WCA July 2008

index

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

index

Amaral Automation............................................................ 9 Bürster GmbH............................................................ 36 , 43 BWE Ltd........................................................................... 13 Carl Bechem GmbH. ....................................................... 31 Cersa-MCI. ...................................................................... 40 Cimteq UK....................................................................... 13 Contrôlé Mesure Systémes....................................... 36 , 42 Cortinovis................................................................... 30 , 34 Dätwyler Kabel+Systeme................................................. 14 DCM Industries.......................................................... 39 , 43 Deyang Bochuang Electrotechnical Equipment.......... 9 , 17 Dofama Inc. ............................................................... 29 , 34 Electrorrec SA............................................................ 45 , 50 IIM AG........................................................................ 40 , 43 InnoVites BV. ................................................................... 13 Ernst Koch GmbH. .................................................... 29 , 34 Lämnea Brük.................................................................... 46 LaserLinc Inc. ............................................................ 39 , 43 Lloyd Instruments...................................................... 29 , 33 Lubrimetal.................................................................. 46 , 50 Mack Brooks Exhibitions................................................. 11 Madem Reels............................................................... 9 , 18 Messe Düsseldorf GmbH.......................................... 14 , 17 Nexans........................................................... 14 , 17 , 28 , 33 Nextrom Oy...................................................................... 10 Maschinenfabrik Niehoff GmbH...................................... 14 Pourtier-Gauder Group................................................ 7 , 15 Pressure Welding Machines Ltd...................................... 31 QED Wire Lines.......................................................... 47 , 48 Roland Electronic GmbH................................................. 39 Rosendahl Maschinen............................................... 10 , 18 Scapa Cable Solutions.............................................. 13 , 18 Shenyang Jinggong..................................................... 9 , 18 Sikora AG................................................... 7 , 15 , 18 , 39 , 42 Sirio Wire Srl.............................................................. 45 , 50 SonoBond UltraSonics.............................................. 30 , 34 Tenova.............................................................................. 46 Joachim Uhing KG GmbH............................................... 11 Ventcroft........................................................................... 11 Welding Wire Machineries......................................... 47 , 50 YueHua Electric Industrial.......................................... 36 , 42 Zumbach Electronic AG............................................. 31 , 34

Front cover courtesy of ARKEMA. For more details please fax +33 1 49 00 83 96 or email info.functional-polyolfins@arkema.com Website: www.arkemagroup.com

US copies only : Wire & Cable ASIA (ISSN No. 0218-3277) is published bi-monthly by INTRAS Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. Postmaster : send address changes to Wire & Cable ASIA , PO Box 437, Emigsville PA 17318-0437.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

Contents in this issue

2

Editorial Index

2

通讯目录

6

Industry News

15 行业新闻

20 Telecom News 21 通信新闻

22 From the Americas 25 来自美国的消息

❍ 35

28 Technology News 33 技术与产品

35 Testing & measuring (of wire & cables) 41 电线电缆测试

44 Chemical &

mechanical descaling

48 化学和机械除锈

60 Advertisers Index 60 广告索引

❍ 7

When you have finished with this magazine please recycle it

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

❍ 28

❍ 44

Technical Articles

51 Olefinic Elastomers for Wire and Cable Applications By Day-Chyuan Lee, Ray Laakso, Larry Gross and Jack Muskopf, the Dow Chemical Company 56 线缆应用的乙丙合成橡胶 作者：陶氏化学 Day-Chyuan Lee 、 Ray Laakso 、 Larry Gross 和 Jack Muskopf – Dow Chemical Company

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

when and where

Editor ( 编辑 ): .............................................. Gill Watson Features Editor – USA ( 专栏编辑 – 美国 ): .............................. Dorothy Fabian Editorial Assistant ( 助理文字编辑 ): ................................ Christian Bradley Design/Production ( 设计/制作 ): ............ Julie Tomlin Production ( 制作 ): ................................ Lisa Benjamin Translation ( 翻译经理 ): ............................... Tony Zhou Jianye Yang Sales Manager ( 广告销售经理 ): .............. Paul Browne Advertising/Marketing : ................ Giuliana Benedetto ( 广告/营销 ): Italian speaking sales Hendrike Griffin German speaking sales Linda Li 中文区域营销 Jeroo Vandrevala Indian sales Advertisement Coordinator ( 广告联络人 ): .............................................. Liz Hughes Accounts Manager ( 财务经理 ): .... Richard Babbedge Subscriptions ( 订阅) ............................ Liz Hughes Publisher ( 发行人 ): ........................... Caroline Sullens Founder ( 创办人 ): ................................... John C Hogg

2009 January

11-14: Tekno/Tube Arabia 2009 – trade exhibition – Dubai, UAE Organisers : Al Fajer Information & Services Email : alfajer@emirates.net.ae Website : www.teknotubearabia.com

April

27-30: Interwire – trade exhibition – Cleveland, USA Organisers : Wire Association Intl Email : info@wirenet.org Website : www.wirenet.org

BigStockPhoto.com – Malaysia Paradise

September

23-26: wire China 2008 – trade exhibition – Shanghai, China Organisers : Messe Düsseldorf China Fax : +86 21 5027 8138 Email : wire@mdc.com.cn Website : www.wirechina.net

May

12-15: wire Russia 2009 – trade exhibition – Moscow, Russia Organisers : Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Email : info@wire-russia.com Website : www.wire-russia.com

Europe ( 欧洲 )

Advertising/Marketing & Editorial ( 广告, 营销及编辑部 ) 46 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 4HY, UK Tel ( 电话 ): ................... +44 1926 334137 Fax ( 传真 ): .................. +44 1926 314755 Email ( 电子邮址 ): ........ intras@intras.co.uk Website ( 网站 ): ........... www.read-wca.com

June

USA ( 美国 )

Editorial ( 编辑 ) Intras Ltd – Dorothy Fabian 272 First Avenue, Apt 12G New York, NY 10009, USA

17-19: Wire & Tube Kiev (TDS) – trade exhibition – Kiev, Ukraine Organisers : TDS - Expo Email : olga@welding.kiev.ua Website : www.weldexpo.com.ua

Tel ( 电话 ): ................... +1 212 614 9266 Fax ( 传真 ): .................. +1 212 614 9266 Email ( 电子邮址 ): ........ dfabian@rcn.com

India ( 印度 )

November

Jintras Ltd – Jeroo Vandrevala Subarna (Ground Floor), P21/N, Block A New Alipore, Kolkata 700 053, India Tel ( 电话 ): ................... +91 33 2407 07 01 Fax ( 传真 ): .................. +91 33 2407 07 00 Email ( 电子邮址 ): ........ jeroov@vsnl.com Website ( 网站 ): ........... www.jintras.com

September

9-12: IWCS – technical conference – Rhode Island, USA

18-21: Wire Turkey – trade exhibition – Istanbul, Turkey Organisers : Media Force Fax : +90 212 465 7417 Email : info@mediaforceonline.com Website : www.mediaforceonline.com

Organisers : IWCS Inc Fax : +1 732 389 0991 Email : admin@iwcs.org Website : www.iwcs.org

This publication and its full contents of layout, text, images, and graphics is copyright protected. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or any other storage or retrieval system without the publisher’s written permission. The publisher, owners, agents, printers, editors and contributors cannot be held responsible for and hereby exclude all liability whatsoever for errors, omissions or the accuracy and claims printed or inferred in the editorial or advertisements published in this, previous or subsequent editions or for any damages, costs or losses caused thereby. Wire & Cable ASIA reserves the right to edit, reword and subedit all editorial submissions in accordance with editorial policy. Wire & Cable ASIA expressed graphically or by text is a registered name and style trademark of Intras Ltd, UK. All matters relating to this Disclaimer are governed by the laws of England. 《亚洲线缆》杂志所有图文受版权保护。未经书面授权不得全部 或部分以任何方式转载。出版商、编写者、代理商、印刷商及投 稿者对在本期、以前、以及将来刊登的稿件或广告的准确性和 提出的索赔不承担责任。英国 Intras Ltd 公司拥有《亚洲线缆》 ( Wire & Cable ASIA ) 图像和文字注册商标。 Wire & Cable ASIA is published six times a year. It is circulated throughout North and South-east Asia to registered readers in wire, cable and wire component producer and consumer industries. An annual subscription is available from Intras Ltd at Euros 140, £95, US$195 or Rupees 7,880.

October

6-8: Metaltech/Tubotech – trade exhibition – Sao Paulo, Brazil Organisers : Grupo Cipa Email : international@cipanet.com.br Website : www.cipanet.com.br 13-15: wire/Tube SE Asia – trade exhibition – Bangkok, Thailand Organisers : Messe Düsseldorf Asia Pte Ltd Email : wire@mda.com.sg Website : www.wire-southeastasia.com

BigStockPhoto.com – Vladislav Lebedinski

November 20-22: Wire and Cable India – trade exhibition – Mumbai, India Organisers : CII Fax : +91 22 2493 9463 Email : info@ciionline.org Website : www.ciionline.org

《亚洲线缆》一年出版六期，面向整个北亚、东南亚地区的电 线、电缆和线材制品的生产商和用户发行。订阅一年：欧元 140 ；英镑 95 ; 美元 195 ；卢比 7,880 。

© Intras Ltd ISSN 0218-3277

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/ August 2008

Industry news

The latest drum twister is the largest ❍ ❍ of its type

700 th drum twister a real heavyweight

Gauder Group is pleased to announce an important contract for a drum twister line to be supplied to Saudi Cable, a leading manufacturer of a complete range of cable in the Middle East. Pourtier - Gauder Group is a long-standing supplier to the company. This latest drum twister line is the 700 th supplied by Gauder to the cable industry and will be the largest of its type. The line, for the production of high voltage power cable, will be designed for a 4 metre take-up reel and 30 tons weight.

Sikora Asia has established a second office in Suzhou/China, situated in a highly industrial area close to Shanghai. Wanbin Chen, head of Sikora Asia is confident about the business expansion. He explains, “Our customers can expect a more convenient service with lower service costs, due to shorter travelling distances.” Sikora Asia – China Fax : +86 512 6777 2647 Email : sales@sikora-asia.net Website : www.sikora.net New office opened near Shanghai

Pourtier – Gauder Group Fax : +33 1 64 26 61 10 Email :

Wanbin Chen of Sikora Asia ❍ ❍

sales.pourtier@gaudergroup.com Website : www.gaudergroup.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

news

Investing in reel production

Machine exporter with a new name Deyang Bochuang Electrotechnical Machinery Co Ltd, which used to be called DongFang Electromechanical Machinery Co, is specialised in the manufacture of high technology rod breakdown machines, rod continuous casting and rolling machines, re-winders, lead extruders. All equipment is produced to conform to the appropriate EC standard and Deyang Bochuang products are in demand both at home and abroad. Deyang Bochuang Electrotechnical Equipment Co Ltd – China Fax : +86 0838 250 8161 Email : dybochuang@tom.com Website : www.dybochuang.com

Tapes and yarns, worldwide

Madem already has production plants in Brazil, Spain, and USA and is to open a new plant in the Kingdom of Bahrain later this year. With production around five hundred containers per month of knock down wood reels, Madem sells to over 40 countries and possibly all of the major wire and cable producers. Madem Reels are stamped ISPM 15 heat-treated and made from renew- able pine from North America, South America and Europe.

Semi-conductive water blocking tapes are used for water blocking between communication cable and power cable. Non-conductive water blocking tapes are used for water blocking between the components of optical fibre cable, communi- cation cable and power cable. Shenyang Jinggong Cable Material Co Ltd manufactures semi- and non-conductive water blocking tape and yarns and delivers worldwide. Shenyang Jinggong – China Fax : +86 24 8931 2788 Email : office@jinggong-tapes.com Website : www.jinggong-tapes.com

Installed by steel processors worldwide

tank heaters

During 2008, Madem will be investing US$ 5,000,000 in a high tech ply- wood plant, capable of producing 70 containers of plywood flanges per month. “At Madem we offer new kit packaging, a new locking bushing system and on site assembling operations. Madem is working closely with customers suggesting spec changes that will provide cost savings to their customers,” says Madem group sales director, Leandro Mazzoccato. Madem Reels – Brazil Fax : +55 54 3462 5900 Email : madem@madem.com Website : www.mademreels.com Joe’s moving in Amaral Automation Associates has announced the appointment of Joe Snee as sales manager. Formerly with Huestis, Joe brings over 15 years of industry experience to his new position. Amaral Automation Assoc’s – USA Fax : +1 774 203 3078 Email : joe@amaralautomation.com Website : www.amaralautomation.com From left: Leandro Mazzoccato – group ❍ ❍ sales director; Roger Santasusana – director, Euromadem Spain SL; Gino F Mazzoccato – group president director

external heating systems

Tank and vessel heaters for pickling

Specialists in heating & cooling systems and equipment for highly corrosive liquids…

Liberta House · Sandhurst · Berkshire · GU47 8JR · England Telephone: +44 (0) 1252 876123 • Facsimile: +44 (0) 1252 875281 www. b r a u d e . c o . u k • s a l e s@b r a u d e . c o . u k

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

Celebrating a stand with a view

Harry Prunk, chairman of Sikora, was delighted with the success of the company’s 192m 2 two-storey stand at wire 2008. Stand visitor numbers increased by 45% compared to wire 2006. The ground floor formed the exhibition area, where all measuring and control systems were exhibited, while the modern lounge-styled second floor created a pleasant atmosphere for meeting and discussion. “The second floor was enthusiastically received by customers. From this outstanding position you could easily watch the fair,” Mr Prunk explained. New developments in the spotlight at Düsseldorf included the Centerview 8000 for an 8-point-eccentricity-, 4-point-diameter and 8-point-ovality measurement, and the X-Ray 8000 NXT for the application in CV-lines. The highest achievers at the show included the diameter measuring devices of the Laser 2000 series, and the new display and control system, Ecocontrol 600 that clearly presents

❍ ❍

Sikora's two-storey booth at wire 2008 ❍ ❍

the measuring values of the connected measuring devices on an 8.4" TFT-colour monitor and controls the production process.

Sikora AG – Germany Fax : +49 421 48900 90 Email : sales@sikora.net Website : www.sikora.net

wire 2008... “best show ever” for group This year’s wire show was declared “the best one ever” for Nextrom and Rosendahl. The Nextrom and Rosendahl stand proved popular with attendees from the entire global wire, fibre and cable industry. The group’s traditional hospitality included a wide variety of wine and other Austrian and Finnish specialities. A highlight of the week was the Customer Evening, with 350 partners attending from 39 different nations. Six of the group’s latest developments were presented: high speed colouring line – OFC 52i • screening SZ-strander ROSZ 120 • a variety of preform manufacturing solutions • ROCA 1620 – caterpillar and extruder generation – • ROEX Many orders were signed during the five days of the exhibition, leading Mr Siegfried Altmann, CEO of Nextrom and Rosendahl, to announce that, “this is without a doubt, the most successful fair in our history.” multipurpose – THHN wire extrusion line • Sector SZ, with stranding up to 240mm² •

Rosendahl Maschinen GmbH – Austria Nextrom Oy – Finland Fax : +43 3113 5100 51 Website : www.rosendahlaustria.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

news

Niehoff prefers Uhing for ring drives Rolling ring drives manufacturer, Joachim Uhing KG GmbH & Co, has received “PreferredSupplier” certification from machine manufacturer Niehoff, following a successful business connec- tion of many years’ standing. Wolfgang Weber, commercial director of Joachim Uhing KG GmbH & Co, received the award fromMartin Hannosy, procurement manager at Maschinen- fabrik Niehoff, who explained that the award was in recognition of Uhing’s “… product quality, service and delivery reliability,” and continuing, “Uhing [has] proved to be a competent partner you can rely on in every respect.” Delighted with the recognition from Niehoff, Wolfgang Weber commented, “It goes without saying that we will not rest on our laurels.” Joachim Uhing KG GmbH – Germany Fax : +49 4347 906 40
 Email : info@uhing.com Website : www.uhing.com

Solving a Reel environmental issue Ventcroft is believed to be the first cable manufacturing company to offer a scheme to collect and reuse empty standard 100m cable reels. Each year Ventcroft uses over 250,000 plastic reels to supply fire performance cable to users. Now both installers who use the cable, and wholesalers who distribute the cable, can take advantage of Ventcroft’s scheme which will not only help the environment, but could also save money. Plastic cable reels overcome many customer complaints about the difficulty of disposing of cardboard and plywood reels, but recycling and reusing the reels provides the greatest environmental benefit. Plastic reels are do not suffer from adverse weather and are moisture resistant. Over 95% of plastic reels can be reused and all can be recycled. Ventcroft Ltd – UK Fax : +44 1 928 581 099 Website : www.protectingpeople.co.uk 20 th EuroBLECH to open its doors The metalworking technology show EuroBLECH was first held in 1969 at London’s Olympia Exhibition Centre. Forty years and several location moves later, EuroBLECH organisers are looking forward to another successful event, between 21 st to 25 th October, at the exhibition centre in Hanover. Potential exhibitors are advised to book their space as soon as possible, as floor allocation is almost complete. To make a visit to EuroBLECH as straightforward as possible, visitors can order a copy of the EuroBLECH visitor leaflet. Available from May, the leaflet will give all the important details of the exhibition, together with accommodation and travel information. The leaflet will be published in twelve languages and can be ordered online from the EuroBLECH site. Mack Brooks Exhibitions – UK Fax : +44 1727 814401 Email : info@euroblech.com Website : www.euroblech.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

news

Sales success

BWE Ltd launched the new ‘S’ range of Conform™ continuous extrusion machines at wire 2008 and found an immediate buyer in Smeta Donetski. The S315 is designed for small copper and aluminium applications such as rectangular wire (magnet wire) and sections, solid aluminium conductor (SAC) and aluminium round and multivoid tubes. Although Smeta is intending to use the system to extrude refrigeration tubes from 9.5mm diameter aluminium rod, the order includes additional tooling to facilitate the extrusion of other products.

From Left to right, Kevin Bennet of BWE, Igor ❍ ❍ Myagkov & Vitaly Kyyashko from Smeta

The ‘S’ range of machines will be manufactured and assembled in China under the supervision of BWE UK specialists and will be subject to UK inspection. BWE Ltd – UK Fax : +44 1233 630 670 Email : kevinbennett@bwe.co.uk Website : www.bwe.co.uk

Software strategy The new strategic partnership between Cimteq, designers of CableBuilder software, and the independent software vendor, InnoVites BV was demonstrated by a joint stand for the two companies at wire 2008. Both companies are exclusively focused on software for the wire and cable industry. Cimteq – UK Fax : +44 1978 667 005 Email : info@cimteq.com Website : www.cimteq.com InnoVites BV – Netherlands Fax : +31 318 541 966 Email : info@innovites.com Website : www.innovites.com Wrapped up at wire Scapa Cable Solutions, part of the Scapa Group plc, reported a successful week at the wire 2008 exhibition in Düsseldorf. Visitors to the stand represented over 50 countries with particularly strong interest from the Middle East and Africa. Scapa Cable Solutions manufactures an extensive range of cable wrapping tapes and cable components, which are supplied direct to cable and cable kit manufacturers. Scapa cable wrapping tapes are widely used in the manufacture of power, telecommunication, data transmission, fire survival and sub-sea cables. Scapa Cable Solutions – UK Fax : +44 161 301 7446 Email : sales@scapacable.com Website : www.scapacable.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

wire China sold out!

Cable contract goes to sea

The third wire/Tube China exhibi- tions take place on 23 th -26 th Sep- tember 2008 at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre. The entire exhibition space allocation is already sold out, with a long waiting list of potential exhibitors. Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Fax : +49 211 4560 7740 Email : info@wirechina.net Website : www.wirechina.net

Bourbon offshore vessel: copyright Guido Perla (BOURBON) ❍ ❍

“Nexans is a leading shipboard cable supplier in China, providing advanced shipyards with reliable safety cables for all kind of vessels: container ships, oil tankers, liquefied natural gas transporters and floating production, storage and offloading vessels,” said Michel Lemaire, executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific area. The cables will be manufactured in the Nexans plant based in Shanghai, China and fitted between mid 2008 and 2010. Nexans Deutschland Industries GmbH & Co KG – Germany Fax : +49 511 676 3777 Email : uniwema.tech@nexans.com Website : www.nexans.de Niehoff at wire 2008 Maschinenfabrik Niehoff reports its successful participation at wire 2008. During the five days of wire 2008, exhibited equipment – including an MMH50/RM121 multiwire drawing line, the latest high speed rewinding machine DSA Niehoff System Hacoba with CS630 spool pay-offs for multiwire bundles, a double twist stranding machine DSI631 with back twist pay-off ARD630D and longitudinal tape pay-off ALB600, and a 24-carrier high speed braiding machine BMV24 with BAS 800 take-up and pay-off unit – were all sold. Several orders were also taken for double twist bunching machines with the new opto-electronic traversing system, NBAT. Maschinenfabrik Niehoff GmbH

Cables for Frankfurt airport For decades, network and safety system solutions from Dätwyler Cables have been used at Frankfurt Airport, and for much of the latest new building and expansion work, Dätwyler Cables will be supplying the installation companies with cables, components and services from its nearby European distribution centre. Dätwyler Cables solutions have test certificates that exceed the standard technologies of DIN 4102-12, com- pliant with the demands of modern construction technology but time and cost-effective. “The shipbuilding industry is a priority market segment for Nexans as it’s a booming industry, particularly in Asia, which requires a variety of high value-added products. Nexans has signed a three-year contract to supply 3,146 km of halogen free, low-smoke marine power trans- mission (0.6/1KV and 250V power cables) and signal control cables for installation on Bourbon Offshore vessels. Compliant with the most demanding of international standards, the cables will be installed in 54 new offshore supply vessels (less than 60 km per ship) being built for Bourbon at shipyards in China.

Dätwyler Kabel+Systeme – Germany Fax : +49 61 90 88 80 15 Email :

& Co KG – Germany Fax +49 9122 977 155 Email: info@niehoff.de Website: www.niehoff.de

heiko.knell@daetwyler-cables.com Website : www.daetwyler-cables.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

行业 新闻

最新鼓式绞合设备，此类设备中最大的一套  

第 700 套鼓式绞合设备 是此类型中最大的一套

Gauder Group 很高兴地宣布一个重要的 合同，即向 Saudi Cable Company 公司 供应一套鼓式绞合设备。这套最新的鼓 式绞合设备是 Gauder 供应给电缆工业的 第 700 套设备，而且是此类型中最大的 一套。 设备用来生产高压电力电缆，设计用于 4 米收线盘和 30 吨重量。 Pourtier – Gauder Group 一直是 Saudi Cable 信誉很好的供应商，在中 东， Saudi Cable 是全范围电缆的制造 商。 Pourtier – Gauder Group – 法国 传真 : +33 1 64 26 61 10 电子邮箱 : sales.pourtier@gaudergroup.com 网站 : www.gaudergroup.com

在中国设立第二个机构 Sikora Asia 在中国/苏州开设了第二个办事机 构,它位于靠近上海的工业区。 Wanbin Chen 是 Sikora Asia 的负责人,他对业务扩展充满信 心。“我们决定再设立一个销售机构,使我们具 有更多的机动性,特别是能够及时地到达客户那 里,帮助客户,因此,我们的客户可期望获得更加 便捷的服务,包括更低的服务成本,因为旅行距 离缩短了”。同时,我们设立第二个办事机构的 目的在于提高人们对我们产品的意识,向人们传 输 Sikora 面向未来的公司形象”, Chen 解释道。

Sikora Asia – 中国 传真 : +86 512 6777 2647 电子邮箱 :sales@sikora-asia.net 网站 : www.sikora.net

Wanbin Chen – Sikora Asia 负责人

❍

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

行业 新闻

中国线材展展位全部售出 ! 第三届中国线材/管材展将于 2008 年 9 月 23-26 日于上海国际展览中心举 行。

低发烟电缆进入海上设施

整个展会展位全部售出，还有很多 报名的参展商在候补名单上。

Messe Düsseldorf GmbH – 德国 传真 : +49 211 4560 7740 电子邮箱 : info@wirechina.net 网站 : www.wirechina.net

m Bourbon 最新的海上船舶 - 版权所有 Guido Perla (BOURBON)

以新公司名称出口 德阳博创（音译）电子技术设备有限公 司是一家高科技电气线材和电缆生产设 备制造商和出口商，公司前称为东方电 子机械有限公司，公司专业制造棒材压 轧机、棒材连续铸造辊压机、复绕机、 铅挤出机和其它设备，符合 EC 标准。

Nexans 签署了一份为期 3 年的合同，供应 3,146 公里无卤素、低发烟海上电力输 送线（ 0.6/1KV 和 250V 电力电缆）以及信号控制电缆，用于 BOURBON 海上船舶 上的装置。电缆符合要求最严格的国际标准，安装在用于 Bourbon 的 54 艘新的海 上供应船上(每艘低于 60 公里)，目前，这些船正在中国船厂建造中。“造船工业 是 Nexans 的一个重要市场领域，它正在急速发展，尤其在亚洲，需要各种高附 加值产品。在中国， Nexans 是船舶电缆领军供应商，向先进的船厂为各种船舶 提供可靠的安全电缆，包括：集装箱轮、油轮、液化天然气轮、浮箱、储存和装 卸船，”亚太区执行副总裁 Michel Lemaire 说。

德阳博创产品满足国内外的需求。

Nexans 将在其中国上海的装置制造电缆，在 2008 年和 2010 年间装配。

Deyang Bochuang Electrotechnical Equipment Co Ltd – 中国 传真 : +86 0838 250 8161 电子邮箱 : dybochuang@tom.com 网站 : www.dybochuang.com

Nexans Deutschland Industries GmbH & Co KG – 德国 传真 : +49 511 676 3777 电子邮箱 : uniwema.tech@nexans.com

网站 : www.nexans.de

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

行业 新闻

为拥有开扩视野的展台而庆祝

对公司在 2008 线材会展中采用 182 平方米的双层展台而取得 的成功， Sikora 主席 Harry Prunk 感到非常高兴。展台来访者 人数比 2006 年线材会展增加了 45% 。展台的底层是展出区 域，展示了所有的测量和控制系统，同时，具有现代化休闲 风格的二层则为会议和讨论营造出一种愉悦的氛围。 “第二层…特别受客户喜爱。你能从这个突出的位置很容易 地看到会展，” Prunk 解释道。 在 Düsseldorf 会展中，新开发亮点还包括用于 8 点偏心度、 4 点直径和 8 点椭圆度测量的 Centerview 8000 ，以及用于 CV - 设备应用的 X- 光 8000NXT 。在会展中取得很大成就的是激 光 2000 系列直径测量设备、新的显示和控制系统 Ecocontrol 600 ，它清晰地将连接测量装置的测量值显示在 8.4" TFT -彩 色监视器上，并对生产过程进行控制。

Sikora AG – 德国

电子邮箱 : sales@sikora.net 网站 : www.sikora.net

传真 : +49 421 48900 90

m 2008 线材会展 Sikora 展台 线轴生产商的 新投资

2008 线材会展 -“这是集团有史以 来最成功的会展” 对 Nextrom 和 Rosendahl 来说，今年的线材会展被称得上是“最好的一次”，它的 展台挤满了来自全球线材、光纤和电缆工业的来访者，他们很高兴地品尝集团传统 的款待，提供了各种葡萄酒和其它澳大利亚和芬兰特产，客户晚宴则是该周的亮 点，来自 39 个不同国家、大约 350 人参加了晚宴。 2008 线材会展上的电缆绕包带 Scapa Cable Solutions 属于 Scapa Group plc 。据称，它在 Düsseldorf 2008 线 材会展中获得成功。 50 多个国家来访者来到展台，中东和非洲国家对其特别感 兴趣。 Scapa Cable Solutions 制造各种电缆缠绕带和电缆元件，直接销售到领军市场 的电缆和电缆组件制造商。 Scapa 电缆包带广泛用于电力、通信、数据传输、消 防和海底电缆制造，已用于世界上许多主要的电缆项目。 Scapa Cable Solutions – 英国 电子邮箱 : sales@scapacable.com 传真 : +44 161 301 7446 网站 : www.scapacable.com

Madem 已经在巴西、西班牙和美国拥有 工厂，今年末它还将在巴林王国运行一 个新工厂。 Madem 每月生产约 500 个集 装箱的可拆卸木质线轴，销售给 40 多个 国家，几乎包括了所有的主要线材和电 缆生产商。 Madem Reels 拥有 ISPM15 热处理认证，采用来自北美、南美和欧 洲的可再生松木。 2008 年期间， Madem 投资了 5,000,000 美元，建设一个高技术木夹板工厂，每 月能生产 70 个集装箱木夹板法兰。

展示了集团 6 种最新开发： • 多用途- THHN 线材挤出设备 • SZ 尺规系列，测量面积达 240 平方 毫米 • 高速上色设备 – OFC 52i • SZ 编网系列 – ROSZ 120 编网机 • 各种预成型制造解决方案 • ROEX ROCA 1620 – 新一代牵引机 和挤出机 and Rosendahl 执行长官 Siegfried Altmann 说道：“毫无疑问，这是我们有史以来 最成功的会展。” Rosendahl Maschinen GmbH – 奥地利 Nextrom Oy – 芬兰 传真 : +43 3113 5100 51 网站 : www.rosendahlaustria.com 面对许多签订的订单， Nextrom

半导电和绝缘阻水带 半导电阻水带被用于电力电缆元件 之间的阻水，它的膨胀特性优于传 统的阻水带，因为传统的阻水带没 有覆盖织物。它能代替传统的半传 导带，没有腐蚀性。 绝缘阻水带被用于光纤电缆、通信 电缆和电力电缆元件之间的阻水。 沈阳精工电缆材料有限公司制造半 导电和绝缘阻水带和阻水纱，为全 世界提供有效的服务。 Shenyang Jinggong – 中国 传真 : +86 24 8931 2788 电子邮箱 : office@jinggong-tapes.com 网站 : www.jinggong-tapes.com

m 从 左 至 右 ： Ma d em 集 团 销 售 总 监 Leandro Mazzoccato 、 Euromadem Spain SL 总裁 Roger Santasusana 和 Madem 集团总裁 Gino F Mazzoccato “全世界客户都在寻求新设想，我们 Madem 提供新的成套包装 - 一种新的 锁定套管系统，并在现场组装。 Madem 与客户密切合作，为规格变更提供建 议，为客户节约成本，” Madem 集团销 售总监 Leandro Mazzoccato 说。

Madem Reels – 巴西 传真 : +55 54 3462 5900 电子邮箱 : madem@madem.com 网站 : www.mademreels.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

The government had said that it hoped to have a 3G network in place before the Beijing Olympics open in August. TD-SCDMA has failed to attract very many buyers abroad, but industry experts say regulators are pressing Chinese carriers to use it alongside the global standards. Suppliers such as Nokia Corp, of Finland, and Motorola Inc, of the US, say they are prepared to produce equipment based on the Chinese standards once the government picks carriers to receive 3G licenses. In other news of China Mobile Ltd, ✆ ✆ the company announced on 12 th April that it would seek to take small stakes in global telecom firms because controlling stakes had become too expensive. As reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Wang Jianzhou, the chief executive, said that China Mobile expected to benefit from such deals despite the lesser influence that a minor holding entails. In China’s Hainan Province for the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, Mr Wang reminded a seminar that his company last year bought an 89% stake in the loss-making Pakistani operator Paktel Ltd for $284 million. Suggesting that China Mobile had taken a lesson from its first telecom acquisition outside its home market, he said, “Entering into international telecom firms as small shareholders can help us learn from their experiences and gradually develop further.” Elsewhere in telecom . . . As reported in the ✆ ✆ Wall Street Journal for 11 th April, the publi- cation’s readers in Asia named South Korea’s SK Telecom top company in the region in terms of its innovativeness in responding to customer needs, even as they voted Samsung the most admired company for the eighth straight year. Samsung, also of South Korea, is world leader in consumer electronics. The results were derived from responses to the WSJ annual survey ‘Asia 200.’

Ericsson holds its lead in infrastructure services, while Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens gain ground

Global suppliers of services for telecom operators saw their revenue go up across the board in 2007 as the total market grew to $70 billion, for an 8% increase over 2006, according to the research and consulting firm Technology Business Research (Hampton, New Hampshire). The company’s Telecom Infrastructure Services (TIS) market model tracks market share of leading telecom equipment suppliers and provides forecasts for this rapidly evolving sector. In its latest TIS, published 1 st April, Technology Business Research reported that, last year, Ericsson Global Services , Alcatel-Lucent Services , Nokia Siemens Networks Services , Huawei, and other vendors stepped up their focus on service businesses to help insulate against slowing demand for telecom equipment. Meanwhile, according to the market model, the increasing congruency of the network and information technology worlds “is creating significant opportunities for IT vendors such as IBM, HP, Accenture, and EDS to seize growth opportunities” within telecom operator accounts; also for traditional infrastructure vendors to expand into more software-centric parts of the network, particularly OSS/BSS. Moreover, beyond the major players, a second tier of network and software vendors is stepping up systems integration and consulting initiatives. Among the key findings of the latest TIS: After announcing only a handful of managed services contracts in 2006, ✆ ✆ suppliers reported a surge in 2007, with more than 100 deals presented. While interest in outsourcing remains low in North America, other regions, especially Western Europe, are seeing more activity; Completion of mergers among suppliers has tightened the competition ✆ ✆ among the three largest telecom suppliers. TBR believes that Ericsson will face significant challenges to its market leadership as both Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks become more aggressive in the network services space; While IBM continues to lead large IT systems integrators in revenue from ✆ ✆ service providers, HP markedly increased its position in 2007, bringing it into a virtual tie for the lead among these players; As network equipment spending slowed in 2007, service provider ✆ ✆ consolidation and migration to IP-based multimedia infrastructure drove opportunities for services.

With some 520 million subscribers, China has the world’s largest popu- lation of mobile phone users, and its decisions as to standards would significantly impact the telecom equip- ment market. Once the government awards licenses for third-generation, or 3G, services, companies expect a bonanza of spending on equipment, but Beijing has delayed its decision while trying to develop its own system to compete with global standards. Beijing’s effort, which commenced in 2001, would create opportunities for domestic telecom companies and reduce the necessity to pay license fees to developers of the global standards WCDMA and CDMA-2000, also approved for use in China.

Beijing may be nearing a decision on the award of 3G licenses China Mobile Ltd, the world’s largest mobile phone operator, said on 28 th March that it intended to launch a trial service of the homegrown Chinese next-generation standard within a week. China Mobile Communications Corp said in a statement that it would test the standard, known as TD-SCDMA, by distributing 20,000 phones and 5,000 data cards on 1 st April in Beijing and seven other cities. Third-generation mobile phone stan- dards will support video and Internet capability.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

电信 新闻

和中东的移动通信业务发展良好,总营 收达到了 779.9 亿美元。

爱立信维持基础设施服务领导地位，阿尔卡特朗讯和诺基 亚西门子迎头赶上

北美最大的电信设备供应商北电网络 ✆ ✆ 公司预计随着电信营运商大力投资可进 行高速无线下载和拨打因特网电话的网 络,公司将从中明显受益。北电研发部 的负责人 John Roese 4 月 11 日在接受彭 博新闻采访的时候表示北电的客户已经 在测试所谓的第四代无线网络。试商用 可能在明年开始， 2010 年开始城市范围 的安装。 Roese 表示第四代网络的下载 速度可以高达每秒 200 兆，高于目前的 家庭因特网连接速度，是 3G 的 10 倍。 销售基于 CDMA 和 GSM 技术的设备的 北电目前也在生产 LTE （长期演进）设 备。 Roese 告知彭博：“在我们谈话的 同时，核心 LTE 升级已经开始，投资可 达数百亿美元。” 两 家 巴 西 电 信 营 运 商 ✆ ✆ T e l e m a r Participações ( TNE )和 Brazil Telecom ( BTM )可能会合并。据报道巴西总统 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 支持两公司合 并，以对抗巴西电信市场的两大外资营 运商——西班牙的 Telefónica SA 和墨 西哥的 America Movil 。不过，根据现 行的电信法规，在巴西的不同区域处于 主导地位的固网营运商不能够合并。一 位行业分析人士于 4 月 10 日在接受《投 资者商业日报》采访时表示为交换到 TNE-BTM 合并的许可，巴西政府将赋 予其主要股东巴西开发银行和国有的退 休基金在董事会级别的决策上有一票否 决权。 Business 与芬兰的矿冶 行业流程解决方案、技术和服务提 供商 Outotec 达成协议，提供全球通 信服务以及相关支持。据 TMCnet 特 约编辑 Anuradha Shukla 4 月 10 日报 道， Verizon 将向 Outotec 提供专用 IP 以 及一个完全受管理的通信网络，可以在 Outotec 位于全球六个大洲的 30 个主要 分支机构间实现高速连接。 Verizon 还将 在其位于美国的业务主机托管站对关键 业务应用进行主机托管，补充 Outotec 自己在芬兰和澳大利亚的数据中心。 4 月 10 日在其网站上发 表的声明，这家土耳其最大的电信 公司确认将购买完全国有的白俄罗 斯 Belarusian Telecommunications Network （ BeST ）的控股股份。 BeST 于 2004 年 11 月注册， 2 月初的用户数 为 18.36 万人，其中 1 月份新增用户为 2,000 人。 Turkcell 去年净利润为 4.03 亿 美元，用户数 3,480 万。该土耳其公司 还投资于阿塞拜疆、格鲁吉亚、哈萨克 和摩尔多瓦的电信营运商。 ✆ Bahrain Telecommunications Co 4 月 13 日宣布将按时推出下一代网络( NGN ) 服务。 Batelco 投资 5,700 万美元的项目 的最后一期完成后，可向巴林的所有住 户提供自动宽带接入。这将使巴林成为 世界上第一个完成宽带全国覆盖的国 家。公司表示迁移将首先在巴林北部和 南部完成，另两个区域的宽带接入服务 的启动需等到四月底。 NGN 可用一条线 路实现三网合一(语音、数据和视频)。 美国✆ ✆ Verizon 根据✆ ✆ Turkcell

根据研究咨询公司 Technology Business Research （ TBR ，位于新罕布什尔州汉普 顿）提供的数据，全球电信基础设施服务供应商 2007 年的收入有所增长，同时市场总 规模增加到 700 亿美元，比 2006 年高 8% 。公司的电信基础设施服务( TIS )市场模型可 跟踪主导电信设备供应商的市场份额，提供这个快速发展的领域的预测报告。在 TBR 4 月 1 日公布的最新 TIS 中， TBR 报告称去年爱立信全球服务公司、阿尔卡特朗讯服务 公司、诺基亚西门子网络服务公司、华为以及其他供应商逐步增加对服务市场的重 视，以弥补电信设备需求放慢的颓势。 同时，该市场模型还预计随着电信网络市场和 IT 市场进一步趋同，“会给如 IBM 、惠 普、埃森哲和 EDS 这类 IT 供应商创造重大机会，来把握电信市场的发展机遇。”对于 传统的电信基础设施供应商而言，机遇在于扩大网络的软件产品销售，特别是 OSS/ BSS 。此外，除主流厂商之外，二线网络和软件厂商也在步入系统集成和咨询市场。 TIS 最新的 TIS 的主要发现包括： ✆ 虽然代维协议在 2006 年还属于比较罕见的事物, 2007 年其数量有大幅度增长,总共 落单了 100 多个。北美的营运商对于外包的兴趣不大,西欧的运营商则比较积极； ✆ 电信设备服务供应商之间合并的完成激化了三大电信设备服务供应商之间的竞 争。 TBR 认为由于阿朗和诺西着力开拓网络服务市场，爱立信的市场领导地位面 临重大挑战； ✆ 按照来自电信基础设施服务供应商的 IT 系统集成收入总量计算， IBM 仍然是这个领 域的领导者。不过 2007 年惠普的市场地位有了明显改善，在主流厂商中的份额超 过了 IBM ； ✆ 由于 2007 年电信设备开支增速下降，服务供应商的合并和向基于 IP 的多媒体基础 设施的迁移开启了服务市场的大量机遇。

格购买了亏损的巴基斯坦营运商 Paktel 89% 的股份。他暗示中移动已经在海外 市场取得了首次电信购并的经验，并表 示：“以小股东的身份加入国际电信公 司有助于我们学习它们的经验，并逐步 赶上。” 其他电信新闻 . . . 根据《华尔街日报》 ✆ ✆ 4 月 11 日的报道， 其亚洲读者选举韩国的 SK Telecom 为 亚洲地区最拔尖的公司，因为其能够采 用创新手段响应客户的需求，并连续第 八年选举三星为最受尊重的公司。韩国 三星是世界消费电子的主导厂商。这个 结果来自《华尔街日报》举行的“亚洲 200 强”年度调研活动。 为了进一步拓展高增长的欧洲市场,德 ✆ ✆ 国电信向希腊的 Hellenic Telecom 投资 39 亿美元。 3 月 17 日,德国电信表示已经 从希腊投资公司 Marfin 处购得 Hellenic Telecom 20% 的股份。 Marfin 在 2007 年一直在买入 Hellenic Telecom 的股 份。 Forbes.com 报道称德国电信支付了 39 亿美元,相当于该希腊电信营运商的 股份溢价 35.8% 。德国电信还在 2007 年 9 月出资 20 亿美元购买了法国电信的德 国移动分部,以促进西欧业务的发展。 同月德国电信还出资 16 亿美元购并了美 国的 SunCom Wireless Holdings 。 法国电信表示, 由于移动通信业务发展 ✆ ✆ 良好, 毛利率增加和税率降低, 法国 电信 2007 年的净利润有所增长。净利 润从一年前的 65 亿美元增长到 93 亿美 元。 2006 年的净利润数抵减了 44 亿美 元的商誉减值。由于法电在欧洲、非洲

中国可能即将颁发 3G 牌照 世界最大的移动电话公司中国移动通信公 司 3 月 28 日宣布将在一个星期内进行中国 自行研发的下一代通讯标准的试商用。中 移动在一项声明中表示公司将于 4 月 1 日在 北京和其他七个城市分发两万部电话和 五千张数据卡,进行 TD-SCDMA 标准的测 试。第三代移动通信标准支持移动视频和 因特网。中国有 5.2 亿移动电话用户，是世 界最大的移动通信用户群体。中国的决定 将对电信设备市场造成重大影响。一旦政 府发放第三代移动通信牌照，电信设备公 司预计电信设备投资将达到一个高峰。不 过中国政府一再延迟牌照的颁发，试图开 发自己的标准与国际标准对抗。 中国政府的努力开始于 2001 年，初衷是为 国内电信公司创造机会，减少向全球标准 WCDMA 和 CDMA-2000 的开发商支付版 权费。这两种标准也被批准在中国应用。 中国政府曾表示将在 8 月份奥运会开幕前 商用 3G 网络。 TD-SCDMA 基本没有赢得 国外订单, 不过业界专家认为电信监管当 局会敦促中国营运商在采用全球标准的同 时采用该标准。芬兰诺基亚和美国摩托罗 拉表示一旦中国政府确定向那些营运商颁 发 3G 牌照，它们就会按照中国的标准生产 设备。 4 月 12 日表示将追求全球性电信 公司的少数股份，因为控股股份过于昂 贵。根据中国通讯社新华社的报道，中 移动总裁王建宙表示虽然少数股份的 影响力不足，不过中移动仍然将从中获 益。在中国海南省召开的亚洲博鳌论坛 年度会议上, 王建宙在一个学术研讨 会上提到中移动去年曾以 2.84 美元的价 中移动 ✆ ✆

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2008

Statue of Liberty Image from BigStockPhoto.com Photographer: Marty

Over the ensuing week, American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp (Fort Worth, Texas) would cancel a total of 3,082 flights. Some 338,000 people would have their travel plans disrupted. Among them would be thousands of recruits en route – or so they thought – to military bases around the country to begin basic training for service in Iraq and Afghanistan. On 10 th April the airline said that fixing the planes and compensating the travellers will cost “tens of millions of dollars.” Shortage of fasteners figures in the postponement of the Boeing ‘Dreamliner’ 9 th April was a bad day for another big name in the US aviation industry: aircraft maker Boeing Co, which announced a third delay in its 787 Dreamliner programme. Boeing has 892 firm orders for the innovative plane, from some 61 airlines. The company had planned to deliver the first Dreamliner in May, with more than 109 of the craft expected to be in production by the New Year. Under the revised schedule, Boeing will deliver nothing this year and only 25 planes in 2009 – less than a quarter of the planned complement for that year. “We’ve decided to add additional margin to the programme,” said Scott E Carson, president of Boeing commercial aviation, in a conference call with analysts and reporters. “It is a more conservative approach and it is the right way to go.” Chicago-based Boeing’s headaches with the Dreamliner were triggered by some design problems but mainly by bottlenecks in the supply chain. Delivery of parts – principally of fasteners – has been irregular. Expressing the company’s regrets for having to disappoint its customers, Mr Carson blamed the delay at least in part on the uncertainties implicit in having a far-flung network of suppliers. To help resolve some of these, Boeing executives have taken to the road to improve communications with suppliers of critical components, especially those in Japan and Russia. Boeing announced in March that it would buy out the interest of a supplier – Vought Aircraft Industry – in an assembly plant near Charleston, South Carolina. In another effort to protect the Dreamliner programme, Boeing said it has provided cash advance payments to another major supplier, Spirit Aerosystems Holdings (Wichita, Kansas), which was affected by the delays. In the conference call with reporters Mr Carson struck a note that was in equal parts optimistic and realistic. “Our supply base is healthy,” he said. “We’ve improved the assembly of our major sections. We’re focused and we are applying lessons learned. We are close to overcoming the delays and will bring this breakthrough plane to our customers.” Indeed, customers for the Dreamliner, the fastest-selling plane in aviation history, may deem it worth the wait. Carriers are drawn to its new, largely composite design and innovative next-generation jet engines that will allow the wide-bodied plane to fly farther on less fuel. It may be a consolation in Chicago that Luxembourg-based Airbus is at least four years behind in development of the A350XWB – Europe’s answer to the Dreamliner. The redesigned A350 (the XWB signalising ‘extra-wide-body’) is not scheduled for delivery to the first customers until 2013.

Aviation

American Airlines learns the high cost of faulty wiring maintenance At intervals, wiring becomes front-page headline news in the general press, and the casual reader learns that negligence in its installation and/or maintenance has had very large consequences for yet another US corporation. “American Cancels 1,000 More Flights for Inspection” – the lead story in the New York Times for 9 th April – recounted the latest instance. The airline had scratched 1,094 flights, or nearly half its schedule, in an intensive but ragged effort to rectify wiring problems on its fleet of MD-80 jetliners. The Times ’ Jeff Bailey reported that the emergency grew out of an industrywide Federal Aviation Administration examination into compliance with its inspection directives. The agency, finding scores of planes out of compliance, grounded planes at American and other airlines including Southwest and United. American had inspected the wiring bundles on its planes and believed it had rectified the problem two weeks earlier. The FAA, upon re-inspection of the planes on 7 th April, found that bundles on some of American’s MD-80s were incorrectly wrapped and attached to the wheel wells, and ordered them redone. An American Airlines spokesman, Tim Wagner, offered reasons why this second round of work was proving so disruptive. “It took a little while to get all the teams in place last night,” he told Mr Bailey, in reference to the dispatch of mechanics to eight cities where the repairs were to be performed. “Then a thunderstorm and lightning in the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport area kept workers off the ramp for a time during the night.” The cancellations hit hardest at the carrier’s biggest hubs: O’Hare International, in Chicago; LaGuardia Airport, in New York; St Louis; and Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin, in Texas. The cancellations would mount throughout the day 9 th April, affecting an estimated 100,000 passengers. Those who had booked trips on American Airlines found themselves facing confusion and long delays, with no word on when things might return to normal. The airline said it tried to notify ticket-holders by means of travel agents, phone calls, email, cellphone text messages, and its own website, but Mr Wagner acknowledged that he did not know how many passengers had been reached and how many had been accommodated on other flights. Mr Bailey of the ❖ ❖ Times noted that rebooking people on other airlines could be problematic. “The airline industry is running its planes very full – at 80% or more,” he wrote. “Airlines have been grounding planes because of high fuel prices and out of a desire to constrict supply and thus force up fares to cover fuel costs.” This money-saving campaign will have been seriously set back by the difficulty American Airlines brought upon itself; because the problem with the wiring lay within its control, the airline was obliged to pay for hotel rooms, meals, and ground transportation for battalions of inconvenienced passengers. Mr Wagner, the spokesman for the carrier, said, “We probably ran out of hotel rooms in some places.”

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Crossed wires in braking mechanisms are suspected in two instances of runway skidding Two other wiring-related episodes involving a commercial airline came to light recently. United Airlines disclosed that two of its A320 jetliners skidded off airport runways because of crossed wires in their antilock brakes. A United spokeswoman said on 30 th March that both planes had been tested after maintenance according to a procedure developed by their builder, Airbus. The likely common cause of the skidding incidents was reported that day by the Chicago Tribune . The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating both events. A spokesman for Airbus said that his company was working with the airline and federal officials, but had no indication that the test procedure was inadequate when properly carried out. As reported from Washington by Matthew L Wald of the New York Times , one of the planes, landing at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on 9 th October of last year, skidded off the runway and then back on. A passenger and a flight attendant suffered minor injuries. On 25 th February, a plane landing at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, skidded past the end of a runway and hit a snow bank. Passengers and crew used the emergency slides to get out. There was one minor injury. (“Wiring Is Blamed in Airliner Skids,” 31 st March) Mr Wald wrote, “According to a preliminary report on the Jackson Hole accident on the safety board’s website, investigators found that, because of crossed wires, the system was using the speed of one wheel to decide to release the pressure on another wheel, almost guaranteeing a skid.” A check of United’s other 95 A320s was reported to have identified one additional plane with crossed brake wires. The weaker dollar is benefiting American steel makers, ❖ ❖ who are exporting more of their production as the lifting of import pressures at home gives US-made steel an edge overseas. The position of the domestic steel makers is in contrast to that of their Japanese and Indian counterparts. Japan’s largest steel maker, Tokyo Steel, said on 4 th April that it would curtail exports to ease the effects of soaring scrap prices and a strong yen, which were cutting into profits. Steel makers in India agreed in March to curb exports to help offset supply shortages in the country. The government of President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela ❖ ❖ said 9 th April that it would nationalise the country’s largest steel maker – Siderúrgica del Orinoco, known as Sidor – thus bringing one more industry under state control. The nationalisation of key industries has been a centrepiece of Mr Chávez’s socialist and strongly anti-US agenda. Last year, the president warned Sidor’s owners that he might nationalise the company, which was privatised only in 1998, alleging that it was selling the bulk of its production overseas instead of giving priority to Venezuelan customers. Steel

Also in 2007, the government took majority control of telecommunications and electricity companies, together with the last remaining privately-run oil projects in Venezuela.

The economy

Feeling glum, the American consumer seems set to tighten the purse-strings A report released on 11 th April strongly indicates that the average American, whose free-spending ways have done so much to keep the world economy humming, is giving ominous indications of dyspepsia and thrift. The Reuters/ University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment said that the self-confessed confidence of US consumers had fallen to a 26-year low, threatening the spending that accounts for more than two-thirds of the US economy. The well-regarded index dropped to 63.2 over the previous month. This is the lowest level since 1982 when the jobless rate approached 11%, the worst since the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. For a second set of sobering figures, the Labour Department reported that the cost of imported goods climbed 14.8% in March from the year before, led by oil. Also on 11 th April, General Electric Co (Fairfield, Connecticut ) the world’s third-largest

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company by market value, posted a 12% drop in earnings and said that its profit had fallen for the first time since 2003. Taken together, the reports validate concern among Federal Reserve officials that the economy will shrink in the first half of the year.Courtney Schlisserman of Bloomberg News summed up the pocketbook issues that are suddenly striking home: “Americans are confronting the loss of 232,000 jobs so far this year, along with higher food and energy costs and overall weakening in the economy. Consumer spend- ing in the first half will advance at the weakest rate in 17 years, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg .” (“US Economy: Consumer Sentiment Drops to 26-Year Low,” 11 th April) Again according to the forecast of economists reporting to Bloomberg News , consumer spending will rise at an average annual pace of only 0.5% in the first half of the year. That would be the smallest six-month gain since purchases fell in the half-year ended March 1991. In its most recent report on orders to US factories, the Commerce Department said on 2 nd April that these orders dropped 1.3% in February, about double what economists had been expecting. In January, orders had fallen by an even larger 2.3%, the largest decline in five months. The worsening picture reinforced worries about recession in the American economy. Two consecutive quarters of decline in total output is the generally accepted sign of a recession. The falling-off in demand was steep and widespread. February orders for heavy machinery plunged 12.3%, the biggest drop since January 2004. Orders for iron and steel fell 2.3%. Orders for motor vehicles fell 2% after no gain in January. American auto makers are struggling with weak demandin the face of soaring gasoline prices and the broad slump in the economy. The weakness in manufacturing occurred despite a 5.1% rise in orders for commercial aircraft in February, rebounding from a big decline in January. Overall, orders for transportation products posted a 1.8% rise in February on the strength of commercial and military aircraft orders, as well as higher demand for ships. On the day the Commerce report was issued, Chairman Ben S Bernanke of the Federal Reserve gave the Joint Economic Committee of Congress his most pessimistic assessment to that point. He said, “It now appears likely that gross domestic product will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly.” Demand for aircraft does not offset a steep drop in factory orders

Deriving a new pessimism from the US housing recession, credit-market turmoil, commodity prices, and inflation pressures, they darkened their outlook from that of only two months earlier. Particularly worrisome to the G-7 officials was the increased volatility of the dollar vis-à-vis the euro (an 8% loss) and the yen (a 6% loss) over the short period. Their statement read, “Since our last meeting [in Tokyo, in February], there have been at times sharp fluctuations in major currencies, and we are concerned about their possible implications for economic and financial stability.” The finance chiefs spelled out the most worrisome of those implications: a worldwide economic slowdown, worsening amid a stubborn credit squeeze: “The turmoil in global financial markets remains entrenched and more protracted than we had anticipated. Near-term global economic prospects have weakened.” The G-7 officials met in the same week that the International Monetary Fund estimated a 25% chance of a global recession this year. A collapse in the market for US subprime mortgages has pushed the US toward its first contraction in seven years and prompted banks to shun lending after $245 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007. While the shrinkage of the dollar has helped the US economy by boosting exports, its acceleration drew criticism from officials of countries worried about their own export trade. This attitude was summed up by Canada’s finance minister Jim Flaherty, who told reporters in Washington that the pain of the dollar’s drop “has been borne primarily by the Canadian dollar and also by the euro and the yen.” Composed of the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Canada, the G-7 oversees two-thirds of the world economy. th April, the eve of the G-7 meeting in Washington, the currencies of the US and China reached a milestone in their recent relationship. For the first time in more than a decade, the dollar bought less than 7 yuan, a ratio tending to make Chinese-made goods more expensive for American consumers and possibly contribute to inflation in the United States. The gains for the yuan have followed Beijing’s decision, in July 2005, to end a longstanding peg to the dollar. It was lifted in response to complaints by Americans and Europeans that the yuan was set artificially low, awarding Chinese exporters an unfair trade advantage from the artificially low price of their goods. The ironic result, in the view of many observers, has been massive trade surpluses for China and job losses in the US and Europe. On 10 ❖ ❖

Currency swings

The G-7 is gravely concerned by the weakness of the US dollar After talks in Washington on 11 th April, the finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven industrialised nations issued a bleak statement on the world economy.

Dorothy Fabian Features Editor

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