wiredinUSA September 2011

INDEX

Amcom profits up 50 per cent

China’s imports of unwrought copper and semi-finished copper products rose 9.5 per cent on the month to a six-month high in July, as buyers took advantage of lower prices after the metal rose to a record high of $10,190 per tonne in February. “Most of these imports in July would have been bought during late May, early June when the price was well off the February-April levels,” explained David Thurtell, analyst at Citigroup. China’s overall exports also hit a record high in July as shipments to Europe and the United States proved surprisingly buoyant, easing concerns that debt problems abroad may hold back the world’s No. 2 economy. “Barring a further panic in the equity markets, we would venture to say that we’ve likely witnessed the lows in base metals for 2011 and higher prices are now in order into year end,” RBC Capital Markets said in a research note. China copper imports hit six-month high

Doha Cables, believed to be Qatar’s first and largest domestic cable manufacturer, has been awarded a two year contract by Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation “Kahramaa” to supply low voltage (0.6/1kV) and medium voltage (11kV) power cables equal to approximately 42,000 tons of copper through a competitive tendering process. The contract is part of Kahramaa’s current programme tomeet the growing demand for power in Qatar which, it forecasts, will almost double to 8GW by 2013. Doha Cables is a subsidiary of Senyar Industries, a 50:50 joint venture between Aamal and Elsewedy Electric Egypt, one of the Middle East’s leading integrated energy solutions providers. Doha Cables’s state-of-the-art, 70,200m 2 manufacturing facility opened officially in May 2010 with a production capacity of 40,000 tons of copper per year, making it one of the largest production facilities in the MENA region. It is one of only two local companies licensed by the government to operate in Qatar to have commenced production. Following the award of this contract, Doha Cables intends to double its production capacity to meet the increased demand. New contract for Doha Cables

September steel prices will rise

Fiber-optic network operator Amcom Telecommunications Ltd has grown its annual underlying profit by 31 per cent and forecasts a similar performance in the year ahead. Amcom reported a net profit of $25.9 million for the year to 30th June, up 50 per cent on the previous year. Amcom owns and operates over 2,100km of fiber-optic network in Perth, Adelaide and Darwin, offering telecommunications services to business and government customers. Included in the profit is $4.3 million in proceeds from the sale of part of Amcom’s stake in internet service provider iiNet Ltd, which occurred in June. A further $7.8 million came from equity earnings from the remaining 20 per cent stake in iiNet, which Amcom is to offload to its shareholders in the current year. Net profit from its fully owned operations was $13.8 million, up 31 per cent from the previous corresponding period. The company said it was well-placed to deliver another year of double digit percentage profit growth from its wholly-owned operations in the 2010/11 financial year. Revenue growth in the year to June was 38 per cent and chief executive Clive Stein said fiber-based communication services had become essential for businesses.

Some of China’s leading steel mills will be raising prices for their main products for September bookings, aiming to keep pace with rising spot market prices and in anticipation of stronger demand next month. Two leading mills, Wuhan Iron & Steel Co Ltd and Beijing Shougang Co Ltd, have announced that September prices will increase for their main flat steel products in the wake of a similar move by Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel) to take advantage of growing demand. Steel demand in China is expected to remain robust as its economy aims to maintain strong growth boosted by its continued investment in urbanization and industrialization, a China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) report confirmed. CISA also expects that China’s steel exports will continue to stay relatively high, supporting steel demand. Data from the CISA report also showed that rebar spot prices rose 0.85 per cent at the end July from a month ago, wire rod price gained 1.51 per cent and hot-rolled coil price rose 0.43 per cent during the same period, while almost all other flat steel products fell modestly in July.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

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wiredInUSA - September 2011

wiredInUSA - September 2011

39