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Oman Aluminum Processing Industries SPC (OAPIL)— a subsidiary of Oman Cables Industry SAOG—has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indore Specialty Materials, that will enable it to manufacture high-temperature low-sag (HTLS) conductors.

A press release said that the agreement with Indore Specialty Materials, a subsidiary of India’s Indore Composite, will supply OAPIL with its proprietary EnergyCore composite core, in addition to offering technical support. EnergyCore, an advanced composite material developed by Indore, enhances HTLS conductor performance with superior thermal stability, lightweight properties, and exceptional strength—key qualities that contribute to higher efficiency and reliability in transmission lines. The EnergyCore-based ACER (Aluminum Conductor EnergyCore Reinforced) HTLS conductors will be integral in building a more sustainable power infrastructure for the Middle East and beyond.

This collaboration with Indore Specialty Materials will help us venture into advanced conductor manufacturing, while enabling utilities to enhance power grid capacity, reliability, and resilience,” said OAPIL Chief Strategy Officer Jehan Alagappan. “This investment also helps OAPIL to improve product diversification and create capability to produce high value -added products in Oman. We are happy to partner with Indore Specialty Materials to support energy transition and electrification efforts.”

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) have formed the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience to strengthen the resilience of this vital telecommunication infrastructure.

Per multiple media reports, the Advisory Body will address ways to improve cable resilience by promoting best practices for governments and industry players to ensure the timely deployment and repair of submarine cables, reduce the risks of damage, and enhance the continuity of communications over the cables.

“This body will identify key issues to ensure that submarine cables are built, deployed and maintained with a greater resiliency,” Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) told reporters ahead of the first meeting of the new group. “It’s definitely not just a technical issue, but an issue that can affect our economies and our societies. And however we see that this critical infrastructure is vulnerable to disruptions,” he said.

A follow-up summit is planned in Nigeria in February.

The Thai–Laos Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River that connects Thailand and Laos was envisioned at its opening in 1994 as a blessing for the two neighboring countries in terms of their economies, trade, tourism, investment, cultural exchanges, transportation and logistics. It worked, and to expand capacity, a second Friendship Bridge was opened in 2007, only in recent years the original intent was lost on some users. More specifically, those who chose to use the bridge for other purposes.

Per reports in the Bangkok Post, The Diplomat and Taiger, the 2nd Friendship Bridge hosted a wide range of illegal cables used for various unapproved “uses,” such as cross-border call center scams. National Broadcasting and Telecommunications commissioner Pol. Gen. Nathathorn Prousoontorn said that a total of 16 large-sized, high-speed fiber optic cables were laid across the bridge. “There were two 216-core cables, two 96-core cables and 14 24-core internet cables.”

An inspection found that scam gangs had also installed illegal internet cables several km into Myanmar. “Our sleuths used hi-tech gear to trace these cables, discovering they served a bustling business area in Laos, with the capacity to mislead up to 10,000 users at once,” Prousoontorn said.

A portion of the cables were laid by an authorized company, only that business exceeded their authority. Prousoontorn said that some of the cables were installed by a company the NBTC had licensed to provide telecom service, but only in Thailand. There also appears to have been multiple participants, and some arrests have been made. A joint task force in Tak caught one person who was using a water rocket launcher to extend Internet cables across the border into Myanmar for Chinese clients. The suspect admitted being hired.

“Given the size of the cables, they can transmit signals to four economic towns covering areas of hundreds of kilometres and provide internet services to many scammers who have moved their operations (from Laos) to this area,” Prousoontorn said. “This is our biggest seizure of illegal internet cables. Cutting them has prevented the call center gangs in this area from accessing the internet,” he said.

Assistant National Police Chief, Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai Pitaneelaboot said that while rogue cables have surfaced over rivers and borderlands before, never have they been laid so boldly across international bridges.

Penta-Ocean Construction has ordered a cable-laying vessel (CLV) from the PaxOcean Group that will cost an estimated $243 million and be one the largest, most advanced such ships.

A press releases said that Penta-Ocean Construction, a major Japanese construction firm, specializes in marine works and land reclamation. The company said the order reflects its plan to expand beyond offshore wind turbine construction into power cable installation, targeting future offshore wind power projects in Japan’s exclusive economic zone and other regions.

The CLV will be self-propelled and mounted with two 5,000-metric to cable carousels that can provide “safe and efficient cable laying in the open sea” even in severe ocean conditions. It will include a trencher for burying cables and  work class remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The vessel is scheduled to be delivered in February 2028.

The 14,000-dwt cable layer was designed by Norwegian firm Salt Ship Design. PaxOcean Group, based in Singapore, will build the ship at its Batam yard. “The cable layer is capable of laying and burying not only cables for bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines but also for floating-type offshore wind turbines, as well as submarine direct current power transmission cables,” Penta-Ocean said.

Per Penta-Ocean, the cable layer will be 50/50 owned by a company subsidiary and Fuyo General Lease Co, while the trencher and work class ROV will be 65/35 owned by a company subsidiary and Kojimagumi Co. Japanese ocean dredger company Kojimagumi will handle the vessel’s operational management.

Citing harsh market conditions, South Korea’s POSCO closed its No. 1 wire rod plant at Pohang Steelworks, where it had been in operation for 45 years and nine months.

Per a report in BusinessKorea, the Nov. 19 decision stemmed from a prolonged global oversupply of steel and a resulting decline in the profitability of steel products. The plant, which began operations on Feb. 28, 1979, has produced a cumulative total of 28 million tons of wire rod products over its lifespan.

The closure, the article said, marks the second shutdown for POSCO in 2024, following the closure of the No. 1 Steelmaking Plant in July. The company said that related to continued global oversupply of steel, the influx of low-priced steel products from overseas, and the aging of the facilities. It noted that  in 2023, global wire rod plants had a production capacity of approximately 200 million tons, but actual demand was only 90 million tons. China, with a production capacity of 140 million tons, began exporting wire rods at low prices to neighboring countries due to a sluggish domestic construction market, leading to a steady decline in global wire rod prices. This oversupply and price decline have significantly impacted the profitability of wire rod production, prompting POSCO to reassess its operations.

The No. 1 Wire Rod Plant had a significant role in POSCO’s history, producing wire rods used as materials for nails, screws and high-strength tire reinforcements for automobiles. POSCO plans to shift the production of high-strength tire cord and welding rod for ships and automobiles, previously manufactured at the No. 1 Wire Rod Plant, to the No. 2 to No. 4 Wire Rod Plants. Employees who worked at the No. 1 Wire Rod Plant were to be reassigned to other departments within the company.

Looking forward, POSCO aims to reduce the proportion of low-priced products and focus its production capacity on high-value-added products such as high-strength bolts for automobiles (CHQ), spring steel, and bearing steel. This strategic shift is intended to improve profitability and competitiveness in the global steel market. POSCO’s future plans to restructure its wire rod production and sales strategy indicate the company’s efforts to adapt to changing market conditions and maintain its competitive edge.

Of note, POSCO opened a wire rod processing plant in the U.S. in 2017, with annual production capacity of 25,000 tons. POSCO invested $20.9 million, which at the time represented POSCO’s second largest overseas wire rod processing center, next to its center in Mexico.

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