WCA September 2013

India

EU imposes anti-dumping duties

The new plant, which has a production area of around 15,000m 2 , 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 : www.leoni.com 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 : www.ushamartin.com

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 : www.nalcoindia.com 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.”

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2013