U.S.-based Winchester Interconnect (Winchester) reports that it has opened a new facility in Empalme, Mexico, as part of its expansion in the country.

A press release said that the new 53,000-sq-ft facility will produce wire and cable, cable assembly and coil cord interconnect solutions using cutting-edge manufacturing technologies and a highly skilled workforce. “We are pleased to celebrate another milestone in the continuing evolution of Winchester,” said Winchester COO Steve Ball.

Earlier this year, Winchester opened a new facility in Bangkok, Thailand, that will serve as an additional hub for manufacturing and delivery to customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The plant is strategically located to provide easy access to major transportation routes and ports, making it easier to deliver products to customers in the region. “With the opening of the new facility in Thailand, Winchester is poised to further expand its reach and capabilities while providing exceptional service to customers as they grow and expand in the region.”

VVocus was named a partner of choice for Google to deliver a new submarine cable system—the South Pacific Connect—connecting Australia to the United States via the South Pacific.

A press release said that the planned system would connect Australia to the United States via the South Pacific, uplifting the reliability and resilience of digital infrastructure for both Australia and the region. The subsea cable ring will connect three diverse Australian landings to Fiji and French Polynesia, both of which will then connect directly onto the U.S. via diverse paths. It also includes pre-installed branching units across the system to enable other Pacific nations to connect in future.

The new cables between Australia and the U.S. will be named Honomoana and Tabua. Honomoana will connect the U.S. and Australia to French Polynesia while Tabua will connect the U.S. and Australia to Fiji. French Polynesia and Fiji will also be directly connected with an interlink cable to establish a network loop.

The supplier of the cable for the project was not named, but Alcatel Submarine Networks has supplied past Vocus projects that include the 4,600-km Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) from Perth to Singapore, and the 4,700-km Coral Sea Cable System (CS2) for the Australian Government, connecting Sydney to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Danieli Automation will provide hardware and software for an upgrade plant to CMC Poland’s rolling mill in Zawiercie, Poland.

A press release said that the revamp will optimize rolling performance and increase plant uptime. New, low-voltage inverter drives for the mill’s roughing and intermediate sections will be installed to improve operation and plant maintainability. Special attention will be paid to the reheating furnace heating-up billets produced by the local meltshop to accurate rolling temperatures. There, hardware and software for Level 1 automation system will be upgraded. A new process control system for automatic set up of the heating curves of the furnace also will be supplied. The upgrade will be completed by the end of this year.

The mill produces 500,000 metric tons per year of bars and wire rod for construction, agricultural, energy, machinery and consumer goods applications. Some of the products it manufactures include wire rod, ribbed and plain wire in coils and welded mesh for concrete reinforcement.

CMC Poland is part of U.S.-based Commercial Metals Company, which has multiple locations in America, Europe and Asia, including a U.S. plant that makes wire rod in Jacksonville, Florida.

A European Commission (EC) proposal to impose further import bans in Europe on a range of Russian products—from diamonds to aluminum wire—has received a mixed welcome as there are some that agree with the concept but not how it would be carried out. That includes an official from one of Ukraine’s leading cable manufacturers.

“I do support the ban on all wire rod from Russia, and I do support other international restrictions and sanctions over Russian trade, but the problem is that the sanctions have lots of holes,” said Oleg Procopovich, deputy CEO of Odeskabel PJSC. The company, which is based in Odessa, Ukraine, manufactures telecom cables, exporting about a third of its production to Europe.

Procopovich told WJI that before the war started, his company used a lot of aluminum made by a Russian company, Rusal, which is one of the world’s largest aluminum producers. That ended almost immediately after the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. The problem with the proposed sanctions is the “gray market,” because the channels for international trade for Russia or Iran remain open, he said. “It is not only the phenomena of unfair businesses, in our world of global trade, it is the policy of certain countries that have chosen to benefit from the war through such trading. So, shadow companies supply copper and aluminum that come from diluted origins, squeezing honest manufacturers. Unless that changes, the proposed ban will not have the desired impact for Russia.”

That same sentiment was seen in the essence of a press release from European Aluminum, a Belgium-based association that represents the entire European aluminum value chain. It said that it welcomed the EC’s proposed 12th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes a ban on the importation of certain aluminum products that include wire, tubes and pipes, as well as aluminum foil. It said that future sanctions must be accompanied “by strong anti-circumvention measures to ensure an effective mechanism to prevent the circumvention of sanctions through imports of (semi-) final aluminum products from third countries.”

The association also targeted the effect of the proposed ban list, which it notes only covers 12% of EU imports of aluminum products from Russia. “These sanctions are a small first step, but we strongly encourage the European Union to accelerate its efforts and broaden their scope to cover all major product categories, including ingots, slabs, and billets, which constitute over 85% of the EU’s imports from Russia,” notes Paul Voss, Director General of European Aluminum. “The European aluminum industry has already started phasing out Russian aluminum and is willing to accelerate the process. It is a matter of principle and strategic foresight—it’s simply the right thing to do in the current circumstances.”

A press release said that the agreement covers the supply of 66 kV inter-array wires and will apply to all bottom-fixed European wind farms developed by Vattenfall in the coming years.
The first project it will apply to will be for the German Nordlicht cluster. The contract is initially signed for a three-year period and can be extended by five more.
Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational power company owned by the Swedish state, that also generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands and U.K. Vattenfall places a high value on sustainability measures.

Catrin Jung, head of offshore wind at Vattenfall, said that working with committed suppliers matters. “We are pleased that in TFK we have found a partner that provides innovative technology while committing to the reliability and sustainability of the offshore electricity network.”

TFK Group Chief Executive Alexander van der Lof said that he was pleased to extend the relationship. “After a successful cooperation with Vattenfall in the Hollandse Kust Zuid 1 and 2 projects, we (look forward to) working together in the coming projects. TFK has invested significantly in electrification with expansions in capacity for state-of-the-art offshore wind sub-sea cable solutions.” 

TFK supplied 150 km of 66 kV inter array cables for the above cited projects, which are located in the North Sea, approximately 22 km from the Dutch coast, between The Hague and Zandvoort.

In related news, Vattenfall reported on Nov. 10 that the first power from its offshore wind farm, Vesterhav Syd, was supplied to the Danish power grid. It was a culmination of almost seven years’ work on the wind farm, when the blades of the first wind turbine were turned up against the wind and started generating fossil-free electricity.

“It’s a huge relief being able to finally supply power from Vesterhav Syd.,” said Mathilde Damsgaard, Vattenfall’s project director for the Vesterhav Syd and Nord Offshore Wind Farms. “We feel a tremendous sense of pride.”

The cable for the project came from Hellenic Cables, which provided approximately 70 km of 66 kV cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated inter-array cables and associated accessories.