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It was reported that the European Commission charged twelve companies with collusion for specific practices that they underwent in the submarine, underground power cable and related products sector. Nexans, Prysmian, ABB and NKT all confirmed that they had received a charge sheet from the European competition authorities and will respond following a thorough analysis of the E.U.'s Statement of Objections. The maximum fine applicable is 10% of global revenues. The charges relate to raids which took place over two years ago, however, the legal process was delayed due to the recent disaster in Japan.

General Cable announced that sales in terms of the volume of metals sold increased 6% y-o-y and 2% q-o-q, principally attributed to aluminium-based product shipments for use in aerial transmission projects in Brazil. Discounting the sales for Brazil's aerial transmission projects, growth in shipments to the country still increased by 9% q-o-q and 5% y-o-y. The company benefitted from Brazil and Venezuela's increased spending on electrical infrastructure, Chile's spending on construction and mining activities and also the release of industrial projects in Thailand. Volatility of metals prices contributed to some distributors and copper rod customers deferring purchases, particularly in Zambia and Chile. The company also reported stable demand from North America for electrical infrastructural projects, networking and OEM applications while Europe experienced a sequential rise in shipments of 4%, which was lower than expected due to difficult trading conditions in Southern Europe. However, European sales were buoyed by submarine and land based turnkey cable projects, which accounted for $600M.

Nexans SA, NKT Holdings and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a previous owner of Prysmian SpA, are due to attend a hearing on 11-18th June 2012 as part of the European Commission's (EC) probe into an alleged underground and submarine high voltage power cable cartel. The EC received official complaints about 12 companies in July 2011. The maximum fine for colluding to fix prices is 10% of yearly sales revenue.

Nexans reported that it saw strong improvement in performance in H1 2011. The cable maker said that sales at current metal prices amounted to €2.3B in H1 2011, up by 8.9% y-o-y. Despite this, the company announced a pre-tax loss of €133M compared with a €5M profit in H1 2010. This was mainly attributed to the inclusion of a €200M reserve relating to an ongoing E.U. proceeding for alleged anticompetitive behaviour in the submarine and underground power cable sector. The company realised an organic growth over the period of 8.2% y-o-y and said that all business units exhibited growth, especially the Industry and Building unit. Nexans is targeting sales growth of between 5 and 7% for full year 2011.

It has been announced that Nexans will be the first major tenant in a business park near Goose Creek, outside Charleston, S.C. The new $85 million plant will employ 200 and construction is expected to start this year with hiring beginning in late 2013. Dirk Steinbrink, vice president in charge of Nexans' High Voltage and Submarine Business Group said "establishing our Berkeley plant is a key strategic development that will enable Nexans to capitalize on the ever growing demand for high-quality high-voltage cables designed and manufactured to meet the specific needs of the major power transmission infrastructure projects in North America and worldwide in the coming years."

Nexans, a leading global cablemaking company, has been awarded a contract to design, manufacture and supply Chevron U.S.A with 42km of power umbilicals and terminations for the Jack and St. Malo oil fields in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the conductor which delivers a high voltage power supply, the power umbilical, which was pioneered by Nexans, includes a number of steel tubes, fibre optic elements and signal cables for control and monitoring purposes. By eliminating the need to transport and install separate power and control lines, the power umbilical significantly reduces transportation and installation costs.