South Korea’s trade commission has decided to impose anti-dumping duties on steel wire from China, saying the cheap imports hurt the domestic industry.
Per published reports, the Korea Trade Commission said it will make a recommendation to the finance ministry the levying of 8.6% duties on galvanized low-carbon steel wire imported from China for the next five years. South Korea’s galvanized steel wire market was valued at about US$92.7 million as of 2016, with Chinese products accounting for 70% of the market.
“The trade commission concluded that the Chinese products imported below the fair market value have caused substantial damage to the domestic industry, especially small and medium-sized companies,” the commission said in a release. The finance ministry will confirm the duties on steel wire by July 31.
Industry News
Ryerson Holding Corp. (Ryerson) announced that it has entered an agreement via a subsidiary to acquire Central Steel & Wire Company (CSW), a metal service center with six locations across the Central and Eastern U.S.
A press release said that the deal, valued at $140 million, will see CSW continue to operate under its current brand name following the closing of the transaction. CSW has some 900 employees, and annual revenues of approximately $600 million. In addition to wire, it provides bar, coil, plate, sheet and tubing.
Ryerson, a value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals, has operations in the U.S, Canada, Mexico and China, the release said. Founded in 1842, it has 3,700 employees in approximately 100 locations.
Ryerson President and CEO Eddie Lehner said that the deal serves both of the companies and their customers. “We are excited to elevate the best of Central Steel & Wire while leveraging Ryerson’s intelligently networked service centers to infuse (our collective customers) with a broader and deeper array of products with comprehensive processing capabilities.”
CSW President and CEO Steve Fuhrman said the deal bolsters both companies. “The leverage this merger creates will benefit our diverse customer base, grow our respected supplier relationships, and provide opportunity for further development of our loyal employees.”
At its website, CSW notes that the company’s customers range from Fortune 50 companies to large OEMs to small, independent fabricators, “all of whom enjoy access to a selection of prime ferrous and nonferrous metal products that is second to none.”
The company was founded in Chicago in 1907, at which time it had seven employees. Locations were added over the years, and by the end of the 1970s CSW facilities totaled 1,865,000 sq ft. In 1997, a branch facility was opened on Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2001, it opened Central Coil Processing, and by its 100th anniversary in 2009, the company had 1,100 employees in six facilities, and was listed as one of the top 20 metals distributors by sales. In 2013, it formed Central Steel Fabricators, a division of CSW, to provide value-added processing.
The Prysmian Group and General Cable Corporation announced that they have gotten approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for Prysmian to acquire the U.S.-based company.
A press release said that the CFIUS represents the last official approval needed for the $3 billion acquisition. The closing is set for June 6, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining customary conditions to closing set forth in the merger agreement between the parties.
CTC Global and Pakistan Cables Limited announced that they have entered a partnership that allows Pakistan Cables Limited (PCL) to produce and sell CTC’s ACCC® electrical conductor in Pakistan.
A press release said that CTC Global will provide PCL with CTC Global’s patented carbon fiber ACCC composite core in a range of sizes. Pakistan Cables—described as “the country’s first and leading manufacturer of wires, cables, overhead conductors, copper rod, PVC compound and aluminum profiles in Pakistan”—will make and deliver ACCC conductors tailored to meet the needs of Pakistan’s electric transmission and distribution utilities.
“We are pleased to launch this revolutionary technology for the first time in Pakistan,” PCL Executive Director J.D. Sitton said. “Our country needs more electric power and needs to move it efficiently. ACCC conductor will help to accomplish this.”
The United Nations has granted the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) consultative status that will allow it to attend special interest meetings and international conferences affecting the subsea cable community as well as to provide written and oral submissions during relevant U.N. meetings.
A press release said that the news means that the ICPC will no longer need to seek sponsorships or special accreditations to participate in U.N. activities. Earlier this year, ICPC appointed Squire Patton Boggs associate Alice de Juvigny as its United Nations Observer Representative (UNOR). She will now also carry out all responsibilities associated with the U.N. consultative status, it said.
Formed in 1958, ICPS’s primary goal is to promote the safeguarding of international submarine cables against man- made and natural hazards. Its forum includes technical, legal and environmental information about submarine cables. It has more than 170 members from some 60 nations, including cable operators, owners, manufacturers, industry service providers, as well as governments.
U.K.-based Volex, a manufacturer of standard and custom cable assemblies, reports that it has agreed to buy cable harnesses maker Silcotec for just shy of £16 million.
Per multiple media reports, the cash and stock deal will enable Volex to continue its mission to further consolidate what was described as the “highly fragmented cable assembly industry.” A few weeks earlier, Volex bought U.S.-based MC Electronics, a peer, in an all-share deal worth up to £2.6 million.
Based in Ireland, Silotec offers cables, assembles and box builds for the medical industry. Per the company’s website, it has a Centre of Manufacturing Excellence in Komarno, Slovakia. “Silcotec Europe can accommodate almost every sub contract manufacturing need. With 65,000 sq ft in Slovakia and the skilled teams within it we consistently adopt, adapt and improve our manufacturing systems to meet individual client needs.”
“This acquisition is an important step in expanding our Cable Assembly activities in Europe,” Volex Chairman Nat Rothschild said.
Liberty Steel USA said that preparations continue for the restart of Georgetown wire mill, South Carolina, with a new general manager and more than 100 recruits.
The company said that the new general manager, Revansidha “Rohit” Gulve, has joined the operation from Gerdau Steel in Beaumont, Texas. Staff is getting the previously shuttered melt shop, casters and rolling facilities ready for recommissioning.
“I’m really excited about this project because it is one of those great challenges,” Gulve said. “Anytime you restart a mill like that after three years down, it is a memory for life. My objective is to make the plant profitable in both good markets and bad and to have the best people working in the safest environment. I am very eager to understand and improve the cost structure, so it becomes a sustainable business for the long term.”
Michael Setterdahl, chief executive of Liberty Steel USA, part of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, said that “Rohit is a great addition to our management team. “We look forward to working with him as we build our business in Georgetown and across America.”
Liberty acquired the Georgetown plant from ArcelorMittal in December 2017 as the first part of its plan to bring its GREENSTEEL vision for low-carbon steel production to the U.S.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has found that carbon and alloy steel wire rod imports from five countries were hurting U.S. producers, upholding a U.S. Commerce Department finding made in March.
The U.S. Department of Commerce had determined that exporters from Italy, Korea, Spain, Turkey, and the U.K. had dumped carbon and alloy steel wire rod in the U.S. at 12.41-18.89%, 41.10%, 11.08-32.64%, 4.74-7.94%, and 147.63% less than fair value, respectively. The April issue of WJI listed rates for individual companies.
The petitioners in the case were Gerdau Ameristeel US, Inc., Nucor Corporation, Keystone Consolidated Industries and Charter Steel. With the affirmative finding by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the Commerce Department will issue AD and CVD orders.
Bekaert reports that it has reached an agreement in principle with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to buy out its 33% equity share in the Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group (BBRG).
A press release said that the ropes and advanced cords business, which became the BBRG at the end of June 2016, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Bekaert. “Taking full ownership ... fits within the ambitions and strategy of Bekaert to grow a global ropes and advanced cords business that will create significant value over time for customers worldwide and for the Bekaert Group.”
Bekaert CEO Matthew Taylor said in the release that it made sense for the company to follow this direction as BBRG was established in a period that saw weak markets and integration challenges. "Taking full control ... will allow us to accelerate the turnaround efforts, drive greater synergies between BBRG and the Bekaert Group and take advantage of the complementary nature of the businesses.” He noted that the deal reflects Bekaert’s commitment to and belief in BBRG, and will enable it to focus on helping the business achieve its true potential."
“I will personally take up the role of CEO of BBRG, alongside my existing role as CEO of Bekaert,” Taylor said. He praised the efforts of Bruno Humblet, who he noted had been the driving force behind creating and integrating the Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group, as well as the Ontario Teachers’ "for the collaborative approach, active cooperation and drive they brought to the joint venture over the last two years."
The agreement, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed in the coming months, the release said.
Nigeria’s Globacom has signed a contract with Huawei to build a second fiber optic submarine cable that will run from Lagos to the southern part of Nigeria.
Per an article in This Day, the new cable, to be known as Glo2, is expected to be completed in the next 18 months. It will have 12 Terabit capacity per second and span 850 km, providing last-mile connectivity to businesses and oil companies in southern Nigeria and beyond.
Nigeria has several submarine cables berthed on its shores, but none has the capacity to provide broadband connectivity to the hinterlands, where there is high demand, the report said. “The situation has compelled telecoms subscribers to call for last-mile connectivity that could cushion the effect of the high cost of broadband bandwidth in the hinterlands, as well as the price differential in bandwidth between Lagos and the hinterlands. The Glo 2 optic fiber submarine cable is expected to address those challenges.”
The plan for the Glo 2 project was launched at a contract signing ceremony by Globacom and Huawei. Globacom’s regional director for technical affairs, Sanjib Roy, said the submarine cable would be built along the Nigerian coast from Alpha Beach in Lagos, where the Glo 1 landing station is located, to the Southern part of Nigeria. He said that the cable would contain three fiber pairs, with the first pair connecting Lagos directly to the southern part of Nigeria, with terrestrial extension to other parts of the country for redundancy and maintenance purposes. The second will be equipped with eight switchable Branching Units (BUs), which will deliver high capacity to offshore oil stations and communities connected directly to BUs, while the third pair will be equipped with two switchable branching units to deliver high capacity to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
The facility will enable a high capacity connection in the south and provide capacity to offshore oil platforms and the communities. Roy said that the Glo 2 project would boost telecom service delivery in the country by providing economic and social capacity to communities in oil producing regions. It will also digitize oil platforms to improve productivity, upload data to remote oil platforms at the speed of light.
Glo2 complements the Glo 1 international submarine cable built by Globacom in 2010, which is the only international submarine cable in Nigeria managed end to end, from Lagos to London, by one company. It currently provides sufficient bandwidth for the West Africa sub-region.
The board of India’s Sundram Fasteners Limited has promoted Arathi Krishna, the daughter of Sundram Fasteners Chairman Suresh Krishna, as the new managing director, effective April 20.
Per multiple media accounts, Arathi, age 49, earned her way to the top, working for two-and-a-half decades for the company. One of three daughters, she is the only one who joined the family’s fastener business.
A gold medalist in economics, Arathi holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Business School. After on-the-job training in automotive-related business in the U.S., she started her career in 1990, at age 20, as a management trainee at Sundram Fasteners. She became the company’s manager for business strategy and systems in 1993, and general manager in 1998. “I had an easy transition into the company and was easily accepted by employees,” she said in an interview.
An article by K.T. Jagannathan in The Hindu praised Arathi for her management style. She used to go to the shop floor, interact with employees and try to understand technologies, in a company that had a record of never losing a day’s work because of labor issues, according to observers of the company. “Known to be media-shy, soft-spoken but result-oriented and tough when it comes to work, Arathi has acquired wide managerial and business administration skills through her experience in India and abroad. It was under her leadership that the company forayed in sectors like aviation and wind energy.”
Krishna was first appointed to the company’s board in 2006 as managing director (designated as executive director), and later in 2011 re-appointed as managing director (designated as joint managing director), the story said. The company’s consistent growth during the past decade has come with her, along with other family members, at the helm of affairs. She has her expertise in corporate strategy and general management, and under her leadership several new product lines have been set up and stabilized at the company, leading to a robust growth and operating performance.
Arathi was also instrumental in making the workforce at Sundram Fasteners younger, and the work culture more performance-based and technology-oriented. The average employee age at the company is 35 years.
All of the country of Mauritania was left without internet access for two days, and nine other African nations were affected when the African Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable was severed on March 30.
Per media reports, the cable broke near the Mauritanian capital of Noukachott. A trawler is believed to have severed the line. Mauritania, which has a population of 4.5 million people, relies entirely on ACE for internet access. The ACE system, 10,500 miles long, stretches from France to South Africa, providing an internet connection to 22 countries, most of Africa’s west coast. A large part of the west of the continent was affected by outages.
A spokesman for Orange, which heads the consortium that manages ACE, tweeted a picture of the severed cable taken by workers on a maintenance vessel sent to repair it. Jean-Luc Vuillemin said a trawler raising the cable
off the seabed and slicing through it was the “likely cause.”
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