo

Furnas–Centrais Elétricas SA

Gerdau Long Steel North America

Hew-Kabel

High Road Capital Partners

Huawei Marine Huber+Suhner

31, 33

39 40

igus

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