Steel wire prices down by 20 percent

Prices of steel wires have fallen by nearly 20 percent in the last six weeks due to a fall in demand, a top official of the Steel Wire Manufacturers Association of India said. “The prices have dropped from Rs.55,000-Rs.60,000 (USD 1,100-USD 1,200) per tonne to Rs.45,000-Rs.50,000 (USD 900-USD 1,000) per tonne,” said B.L. Jajodia, chairman of Steel Wire Manufacturers Association of India. The export of steel wires, dropped last financial year to 73,000 tonnes from 300,000 tonnes the year before in 2006-07. “This year we expect to export 100,000 tonnes,” he said. Talking about the 10 percent exemption of export duty announced by the government on steel wire, Jajodia said government should do away with the duty as this is resulting in price escalation of the product and the exporters are loosing established markets abroad. The total value of the steel wire industry is estimated to be Rs.49 billion (USD 1 billion). The association is hopeful that it will collectively manufacture 1.5 million tonnes of steel wires this fiscal year. There are about 64 manufacturers in this sector. The major players in this sector are Tata Steel, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Ramsarup Group and the Steel Authority of India Limited.

QuadTech Releases New Meridian Wire and Harness Analyzer

QuadTech, a leading provider of electrical safety test and passive component measurement solutions, today announced the release of the Meridian, an all-in-one high voltage wiring analyzer for bench top applications. The Meridian offers customers more advanced testing capabilities and user-friendly features. It is set to replace the Horizon Series as QuadTech’s featured cable tester.

Siemon releases new European product catalogue

Siemon, the network infrastructure specialist, has released a new product catalogue that entirely focuses on the needs and product requirements of the EMEA market (Europe, Middle East & Africa). Designed specifically for EMEA distributors and installers, Siemon’s global portfolio of structured cabling products has been refined to only show products relevant to the EMEA region, such as LS0H cable, country-specific faceplates, EMEA fibre cables. This new approach is designed to help distributors and installers select the right products for their local markets. Regional catalogues for Americas and Asia Pacific have also been published.

Northwire cables reach new test cycle records

Northwire, Inc. has been producing high-flex-life, robotic-grade cables for nearly 20 years. Initially, these products were designed and produced for sensor and discrete industrial control applications. Increasing demand for more rugged cable in industrial network, machine vision and robotic applications has stimulated further flex life cable line expansions at Northwire. Most recently, Northwire has been concentrating its development efforts on products for machine vision and industrial data transmission.

Marshall Islands installs $18 million optic cable

The Marshall Islands will spend nearly $US 18 million to install a submarine fibre optic cable that proponents say will revolutionise telecommunications in the country. The Pacific Magazine reports government leaders and the National Telecommunications Authority say they spent several years debating the project before deciding to make the investment.

Cable maker Nexans expresses concern about influx of substandard wires

Dr Emmanuel K. Annan, General Manager of Nexans Kabelmetal Ghana Limited has expressed concern on the influx of substandard cable wires in the Ghanaian market. He advised the public to be careful in patronizing such products considering its threat on life and property due to their low copper and insulation capacity. Dr Annan was speaking to newsmen in Tema after a media tour of the company’s plant to mark Nexans Press Day. He also warned distributors and importers to desist from repackaging substandard wires as Kabelmetal products for sale, adding that such practices amounted to fraud. He asked the public to properly maintain electrical systems in their homes in order to stem fire outbreaks.

Coleman Cable Expands Its Royal® Industrial Cable Product Line

Coleman Cable, Inc. expands their industrial product line of Royal® Tray Cable THHN/PVC, Royal SOOW Control Cables, and Royal/Triangle® Bare Copper Wire. Coleman Cable’s Royal brand of Type TC power and control cable is a 600 volt cable constructed with THHN/THWN (14 AWG and larger) or TFFN (16 AWG) conductors which are cabled together with fillers as required and covered with suitable binder tape as needed. An outer jacket of tough polyvinyl chloride (PVC) protects the cable assembly against mechanical damage, heat, flame, moisture, chemicals and corrosion. This tray cable THHN/PVC is approved for cable tray, raceway, direct burial and aerial installations when supported by a messenger. In addition, these cables comply with the appropriate sections of NEC Articles 318, 340, 501, and 725

SKW Cored wire production in Mexico inaugurated

SKW Stahl – Metallurgie Holding AG has consistently continued the group’s global expansion in high-growth emerging nations by starting cored wire production in Mexico. The new plant is located in the harbor town of Manzanillo in the state of Colima, and will initially supply cored wire for Mexican steel producers. After starting production in Q3 as scheduled, the new plant of the SKW Metallurgie Group was formally inaugurated on October 14, 2008. In business year 2008, as a result of the start-up phase, revenues of approx. USD 1 million have been forecast; however, in 2009 revenues are already forecast to total several million USD. The new cored wire facility is characterized by a sound cost structure and good logistics thanks to its direct proximity to the harbor. In addition, the new location offers the opportunity to upscale capacity within the shortest timeframe, and is therefore ideally positioned to profit from the significant growth in the Latin American steel industry. SKW Metallurgie has succeeded in setting up the facility with a very low investment volume in the low single-digit million euro range.

OKI Electric Cable Unveils a Non-Shielded Motor Drive Cable

Oki Electric Cable Co., Ltd. today announced that, together with Fanuc Ltd., the two companies have succeeded in developing a motor drive cable based on their proprietary cable structure that significantly reduces the impact of conducted noise caused by inverter switching. Compared to conventional servomotor drive cables, the newly developed cable (Product name: Symmetric Motor Drive Cable ’SYM Series,’ with joint patent pending in Japan and overseas) can double the recovery efficiency of conducted noise current. Sales of the new product start today.

New Kabel-X Technology Promises to Transform Cable Coax and Fiber Landscape

Kabel-X(TM) USA, the award-winning leader in coax and fiber optic cable line conversion, has pioneered a unique technology process that quickly and seamlessly removes and replaces copper coax cable from digital networks, significantly cutting maintenance costs and procedures, while also providing operators a conduit through which they can easily deploy upgraded fiber optic cabling without costly excavation and replacement of existing lines. Kabel-X has successfully trialed their proprietary technology with many of the country’s top cable operators and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive as they look to repair, replace and upgrade their plant across local systems.