wiredInUSA March 2018

Domestic producer with international standards

New plant for cable material

UC Rusal’s Achinsk alumina refinery

M A Hashem

UC Rusal is mastering fine precipitated aluminum hydroxide (FPAH) at its Achinsk alumina refinery. The company expects its proprietary technology to keep the production cost of the FPAH below the world’s average price for this product, and anticipates investing around $4.43 million in the construction of the pilot plant. Fine precipitated aluminum hydroxide is a powder with particles of less than 3μm — a hundred times thinner than a human hair. Its physical and chemical properties make aluminum hydroxide an excellent fire retardant, in wide use in the production of silicate wool for cables for the nuclear, ship building, aviation and automotive industries. It is also used in the production of paints and lacquers, high quality paper, and polymer compounds. Global consumption of FPAH exceeds 800,000 tonnes per annum and grows by over 4 percent per year. Russia’s FPAH demand exceeds 30,000 tonnes per annum. Design of the FPAH pilot plant will begin during 2018.

Partex Cables Ltd, a member of one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh, Partex Star Group, is to make international standard cables in the country for the first time. M A Hashem, founder chairman of Partex, launched the operations of Partex Cables Ltd in February at the plant’s premises at Bandar, Narayanganj. The commerce minister, Tofail Ahmed, was present as the chief guest. “The government has a plan to generate 40,000MW power by 2030. Now the country imports cable that costs millions. If we can make international standard cables then we can meet this need locally,” said Mr Hashem. “The cable industry here is growing rapidly. We plan to make fiber optic cable in the future,” he said. Tofail Ahmed added: “Once, Narayanganj [was] limited to a handful of businesses like jute. Now the place is filled with different industries. The country’s development is unprecedented. Now we earn $35 billion dollars from export. We hope to export $60 billion in 2021.”

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wiredInUSA - March 2018