FAIR

The product range manufactured by the wire and cable industry is very diverse. Technical springs, screws and lattice mats are also part of it as are fence mesh or power, data and special cables. The products are clearly distinguishable from one another in terms of material, production procedure and appearance, but are absolutely necessary in order to transfer electrical power, electronic data or mechanical energy in one form or another and are therefore used by practically all sectors of industry. Major customers are the automobile industry and its external suppliers – and indeed the transport industry – the mechanical engineering sector, the energy industry, information and communication technology sector and the construction industry.

Customer sectors and industries

Following the trough of 2001/2002 most Latin American countries have succeeded in stabilizing their economies. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) had initially assumed growth of 4.7% for the current year, but in early September 2007 increased its forecast to 5%. The flourishing countries include Brazil, the largest country in South America, whose economy ranks 10th on a worldwide scale. In an interview published in the most recent edition of "Niehoff-News" client magazine, Heinz Rockenhäuser, Executive Director of Maschinenfabrik Niehoff and President of the "International Wire and Cable Exhibitors Association" (IWCEA) since the beginning of 2007, commented on the activities conducted by IWCEA and said that among others, they were following the development of the up-and-coming, aspiring growth markets, in which he also included Brazil. The technology company Niehoff, one of the leading international wire and cable machine manufacturers, is very familiar with the country’s economic development, because it has operated a subsidiary company there for over 30 years.

Latin America

“In the shadow of the booming markets China and India, Brazil has been developing outstandingly for four years", according to the "Brazil Forum" in a press release on the automobile industry’s external suppliers’ fair AUTOMEC 2007, which was held in April 2007 in São Paulo. According to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Eurostat, in 2006 companies from the European Union (EU) invested around 5.6 billion Euro in Brazil and thus a lot more than in Russia (4.3 billion), China (3.7 billion) or India (1.6 billion). The country’s economy has grown even more strongly in recent years than expected and in 2007 is once again expected to achieve an increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of approximately 5%. Investment focal points are the extension and development of the infrastructure – whereby projects in connection with the staging of the World Cup Finals in 2014 will also play an important role – the automobile industry and its external supplying sectors, the extraction of fossile energy sources and the development of plant-based fuels production, information technology and the energy industry.

Brazil

For Sérgio Aredes, the President of the SINDICEL industrial association, the extensive construction measures and investments required in order to expand the capacities in various industrial sectors, are the key reason as to why sales of copper wire and copper cable are this year expected to be 10% higher than in 2006. The members of the association with head offices in São Paulo include, among others, manufacturers of electrical conductors and other wires made of non-ferrous metals. Last year the total sales volume reached 216,000 tons. A substantial proportion of these cables and lines sales will also be accounted for by the development of the energy supply system given the go-ahead by the Brazilian government, which among others, will also include the expansion of the network by 60,000km of additional (transmission) lines. Experts expect that the demand for electricity will increase each year by 5.2% up to the year 2015 and that the country must invest more than 58 billion US$ in the energy sector up to 2015, of which almost 40 billion US$ will go towards transmission lines.
In September 2007, "Gazeta Mercantil" business magazine quoted Armando Comparato Junior, the President of the Prysmian Company responsible for Latin America, as saying: "In 2007 the wire and cable sector is stronger than in 2006, in actual fact in practically all sectors. We are optimistic as far as the future is concerned." The company, which has emerged from the Pirelli cable group, increased its crude oil and natural gas extraction business in the first half of 2007 by 15% and its low and medium-voltage cable business by 5%. The latter activities account for half of turnover and reached 0.7 billion US$ in 2007. Prysmian, one of the leading cable manufacturers in the country, opened a new factory in mid- February 2007 in Vila Velha, where special cables for deep-water crude oil extraction are produced. The most important customer is the Brazilian oil group Petrobras, which is regarded as world leader in this sector of crude oil extraction. The new Prysmian factory is also set to supply the Gulf of Mexico, the West African coast and Southeast Asia.
Another leading cable manufacturer, who is benefiting from the strong growth in all industrial sectors, is Wirex Cable. The company is investing 10 mill. US$ up to 2009 in order to increase production of insulated copper and aluminium conductors from the current level of 1,000 to 1,250 tons a month. In addition, according to Sérgio Aredes, the President of the Company, they will also be setting up an export programme.

Great demand

The Brazilian automobile industry is also expected to be an attractive prospect for companies in the wire and cable industry, as the successful business at AUTOMEC 2007, the largest fair for the automobile industry’s external suppliers in South America and one of the world's most important, would tend to suggest. The German exhibitors included, among others, Leoni Bordnetze, a company owned by the globally-operating wire, cable and wiring systems manufacturer, Leoni AG, with head offices in Nuremberg, Germany.
According to a report in "Gazeta Mercantil", Wilson Rocha, Director of the Brazilian subsidiary of the automobile industry’s external supplier TRW Automotive, whose products are fitted in most Brazilian vehicles, expects that at a level of 2.95 million vehicles, Brazilian automobile production in 2007 will be almost 13% higher than the previous year and will increase further to 3.1 million vehicles in 2008. If we take into consideration the diversity and volume of wire products installed in motor vehicles, we can anticipate which sales prospects are generated for their manufacturers, who in turn are compelled to constantly maintain their production facilities at the latest technical level.

Great expectations

The machines, plant, equipment and other manufacturing facilities, which the companies of the wire and cable industry can use to secure and further extend their competitiveness, will be on show at wire 2008, the leading International Wire and Cable Trade Fair for the industry. wire will be held from 31 March to 4 April 2008 at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre. Many visitors will be able to enjoy the synergy effects generated by the parallel event, Tube, International Tube and Pipe Trade Fair.
For the first time, METAV, International Fair for Manufacturing Technology and Automation, will be held parallel to wire and Tube in Exhibition Halls 1 to 5 and 15 to 17.

wire 2008

Name:*

 

E-Mail:*

(Ihre E-Mail wird nicht veröffentlicht)

 

Kommentar:*

 

 

Absenden