WCA September 2013

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India
Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2013
EU imposes
anti-dumping duties
The European Union has imposed provisional duties on
India’s exports of stainless steel wire in a move to counter
dumping that has allegedly damaged Italian, German and
Spanish wire producers.
The Indian government’s support, and a policy of selling the
wire used in batteries at below production costs, has
prevented European companies from benefitting from a
booming market, the European Union claimed in its official
journal during May.
The European Union and Asia’s third largest economy
accuse each other of protectionism, and talks towards a
free trade pact that started in 2007 have stalled. Europe
wants access to 1.3 billion potential customers in India, but
Reuters reports that Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh
and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were unable to break
the impasse during a meeting in April.
The EU, which launched its steel wire investigation in
August last year, said producers such as Germany’s
Hagener Feinstahl, Spain’s Inoxfil and Italy’s Rodacciai
suffered while Indian imports grew by almost 50 per cent
between 2007 and 2011.
Aluminium price cut
Reuters is reporting that National Aluminium Co Ltd (Nalco),
India’s third-largest producer of aluminium, has cut the
domestic prices of aluminium ingots by three per cent,
following a drop in global prices. Company officials
confirmed the cut.
Nalco has been cutting prices over the previous three
months, during which time aluminium prices have fallen
around eight per cent. The state-run company cut prices for
standard aluminium ingots by 4,000 rupees ($74.27) to
126,700 rupees per tonne, officials told Reuters. The price
of wire rods and billets has also been reduced by 3,500
rupees per tonne.
National Aluminium Co Ltd (Nalco) – India
Website:
New Indian cable plant
Leoni AG has officially opened a new plant near Pune; the
company’s second production site in India.
“India promises attractive medium and long-term growth
prospects for several of our targeted industrial markets,”
said Dr Klaus Probst, president and CEO of Leoni.
“Opening this new plant near Pune is an essential move to
better serve local customers and to drive our globalisation
in India and [neighbouring] countries.”
The new plant, which has a production area of around
15,000m2, is already manufacturing standard cables for the
automotive industry and will shortly begin production of
special cables.
Industry watchers estimate 12 per cent annual growth in the
Indian automotive market until 2016, to reach 5.8 million
locally produced units per year.
The company plans local production of cables for the
renewable energy market as well as standard and special
cables, assembled cables, sub-systems and complete
system solutions for rail vehicles.
Leoni Cable Solutions (India) Private Ltd – India
Website:
Grid breakdown causes
power cuts in Delhi
Power cuts were reported from several areas in East Delhi
after the Badarpur Thermal Power Station (BTPS) link to
Delhi Transco Limited’s (DTL) Ghazipur 220kV grid broke
down in the Noida segment. The line is maintained by the
Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL).
According to officials, the fault constrained the flow of
electricity to DTL’s Ghazipur grid, which in turn feeds
electricity to Patparganj, Ghazipur and Mayur Vihar areas.
“This has been sporadically affecting power supply in parts
of East Delhi for the last couple of days. On BYPL’s request,
DTL has agreed to loan 220kV jointing kits and cable spools
to UPPCL for fixing this issue. It is expected that UPPCL will
be able to restore the 220kV line in a couple of days,” said a
spokesperson at the time.
To supply power to the area, BYPL diverted power from its
Akshardham grid to Ghazipur, and DTL replaced an
undersized isolator in the downstream Patparganj grid.
Rotational load shedding was carried out in a few pockets
of Ghazipur, Patparganj and Mayur Vihar during the
intervening period till the isolator was replaced at
Patpagranj.
Thai joint venture
Steel wire rope maker Usha Martin Ltd will be part of an
equal joint venture between its existing Thai subsidiary Usha
Siam Steel Industries Public Co Ltd and Tesac Wire Rope
Co of Japan.
Rajeev Jhawar, managing director at Usha Martin, said the
facility will produce 1,000 tonnes per day. Usha Siam has a
3,000 tonnes per day unit in an industrial park near
Bangkok, where the new unit will also be built.
Mr Jhawar said that Usha Martin is expanding its marketing
activities to Russia, South Africa and Latin America.
Usha Martin Ltd – India
Website: