wiredinUSA April 2014

China’s Ossen Innovation Co Ltd has announced that its Jiujiang subsidiary, Ossen (Jiujiang) Steel Wire & Cable Co Ltd, has been honored by the Jiangxi provincial government as an “Innovative Enterprise” in the province. In addition, Ossen (Jiujiang) Steel Wire & Cable Co Ltd was recognized as a “First Class Export Enterprise” by the same Jiangxi government agency. “Ossen is very pleased to receive these additional acknowledgments,” said Dr Liang Tang, chairman of Ossen Innovation. “We are grateful that our manufacturing operations continue to be recognized as producing important and pioneering infrastructure solutions for use in China and abroad,” he concluded. Ossen Group manufactures and exports PC wire, PC strand, galvanized PC wire, galvanized PC strand and PC indented wire and is a major trader in wire rod. The group’s manufacturers Ossen (Maanshan) Steel Wire & Cable Co Ltd and Ossen (Jiujiang) Steel Wire & Cable Co Ltd have three PC strand production lines, four drawingmachines, two PCwire stablization lines, a galvanizing line and an unbonded PC strand processing line. Total capacity is around 100,000 tonnes. “Innovative Enterprise”

Copper news

Data from the Kazakhstan state statistics agency reveal that output of refined copper from the country fell by 22.9 percent to 44,363 tonnes during January and February, compared with the same months 2013, while crude steel production surged by 36.6 percent to 593,682 tonnes. Elsewhere, the Zambia government is concerned that if copper prices (already near a four-year low at $6,300 per tonne) fall below $5,000, then the viability of Zambian mines will be under threat. Zambia produced 915,773 tonnes of copper between JanuaryandNovember 2013, up from 755,359 tonnes in the same period of 2012. Copper exportsare important toZambia’s hard currency, and falling prices have recently brought down the local kwacha currency by almost ten percent. Copper markets have slumped following concerns over slowing Chinese demand for the metal, and fears that credit upheaval in China could unwind financing deals using the metal as collateral. This could cause a flood of copper into the market. There is estimated to be bonded copper stocks of around 750,000 tonnes in China.

wiredInUSA - April 2014

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