wiredinUSA August 2011

INDEX

Rod mill price challenges US wire drawers

Approval for power line route

Montana-Dakota Utilities has received approval

The power line project, which is expected to cost approximately $21m, will connect a proposed 150MW wind farm to the electric grid. The wind farm, called the Merricourt Wind Project, is located in the Dickey and McIntosh counties in North Dakota, and is being developed by enXco, an EDF Energies Nouvelles company. A 230kV power line will extend about 30 miles from Ellendale, North Dakota, to the proposed wind farm and the substation will be located near the wind farm. Construction on the power line project is expected to begin late July, with completion anticipated early in the first quarter of 2012.

from the North Dakota Public

Service Commission for a transmission line route

and substation in southeastern North Dakota.

A $40/short ton increase for Insteel’s welded wire reinforcement products went into effect 18th July. Wire rod price increases have stuck as non-construction demand in the US remains healthy and domestic producers operate with decreased rod-making capacity. Insteel primarily serves the construction sector, which Woltz described as having “anemic demand, rising costs and intense competitive conditions.” The company’s capacity utilization rate crept up to 48 per cent during its fiscal third quarter, up from a fiscal Q2 utilization level of 46 per cent. Despite the difficult market, Insteel reported net earnings of $3.7m on sales of $98.6m for fiscal Q3.

Picture Colin Brough

Construction supplier and major US wire drawer Insteel Industries has reported to Steel Business Briefing that it is experiencing an increasingly difficult time passing on mill wire rod price rises to end users. It is believed this is due to a depressed construction market. “As a general statement it has been a struggle,” Insteel CEO H O Woltz III said in a conference call to disclose company earnings. “There is significant price competition in the market. It’s difficult to collect these (mill) increases.”

About the IWCS For sixty years, the IWCS, a non-profit organization, has presented the latest technologies in wire, cable and connectivity. Now rebranded to reflect its expanded scope the IWCS International Cable-Connectivity Symposium remains the prestige venue for the presentation of peer reviewed work in fields of wire, cable and interconnected technology for the communi- cations, data, electronics, power, industrial, automotive and aerospace industries. In 2009, the topical scope of the symposium program was broadened to include the adjacent manufacturing segments of connectivity and wiring harness products with the inclusion of the IICIT (International Institute of Connector and Interconnection Technology) Symposium with the IWCS conference. Additional conference tracks, professional development offerings, and exhibition spotlights that target the interests and needs of the interconnect community are planned for 2011. For complete connectivity solutions, the International Cable-Connectivity Symposium has no rivals.

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Charlotte Convention Center Charlotte, NC, USA November 6th-9th, 2011 More information on the IWCS can be found at www.iwcs.org or by contacting : John Barteld, CEO/Director of IWCS, at jbarteld@iwcs.org

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