WAI’s Board of Directors (BoD) voted unanimously on Dec. 10, 2020, to change the dates from May 11-13, 2021, to Oct. 26-27, 2021. Interwire will return to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in Atlanta, when it hosts the Association’s flagship trade exposition in Hall A.

The vote culminated a months-long process where staff had investigated possible new dates, at the request of the BoD. Based on the results—which in this case made it possible to delay Interwire for 22 weeks—the alternative October date was welcomed as a time buffer to allow the expected availability of vaccines and therapeutics, as well as the subsequent and anticipated lift of travel restrictions.

Commenting on the change, WAI President Thomas Heberling said, “We know that Interwire is important to the industry, and we are committed to producing a safe event. Southwire has been a strong supporter of Interwire and WAI, and I’d like to encourage decision makers at all the manufacturers and suppliers to keep an open mind. I’m expecting the months to come to show more promise, and I’m hoping that they will be accompanied by more renewed support for the industry to again meet in Atlanta.”

The new format shifts from two-and-a-half days to two days, likely with longer exhibition hours. “Our staff has been working with the GWCC and area hotels to accommodate the shift and secure desirable dates,” said WAI’s Executive Director Steven Fetteroll. More details will be released as they become available through the event website, www.interwire21.com, and in future WJI issues.

Earlier this year, the Association had to postpone, then ultimately cancel, the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2020 in May at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, and its International Technical Conference in October in Monterrey, Mexico.

Amphenol Corp. announced that it is acquiring Eden Prairie-based sensor manufacturer MTS Systems Corp. in a deal valued at $1.7 billion.

A press release said that the deal was approved by the boards of both companies. With $895 million in revenue last year, MTS is the 30th largest public company in Minnesota, according to Business Journal research. Amphenol had 2019 sales of $8.2 billion.

MTS is organized into two business segments: sensors, and test and simulation. Amphenol said the acquisition will give it the industry’s broadest range of sensors and sensor-based products, while the test and simulation segment has near and long-term potential.

Italy’s Danieli has received an order from Russian steelmaker AO Severstal for a new rolling mill for special steels to be installed at its plant in Cerepovec.

A press release said the new plant will produce 5.5 to 32-mm wire rod and coiled bars for engineering and automotive industries, and 8 to 16-mm quenched rebar for construction purposes. Danieli will provide all the technological equipment, automation and advisory services. A Danieli Centro Combustion walking beam reheating furnace will bring to rolling temperature 12-m-long, 150-mm square-billets, at a pace of 170 tph. A single-strand high-speed roughing mill made of horizontal and vertical housingless stands will feed two independent wire rod lines and a garret coiler to produce the bigger diameters. Startup is planned for by the end of 2022.

Bekaert and Almasa recently agreed to merge Proalco SAS, a Bekaert subsidiary, with the steel wire activities of Almasa SA, both of which are located in Colombia.

A press release said that the partnership intends to create value by combining expertise and resources in offering existing and new steel wire products and solutions to the market. With manufacturing activities in the center and on the Atlantic coast of Colombia, the merger will promote employment, enable export opportunities and facilitate the supply of upholstery steel wire for Bekaert’s recently established mattress spring systems joint venture, Agro-Bekaert Colombia SAS, located in Malambo, Atlantico.

Bekaert Ideal Holding (in which Bekaert holds 80% of the shares) and Almasa SA would each hold 50% in Proalco SAS after the merger. SAS generated €65 million in revenue in 2019.

Oden Technologies and Rockwell Automation announced that they have entered a partnership that will benefit both companies.

“This relationship will empower manufacturers to make real-time, data-driven decisions like never before, and truly thrive in an ever-evolving market scenario,” a press release said. “By combining Rockwell’s comprehensive suite of industrial automation services and Oden’s turnkey, AI-powered technology, we’re excited to offer end-to-end solutions to help clients continuously stay agile, boost profits, cut costs and reduce scrap. Oden has found common ground in both Rockwell’s incredible domain expertise and in our values, work ethic, and joint vision of an agile and future-ready manufacturing industry.”

The news follows another partnership deal entered into by Oden Technologies last September with Litmus, “the Intelligent Edge Computing company.” A press release said that together, the two companies “offer a turnkey solution for Smart Manufacturing including out-of-the-box data acquisition from any machine, advanced analytics and machine learning to drive greater production efficiency.”

Litmus Edge provides the data intelligence platform to quickly collect, normalize and analyze high volumes of live data from industrial assets and make them available to OT and IT systems via edge-to-enterprise integration. Oden provides big data compute engine and machine learning, real-time and predictive process metrics.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) announced that it has made an affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of standard steel welded wire mesh from Mexico.

A press release said that exporters/producers from Mexico will receive countervailable subsidies at rates ranging from 1.02 to 102.09%. DoC will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of standard steel welded wire mesh from Mexico based on the preliminary rates noted above. In 2019, imports of standard steel welded wire mesh from Mexico were valued at approximately $46.7 million.

The petitioners were Insteel Industries Inc., Mid-South Wire Company, National Wire LLC, Oklahoma Steel & Wire Co. and Wire Mesh Corp.

DoC is scheduled to announce its final determination in this case on or about Feb. 11, 2021. If it makes an affirmative final determination, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will make its final injury determination on or about March 29, 2021.

Italy’s Danieli announced winning two orders for wire rod mills from two separate companies in Turkey.

A press release said that one of the orders is from İÇDAŞ ÇELİK Enerji Tersane ve Ulaşım Sana (İÇDAŞ) for its plant in Biga, Turkey. İÇDAŞ has two other Danieli wire rod lines at the site that have been in operation since 2005. The manufacturer is investing to increase its market share of wire rod coils, and to add more advanced steel grades to its product portfolio. It is designed to produce a wide range of steel grades, inclusive of welding wire, high carbon, cold heading, bearing steel, spring steel, free cutting and alloyed steels, at rolling speeds up to 110 m/sec. Line startup is scheduled for the second quarter of 2021.

The new line includes a ten-pass fast finishing block with the latest technology Multidrives (M2^®) configuration; Danieli Structure Control (DSC^®) water cooling line; and four-pass reducing and sizing Twin Module Block (TMB^®) equipped with an individual drive control system. The vertical coil-compactor will be supplied by specialist Swedish Sund-Birsta, part of Danieli Group.

The second order is from Habaş Sınai ve Tibbi Gazlar İstihsal Endüstrisi, which ordered a new Danieli wire rod line, slab caster electrical and automation system, along with technological packages to be installed in the company’s Aliaga steelmaking plant. The wire rod line will produce a wide range of steel grades/products—and medium-carbon steel, welding wire, high-carbon and PC wire and reinforcement steel—at a maximum rolling speed of 110 m/sec. Startup is scheduled for the third quarter of 2021.

NKT reports that it has become the first major power cable manufacturer to join an initiative to become a net-zero emissions company.

A press release said that NKT has already committed to annually reducing its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 5%, in line with the Paris climate agreement to keep global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. “Now, the company commits to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) with the aim to set its net-zero deadline as soon as possible, with 2050 as the ultimate close.” To that end, the company commits to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 5% on average annually.

“I am proud that we are the first major power cable manufacturer to commit to this verified and approved method for responsible climate actions, and it is a strong signal to our stakeholders that we are fully committed to accelerate the sustainability journey,” said NKT President & CEO Alexander Kara. He noted that last year, the company announced that all its power cable plants will run on electricity from renewable energy sources, reducing CO₂ emissions from its annual energy consumption by 66%, or over 48,000 tons compared to 2019.

Separately, NKT runs several decarbonization initiatives, including reduction of fuel consumption and dedicated projects to increase the energy efficiency of the cable manufacturing industry. It also recycles materials such as XLPE and metals from the production of power cables, which helps reduce emissions from traditional waste management.

The SBTi is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Over 1,000 companies have committed to set science-based emissions reduction targets.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) announced that it has made affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of prestressed concrete steel wire strand (PC strand) from Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of PC strand from Turkey.

A press release said that the exporters from the countries listed below have dumped PC strand in the United States at the following rates: Argentina, 60.40%; Colombia, 86.09%; Egypt, 29.72%; the Netherlands, 30.86%; Saudi Arabia, 194.40%; Taiwan, 23.89%; Turkey, 53.65%; and UAE, 170.65%. DoC also determined that exporters from Turkey received countervailable subsidies at rates ranging from 30.78% to 158.44%.

The petitioners were Insteel Wire Products Company, Sumiden Wire Products Corporation and Wire Mesh Corporation.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) was scheduled to make its final injury determinations on or about Jan. 21, 2021. If it upholds the findings, DoC will issue AD and CVD orders. DoC is also conducting concurrent AD investigations of PC strand from Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Final determinations are set for April 6.

Sweden’s Hexatronic Group AB reports that it has won orders for submarine cable with a total value of approximately $8 million.

A press release said that Hexatronic Cables & Interconnect Systems AB, a subsidiary of Hexatronic Group AB, concluded several agreements for fiber optic submarine cable from unnamed new customers in Europe. Deliveries are planned to be completed in 2021. “We are very happy with the agreements, which (are) proof of the market’s confidence in our broad offering in submarine cable,” said Hexatronic Group AB CEO Henrik Larsson Lyon.

The company also recently reported the completion of a majority acquisition of Qubix SpA, an Italian supplier of structured cabling for telecommunication infrastructure in buildings and on campuses. Its products include optical cables for high fire risk environments. It offers structured copper cabling solutions under the CCS^® brand.

A press release said that Euromicron Holding GmbH sold the 90% it owns of Qubix for approximately €14.4 million. Qubix was established in 2001 as a spin-off of a cable manufacturer. Its founder and general manager, Filippo Gnocco, will continue in his current position and remain a minority shareholder with 10% of the shares. Most of Qubix’s sales are in the Italian market, and it generated an EBITDA of €3.8 million in the last 12 months.