Group items tagged

Switzerland-based power and automation technology group, ABB Ltd., won a contract tendered by TenneT, the Dutch-German transmission grid operator, to connect North Sea wind farms to the German mainland grid. The order is worth US$1.0B and ABB expect to use over 135km of 320kV submarine cable in the designed transmission system. The project is expected to be operational in 2015 and follows two other offshore wind connection orders for ABB in Germany; the 800MW Dolwin1 link awarded last year and previously, the BorWin1 project. The Dolwin1 link is expected to be completed in 2013 and will involve the use of 150km of 320kV copper submarine cable.

Hitachi Cable Ltd., has set out its new medium-term management plan known as the Renewed Plan "BRIDGE" with additional management measures. The company said under the new plan, key measures for business structure reforms included; the consolidation of its domestic sales companies, regional offices and branch offices, with the consolidated company taking operational control of all its existing manufacturing companies; the withdrawal from the optical submarines cable business, restructuring of its telecommunications cable business, review of packaging materials operations and a review of its copper tubes business; consolidations and eliminations of group companies in southeast Asia and consolidation of group companies in Europe and North America by country. This is in addition to a reduction in staff at domestic companies which is expected to involve some 1200 staff. The company will also implement measures to reduce fixed expenses. This includes a review of the company's pension system, an operational review of employee facilities including company dormitories, company housing, etc., and the sale of some of these facilities. The Hitachi Group aims to boost sales in priority target areas as a percentage of net sales from 55% in fiscal 2011 to 65% in fiscal 2016.

Golden Dragon, based in China's Hunan province, opened a new copper tube plant in the city of Monclova, northern Mexico. The investment of the project amounted to US$100 million and represents the biggest Chinese investment ever made in Mexico. The plant covers 200,000m2 and will employ 900 staff. Currently, annual output capacity is 60,000t of copper tube for air conditioners but the plan is to raise that to 120,000t. The new project will benefit from low industrial costs and a competitive exchange rate; it aims to supply the North American and European markets.

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.

"Factors including increased customer awareness, unreliable grid-infrastructure, and severe power outages are likely to drive demand for portable generator sets during the forecast period (2014-2018)."