33 / 76
wiredInUSA - May 2014
33
INDEXA falling copper price and improving
economy in Europe is expected to lift 2014
sales volumes of copper wire for European
smelter and producer Aurubis.
“The European economy has developed
well andwe haveabigexposure to Europe,
so our product sales went up,” said Stefan
Boel, a member of Aurubis's executive
board.
Mr Boel estimates overall growth in wire rod
sales volumes in Europe this year at three
percent to five percent. “But our volumes?
Double digits,” he said, declining to give an
exact figure. “I cannot go more into detail.
Last year we had no growth.”
Mr Boel anticipates a balanced copper
market in 2014. In the first three months of
its financial year, commencing 1
st
October,
Aurubis's wire rod output rose 23 percent
to 156,000 tons. Aurubis’s copper end
users include the electrical engineering,
automotive, mechanical engineering,
telecommunications and construction
industries.
Copper
progress
EUROPE NEWS
The Macedonian prime minister, Nikola
Gruevski, has announced that German
cable andwiremanufacturer ODWElektrik
is planning a new production facility in
Macedonia’s Ohrid-Struga free economic
zone.
Macedonia’s government and the
company completed negotiations in
mid-April. Under the plan, ODW Elektrik
will build its first Macedonian plant on a
10,000m
2
site. The factory is expected to be
operational by the end of 2014, creating up
to 1,000 new jobs.
Based in Steinau an der Straße, the
manufacturer operates three production
facilities in Germany, Ukraine and Hungary,
using various plastics, including PA and PTFE.
Ludwig Bathon, chief executive of ODW
Elektrik, said that Macedonia’s labor
force and the support provided by state
institutions were among the reasons why the
manufacturer chose to launch its greenfield
investment in Macedonia.
ODW Elektrik is forecasting revenues of
€75.2m for 2014, an increase of 3.4 percent
from €72.75m a year earlier. The project in
Macedonia is estimated to be worth about
€15m.
Cables plant in
Macedonia
Nikoa Gruevski