Several rolled copper makers in Japan have announced plans to increase the rolling margin of their rolled copper products as a result of higher copper ingot, energy and subsidiary materials costs. Sumitomo Light Metal Industries says it plans to increase the rolling margin of its rolled copper products by between ¥30-50 per kilogram for orders from July 1st..The company said it sold 59,000 tonnes of rolled copper products in the fiscal year ending March 2008 and expects raw materials and energy costs to increase by ¥2.7 billion in the 2008 fiscal year. Gonda Metal Industry will increase its brass bar rolling margin by ¥20 per kilogram for orders after July 15. Hitachi Cable has increased its rolling margins by 5%, Furukawa Electric by ¥50 per kilogram and Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube have a higher rolling margin of between ¥20-30.

Prysmian Cables & Systems said it expects its Chinese sales volumes to increase by 50% by 2010, an increase which has been aided by the opening of the company's fifth production plant in China. The company's sales increased by 16% year-on-year in 2007 and said that further growth opportunities were linked to the development of new infrastructure for energy and communications. Prysmian's new plant will be based in Tianjin and is expected to have an annual capacity of 10,000tpy including special cables for e.g. rail networks, mining and windfarms.

The Optical Cable Corporation has announced its second quarter financial results. Net sales increased by over 21% to $13.5 million due to a broad customer base and product mix and sales increases in both speciality and commercial markets the company said. Gross profit was up by over 41% to $5.7 million in the second quarter and was due to higher sales volumes as well as enhanced manufacturing efficiency.

Deal worth $11.5 million

As of the 30th May, the Optical Cable Corporation acquired Superior Modular Products Incorporated (known in business as SMP Data Communications) in a deal worth $11.5 million. SMP Data Communications is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Optical Cable Corporation. The President and CEO of Optical Cable, Neil Wilkin, said the acquisition would enable the company to expand its product offerings with more complete cabling and connectivity solutions, including fibre optic and copper connectivity. SMP Data Communications manufactures more than 2,000 products including cutting edge Category 6a connectivity solutions which offer a 10 Gig throughput.

Dowa Metanix announces capacity increase Company announces new pickling line and facility renewal Dowa Metanix, the rolled copper maker of the Dowa Metaltech group announced it will invest around ¥2 billion (US$ 19 million) in a new pickling line and renewal facility during the current fiscal year which began in April 2008. The new pickling line is expected to begin operations early in the fiscal year 2009 and the new line and improved facilities are expected to improve the firm's cost competitiveness. The company then said it plans to expand output capacity by 40% to 1,200 tonnes per month by 2010 as it tries to improve productivity to increase its supply for connector pins and semi conductor lead frames.

The Exsym Corporation, the joint venture between SWCC Showa Holdings and Mitsubishi Cable Industries, has announced plans to expand its exports of ultra high voltage cables to the Middle East and South East Asia. In order to meet this increase in demand, a horizontal sheathing line has been transferred to the company's Aichi plant in Japan. This will bring the number of sheathing lines for ultra high voltage cables at the plant to three, once the transferred line begins commercial operation over the summer. Exsym also plans to renew one of the two conductor stranding lines at the Aichi plant with the new line expected to begin commercial operation in November 2008. With these new lines as well as an increased number of construction staff, copper cable capacity at the plant is expected to grow by around 200 tonnes per month to 1,200 tonnes per month. In the fiscal year 2007, Exsym posted revenue of ¥41 billion ($0.39 billion) with an operating profit of almost ¥2 billion ($0.02 billion). Exports of ultra high voltage cables to the Middle East and South East Asia accounted for around 40% of the total revenue. The company expects the increase in export capacity to increase revenue to ¥43 billion ($0.41 billion) per year by the end of the fiscal year 2010.

As of the 30th May, the Optical Cable Corporation acquired Superior Modular Products Incorporated (known in business as SMP Data Communications) in a deal worth $11.5 million. SMP Data Communications is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Optical Cable Corporation. The President and CEO of Optical Cable, Neil Wilkin, said the acquisition would enable the company to expand its product offerings with more complete cabling and connectivity solutions, including fibre optic and copper connectivity. SMP Data Communications manufactures more than 2,000 products including cutting edge Category 6a connectivity solutions which offer a 10 Gig throughput.

Prysmian Cables & Systems has announced the signing of a four year frame agreement to design and supply flexible pipes for offshore oil and gas extraction with Petrobras of Brazil. Prysmian said it is to invest around $110 million constructing a new plant in Brazil and that the deal with Petrobras represented a major step forward in the company's operations in the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical services industry. Prysmian also announced the acquisition of the German cables manufacturer Facab-Lynen. Facab-Lynen generated sales of €62 million ($96 million) in 2007 and Prysmian said the acquisition will enable the company to further increase its production capacity and develop its market position in the special cables market, particularly in the fast growing renewable energy sector.

Deal worth $900 million

LS Cable and Superior Essex have announced the signing of a definitive agreement for LS Cable to acquire Superior Essex. The board of directors for both companies approved the agreement under which Superior Essex share holders will receive $45 per share making the deal worth $900 million. The acquisition, once complete will create the world's third largest wire and cable manufacturing company with Superior Essex continuing to operate under its current name as a wholly owned subsidiary of LS Cable. Nexans and Prysmian are the world's first and second ranked cable makers. LS Cable has a strong presence in the power and communications cable sector and in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Superior Essex is the world's largest magnet wire producer and leads in the North American communications market as well as having operations in North America, Europe and China.