Latest news with #Prysmian
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
World's Top Cable Maker Sees US Copper Tariff as Opportunity
(Bloomberg) -- The world's biggest maker of copper cable is applauding President Donald Trump's planned 50% tariff on the metal, saying it will bolster the American supply chain, with costs passed on to customers. Why Did Cars Get So Hard to See Out Of? How German Cities Are Rethinking Women's Safety — With Taxis Advocates Fear US Agents Are Using 'Wellness Checks' on Children as a Prelude to Arrests Italy's Prysmian SpA — which last year shelled out $4 billion-plus to buy Texas-based Encore Wire Corp. — is in regular contact with the administration ahead of the measure's implementation on Aug. 1, said Maria Cristina Bifulco, head of investor relations and sustainability. Trump sparked chaos in metals markets last week by announcing the higher-than-expected copper tariff, the latest twist in a tumultuous period for industrial commodities. Since February, when Trump declared 'it's time for copper to come home' and aired the potential for levies, global traders have sent record volumes of the metal to the US to get ahead of the tariff. Like the rest of the industry, Encore and its Milan-listed owner are waiting for details. Still, given the 'spirit is to protect and facilitate local business,' it's expected to be applied to both semi-finished products like cable as well as raw metal, Bifulco said. 'We find the administration very open, very sensitive,' Bifulco said in an interview Monday. 'They understand very well the situation. So in this respect, we are positive.' Prysmian, which churns out about 220,000 metric tons a year of cable at a sprawling facility outside of Dallas, says it stands to benefit from tariffs relative to competitors because it sources a larger part of its copper domestically — from Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan Inc. — and is vertically integrated. 'This will further reinforce the leadership of the local players,' she said. 'We are better placed than other players.' Stakeholders in the industry are divided. Some say any meaningful increase in domestic production would take years and require additional incentives given how difficult and expensive it is to build and operate mines and plants in the US. Incumbent producers such as Freeport and Rio Tinto Group stand to benefit from a premium on US-made metal, while analysts warn it will be consumers who will have to pick up the tab. Copper prices in the US have surged ahead of the tariff. So far, Encore has been able to pass those on, although strength of future demand remains to be seen. Eventually, aluminum may be substituted for copper in some applications, Bifulco said. 'Since the final customer is the one paying the increase in prices, you need to make sure to carefully assess demand to make sure that it's resilient enough,' she said. While it's too soon to start replacing what Prysmian does import from Latin America, logically that would come from refined scrap in arrangements similar to what the company has with German copper processor Aurubis AG, she added. Prysmian has leaned on acquisitions for growth after being carved out of tire-maker Pirelli in 2005. The company bought Encore Wire last year to boost its exposure to the low-voltage electrical applications on which data centers largely rely. 'Cables are becoming all of a sudden sexy,' Bifulco said. 'We are at the center of these electrification and digitalization processes and the leader in our space. We are very busy.' (Adds quote in sixth paragraph) 'Our Goal Is to Get Their Money': Inside a Firm Charged With Scamming Writers for Millions Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot 'The Turbulence Is Brutal': Four Shark Tank Businesses on Tariffs Trump's Cuts Are Making Federal Data Disappear Trade War? No Problem—If You Run a Trade School ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
World's Top Cable Maker Prysmian Cheers Trump's Copper Tariff
(Bloomberg) -- The world's biggest maker of copper cable is applauding President Donald Trump's planned 50% tariff on the metal, saying it will bolster the American supply chain, with costs passed on to customers. Why Did Cars Get So Hard to See Out Of? How German Cities Are Rethinking Women's Safety — With Taxis Advocates Fear US Agents Are Using 'Wellness Checks' on Children as a Prelude to Arrests Italy's Prysmian SpA — which last year shelled out $4 billion-plus to buy Texas-based Encore Wire Corp. — is in regular contact with the administration ahead of the measure's implementation on Aug. 1, said Maria Cristina Bifulco, head of investor relations and sustainability. Trump sparked chaos in metals markets last week by announcing the higher-than-expected copper tariff, the latest twist in a tumultuous period for industrial commodities. Since February, when Trump declared 'it's time for copper to come home' and aired the potential for levies, global traders have sent record volumes of the metal to the US to get ahead of the tariff. Like the rest of the industry, Encore and its Milan-listed owner are waiting for details. Still, given the 'spirit is to protect and facilitate local business,' it's expected to be applied to both semi-finished products like cable as well as raw metal, Bifulco said. 'We find the administration very open, very sensitive,' Bifulco said in an interview Monday. 'They understand very well the situation. So in this respect, we are positive.' Prysmian, which churns out about 220,000 metric tons a year of cable at a sprawling facility outside of Dallas, says it stands to benefit from tariffs relative to competitors because it sources a larger part of its copper domestically — from Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan Inc. — and is vertically integrated. Stakeholders in the industry are divided. Some say any meaningful increase in domestic production would take years and require additional incentives given how difficult and expensive it is to build and operate mines and plants in the US. Incumbent producers such as Freeport and Rio Tinto Group stand to benefit from a premium on US-made metal, while analysts warn it will be consumers who will have to pick up the tab. Copper prices in the US have surged ahead of the tariff. So far, Encore has been able to pass those on, although strength of future demand remains to be seen. Eventually, aluminum may be substituted for copper in some applications, Bifulco said. 'Since the final customer is the one paying the increase in prices, you need to make sure to carefully assess demand to make sure that it's resilient enough,' she said. While it's too soon to start replacing what Prysmian does import from Latin America, logically that would come from refined scrap in arrangements similar to what the company has with German copper processor Aurubis AG, she added. Prysmian has leaned on acquisitions for growth after being carved out of tire-maker Pirelli in 2005. The company bought Encore Wire last year to boost its exposure to the low-voltage electrical applications on which data centers largely rely. 'Cables are becoming all of a sudden sexy,' Bifulco said. 'We are at the center of these electrification and digitalization processes and the leader in our space. We are very busy.' 'Our Goal Is to Get Their Money': Inside a Firm Charged With Scamming Writers for Millions Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot 'The Turbulence Is Brutal': Four Shark Tank Businesses on Tariffs Trump's Cuts Are Making Federal Data Disappear Trade War? No Problem—If You Run a Trade School ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
14-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
World's Top Cable Maker Prysmian Cheers Trump's Copper Tariff
The world's biggest maker of copper cable is applauding President Donald Trump's planned 50% tariff on the metal, saying it will bolster the American supply chain, with costs passed on to customers. Italy's Prysmian SpA — which last year shelled out $4 billion-plus to buy Texas-based Encore Wire Corp. — is in regular contact with the administration ahead of the measure's implementation on Aug. 1, said Maria Cristina Bifulco, head of investor relations and sustainability.
Observer
14-07-2025
- Business
- Observer
How the deep-sea cables that power the world are made
On a recent spring day, a chunky, 560-foot-long ship with a bulbous nose and a stern bristling with heavy equipment sat at the end of a slender quarter-mile pier off the forested coast of Finland. The vessel, called the Mona Lisa, which was recently built in Romania for approximately 30 million euros, will serve as a crucial instrument in the expansion and reconfiguration of electric power systems worldwide. Over a week, about 80 miles of high-voltage cable snaked out from a factory to the boat, where it was coiled into tall stacks on big turntables. This complex in Pikkala, on the outskirts of Helsinki, the Finnish capital, is one of the few places in the world that can produce conduits with the capacity to link countries and the durability to withstand the rigors of the ocean depths. Electric power is no longer the humdrum industry it once was. In the next decades, the world is expected to experience increased demand for electricity to feed a variety of needs, from data centers to electric vehicles. The power grid itself is also being modernized and extended to reach new sources of generation and trade energy across borders. Undersea routes are often the preferred option for sharing power between countries or simply keeping cables out of sight. For Prysmian, the Milan-based company that operates the factory, demand for these heavy-duty cables is far outrunning what it can supply. 'We are sold out through 2028,' Massimo Battaini, CEO of Prysmian, said in an interview at the plant. He added that orders on the books for these conduits, which can carry up to 2 gigawatts of power, have jumped to around 17 billion euros from 2 billion euros five years ago. The market is so tight, experts say, because making these high-capacity cables is difficult and time-consuming. To form the cores that conduct electricity, as many as 161 strands of copper or aluminum need to be wrapped together. At the factory, these wires — often three to a cable — are encased in polypropylene insulation, jacketed in plastic and lead, and armored with a metal sheath. It is more efficient to make the cables if they are hanging vertically, so manufacturing lines run up medieval-looking towers. The Finnish plant, which has about 510 employees, recently added one more than 600 feet high to increase production to around 1,150 miles a year. The cable industry also faces President Donald Trump's 50% tariff on imported aluminum and a similar levy on copper, which could raise costs for Prysmian. But the company said it should be well-positioned with a strong manufacturing base in the United States that uses large quantities of locally sourced copper. The Finnish cable-making operation dates back more than a century, when horses and carts were used to lay cables on frozen lakes. Italian conglomerate Pirelli, which later spun off a unit that is now Prysmian, bought the plant from Nokia in 2000. 'If another company wanted to get into that market, it's quite hard for them to do so without spending years figuring out all the clever manufacturing techniques,' said Tim Green, a professor of electrical power engineering at Imperial College in London. After loading the cable, the Monna Lisa headed across the Atlantic Ocean to help hook up a wind farm being built off the coast of Virginia. When laying cable, the powerful boat pulls a plow that, with the aid of water jets, digs a trench as deep as 16 feet and simultaneously buries it, giving some protection against accidents like dragged anchors or deliberate sabotage. Last year, a power cable and communications links connecting Finland to other countries around the Baltic Sea were severed by a ship dragging anchor. The growing importance of these cables creates 'vulnerabilities' that the company is trying to reduce through means like embedding sensors in the cables for early warning and having a repair ship on standby, said Raul Gil, executive vice president for power transmission at Prysmian. A remote-controlled vehicle makes sure the cables are following the planned route. Powerful motors and a sophisticated guidance system help the boat hold its position when the weather becomes too rough, preserving the cable and saving time and money. 'This means we don't have to cut the cable,' said Valerio Acquaotta, who manages the fleet, even if that means staying in one place for a couple of days. This article originally appeared in
Time of India
14-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
How the deep sea cables that power the world are made
On a recent spring day, a chunky, 560-foot-long ship with a bulbous nose and a stern bristling with heavy equipment sat at the end of a slender quarter-mile pier off the forested coast of Finland. The vessel, called the Monna Lisa, which was recently built in Romania for about 30 million euros, will serve as an important instrument in the expansion and reconfiguring of electric power systems around the world. Over a week's time, about 80 miles of high-voltage cable snaked out from a factory to the boat, where it was coiled into tall stacks on big turntables. This complex in Pikkala , on the outskirts of Helsinki, the Finnish capital, is one of the few places in the world that can produce conduits with the capacity to link countries and the durability to withstand the rigors of the ocean depths. Electric power is no longer the humdrum industry it used to be. In the next decades, the world is expected to experience increased demand for electricity to feed a variety of needs, from data centres to electric vehicles. The power grid itself is also being modernised and extended to reach new sources of generation and trade energy across borders. Live Events Undersea routes are often the preferred option for sharing power between countries or simply keeping cables out of sight. For Prysmian , the Milan-based company that operates the factory, demand for these heavy-duty cables is far outrunning what it can supply. "We are basically sold out through 2028," Massimo Battaini, CEO of Prysmian, said in an interview at the plant. He added that orders on the books for these conduits, which can carry up to 2 gigawatts of power, have jumped to around 17 billion euros from 2 billion euros five years ago. The market is so tight, experts say, because making these high-capacity cables is difficult and time-consuming. To form the cores that conduct electricity, as many as 161 strands of copper or aluminium need to be wrapped together. At the factory, these wires -- often three to a cable -- are encased in polypropylene insulation, jacketed in plastic and lead, and armoured with a metal sheath. It is more efficient to make the cables if they are hanging vertically, so manufacturing lines run up medieval-looking towers. The Finnish plant, which has about 510 employees, recently added one more than 600 feet high to increase production to around 1,150 miles a year. The cable industry also faces President Donald Trump's 50% tariff on imported aluminium and a similar levy on copper, which could raise costs for Prysmian. But the company said it should be well positioned with a strong manufacturing base in the United States that used large quantities of locally sourced copper. The Finnish cable-making operation dates back more than a century, when horses and carts were used to lay cables on frozen lakes. Italian conglomerate Pirelli, which later spun off a unit that is now Prysmian, bought the plant from Nokia in 2000. "If another company wanted to get into that market, it's quite hard for them to do so without spending years figuring out all the clever manufacturing techniques," said Tim Green, a professor of electrical power engineering at Imperial College in London. After loading the cable, the Monna Lisa headed across the Atlantic Ocean to help hook up a wind farm being built off the coast of Virginia. When laying cable, the powerful boat pulls a plow that, with the aid of water jets, digs a trench as deep as 16 feet and simultaneously buries it, giving some protection against accidents like dragged anchors or deliberate sabotage. Last year, a power cable and communications links connecting Finland to other countries around the Baltic Sea were severed by a ship dragging anchor. The growing importance of these cables creates "vulnerabilities" that the company is trying to reduce through means like embedding sensors in the cables for early warning and having a repair ship on standby, said Raul Gil, executive vice president for power transmission at Prysmian. A remote-controlled vehicle makes sure the cables are following the planned route. Powerful motors and a sophisticated guidance system help the boat hold its position when the weather becomes too rough, preserving the cable and saving time and money. "This means we don't have to cut the cable," said Valerio Acquaotta, who manages the fleet, even if that means staying in one place for a couple of days.
