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Nexans, a leading cable manufacturer, has announced plans to develop an underground Extra High Voltage (EHV) cable manufacturing plant in the US, which is expected to be commissioned in the summer of 2013. The company also intends to extend its submarine High Voltage (HV) activities. Investment is expected to amount to US$80M. Nexans hopes that the facilities will allow it to meet the growing demand from the EHV and HV cable market in the US.

China's government recently announced its 12th five-year plan for its energy industry, and it said it will build a 200,000km extra high voltage (EHV) power grid with capacity higher than 330 KV by 2015. Also announced, the government has set its compound annual growth rate for power installed capacity at 9.0% from 2011-2015, lower than the 13.3% from 2005-2010, demonstrating its intention to slow down investment in the power industry. It expects its installed capacity will be expanded to 1.49 billion KW, up 9.0% from 970 million KW at the end of 2010.

Wanma Cable recently announced that for the last year its operating income was RMB2.6 billion ($0.4 billion) increasing by 21.32% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was RMB103.6 million ($16.4 million) increasing 6.39% year-on-year. In product layout, the company consolidated its MV/LV and EHV market positions while establishing a special cable business division to intensify efforts to develop a special cable business. The company has secured a good start in new fields, such as rail transit, power generation, petroleum and petrochemical, wind power and coal mining. Wanma Cable's CEO recently said that the income target of company in this year was RMB3.1 billion ($0.5 billion) increasing by 20% year-on-year, based on the copper price keeping last year's price level. The company completed an investment plan in EHV and MV/LV cable through an IPO raising funds."

Polycab Wires will set up a 50:50 joint venture with Nexans to establish a manufacturing unit in Gujarat. The plant will specialise in the production of elastomeric and extra high voltage (EHV) cables. R. S. Vaidyanathan, president and CEO of Polycab Wires, said that the demand for EHV cables in India will soar and few suppliers will be in a position to meet market needs. He also remarked that the power transmission business in India has not been impacted by the slowdown due to orders placed by the public sector.

Doha Cables, a Qatar based cablemaker and subsidiary of El Sewedy Cables, will expand its production capacity for 400V and 500V cables to meet increasing domestic demand. Qatar will host the 2020 Olympics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup and is investing heavily in new infrastructure projects to provide support for planned growth of the local tourism industry. The company also stated that demand from the building sector has been rising. El Sewedy's largest areas of operation are in the GCC, North Africa and Egypt. The company has expressed its plans to expand into other rapid growth nations, including Russia and India.

Nexans has announced that construction of its first high voltage power cable manufacturing plant in North America has begun. The plant is sited in Berkeley County, Charleston, S Carolina. Frederic Michelland, Nexans Senior Corporate Executive Vice President said, "The establishment of our first high voltage cable manufacturing plant in North America is a key strategic development for Nexans. It will enable us 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 planned in North America and worldwide in the coming years." The plant is to begin operations in 2014 and has an initial investment of US$85M. The first phase of the facility will focus on the manufacture of underground power cables up to extra high voltage (EHV) levels of 500 kV and the company hopes it will reinforce Nexans' current product range in North America, adding to the existing medium voltage, low voltage, overhead transmission, industrial, building wire, electrical wire and LAN portfolios.