wiredinUSA December 2011

Baosteel price cuts

NBN for MDUs

Corning Cable Systems Pty Ltd, the Australian arm of Corning Inc’s telecommunications segment, will be a primary supplier of fiber optic cable and hardware to NBN Co for the Australian government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) for multiple-dwelling units (MDUs). Corning already has a similar deal to supply fiber optic cable and hardware for single-family units, and this new deal will be worth up to AUS $310 million over the next five years. Under the contract, Corning will supply its bend-insensitive ClearCurve cable. NBN is planned to supply over 93 % of Australian homes and businesses (around 12 million premises) with an open access FTTH network; over 30 percent of these are estimated to be MDUs. After winning the earlier contract Corning announced a AUS $25 million investment in its Clayton, Melbourne, facility to meet the increased demand.

China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel has said it will will reduce its main product prices for December bookings, a move reflecting the weakness in steel demand in the final month of 2011. The company is to cut hot-rolled coil prices by 200 yuan ($32) per tonne and cold-rolled coil prices by 300 yuan per tonne, after maintaining its main steel product prices through November from October. Reuters reported that the company, also known as Baosteel, is the country’s biggest listed steelmaker and its pricing is often seen as a barometer of China’s steel industry.

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wiredInUSA - December 2011