41^st General Meeting of the International Association “Intercable”

(results and prospects of the cable industry development)

Prof. I.B. Peshov, Dr.Eng.Sc.

President of the IA «Intercable»

The 41st General Meeting of the International Association «Intercable» took place in Rogaska Slatina (Slovenia) in the period from 27 June to 01 July 2011. One hundred twenty participants representing 58 companies from 19 countries (the USA, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, Belgium, Italy, etc.) were present at the General Meeting and a scientific and technical symposium held in its frames.

The scientific and technical symposium consisted of two sessions: a) Session 1. “State of the world cable industry under economic crisis conditions and development prospects”; b) Session 2. “Data cables (LAN-cables): machinery, production technology, materials, control and measuring equipment”.

Session 1 included two reports. Report of the CRU International Ltd (the UK), a worldwide known organization in analysis of the situation in the cable industry, reviewed the present state and gave an outlook for the Global and European cable industry. It was stated that the wire and cable market in the world cable industry recovered in 2010 after the world economic crisis. In 2010, as compared to 2009, the global metallic cable market grew by 8.8% and thus exceeded the pre-crisis level of 2008 by 1.1%. At the same time, the world optical cable market kept on rising continuously after 2008 and in 2010 was increased by 4.8% amounting to approx. 180 million FKm. A study of the situation in various groups of cable products shows a maximum increase of the winding wire market (~18%) and a reduction of the external copper telecom cable market (~8%).

The situation in the cable industry of Western Europe is different. Its share of the global market in respect to the metallic wires and cables has been falling. In 2008 the share of West European cable products on the global market amounted to approx. 16%, in 2009-2010 it fell down to 13.7%. In West Europe production volumes of the metallic wires and cables increased by 7.3% in 2010 vs. 2009, whereas in 2009 vs. 2008 they were decreased by 22.7%. Cable market of Eastern Europe is in approximately the same position. However, the all-European fibre optic cable market grew by 30.8% in 2010, after the 17.4% fall in 2009 and amounted to approx. 26 million FKm. An analysis based on the data available from 57 cable companies showed that the net profit from wire and cable production in the beginning of the millennium reached its maximum level of 5% and nowadays it exceeds 2%. For the operating margins these values are ~ 7% and ~5% correspondingly. Combined production shares of ten leading cable manufacturers in 2010 accounted for 23% of the world production by value.

The global market of metallic cable goods that amounted to slightly less than 15 million tons (in metal) in 2010, should increase up to 19 million tons in 2014. The optical cable market will keep on growing too. It is forecasted that it will reach 200 million FKm in 2014. In the European cable industry until 2014 the growth will spread across all wire and cable types. However the market of metallic wires and cables may not be back to the level of 2007. In general the forecast of cable goods demand in the world and European industry looks optimistic. More and more wires and cables will be required due to the power engineering development, including nuclear power, as well as alternative energy sources. Roll out of smart grids and modernization of electrical infrastructure will cause an increase of the energy cable production. Development of high-speed rail networks, growth of automobile production, electrical and electronic equipment and appliances will influence on the wire and cable production growth, too. We should also point out the effect of the rapid evolution of the communications sector and expansion of bandwidth demand.

The report of the «Electrocable» Association (Russia) covered the situation in the cable industry on the post-soviet territory under the conditions of recovery after the world financial and economic crisis. If the year of 1990, when the output of metallic cables reached its maximum in the USSR, is used as a basis, then one can say that production volumes of 2010 did not reach the level of 1990 and amounted to 73.2% of that level.

The global economic and financial crisis deeply affected the cable industry of Russia and other CIS countries starting from September 2008. Due to the growing demand for wire and cable products and to the decrease of their production volumes in Q4 of 2008 and Q1 of 2009 this fall reached the “bottom” by the beginning of Q2 of 2009. The output of cable products in Q1 amounted to only 50% of the maximum volume that was reached in Q3 of 2008. Therefore, despite some unstable growth of cable production in the second half of 2009 the drop in production of metallic wires and cables for 2009 was 21% as compared to the previous year.

However, the restorative growth started in the second half of 2009 and has been going on up to the present time. Cable product output in 2010 amounted to approx. 85% vs the before-crisis year of 2007 and to about 90% from the output of 2008, the first year of crisis on the post-soviet territory.

According to the «Electrocable» Association, whose members manufacture around 92% of all cable goods on the territory of the former Soviet Union, the cable production growth is determined mainly by the constant increase of the market and production output of power cables. In this field the volumes of the low, medium and high-voltage power cables with XLPE insulation go on growing. In 2010 the Yuzhkabel plant (Ukraine) produced the first cable rated at 330 kV that was installed in Belarus in 2011. It was pointed out that the obsolete impregnated paper-insulated medium voltage power cables are still manufactured in Russia. The rate of their production is certainly significantly lower than that of similar XLPE insulated cables. However physical volumes of 10-35 kV power cable output are still rather big. The existing situation may be explained not only by a certain conservatism of the consumers and by the implementation of the earlier started electric power projects. Another reason is the fact that since there is no domestic production of XLPE, the XLPE insulated cables in Russia are so far more expensive than the impregnated paper-insulated cables. Furthermore, due to the application of systems with an insulated neutral instead of a grounded neutral it is necessary to increase a cross-section of the copper screen and this naturally increases cable cost. Production of the fire-safe (fire-resistant, flame-retardant) cables has been expanding and now they are manufactured by more than 50 cable plants on the former USSR territory.

The trends of telecommunication cable development demonstrate a significant reduction in the production of city copper telecom cables. Their output in 2010 was only 32% of the 1990 output level and 21% of the maximum output value achieved in 2005. This reduction conforms to the global practice though somewhat behind the trend. The group of optical cables has been growing. The level of 4.38 million FKm reached in 2008 was surpassed in 2010 and a further production increase is forecasted. The LAN-cable production is constantly growing, however the needs for this type of cables are still satisfied mainly by import supplies. Production of magnet wires has been developing rather slow and is still several times lower than in 1990.

The presentation underlined that the cable industry continued its fundamental scientific and research work both in the field of high temperature superconductivity application and in the area of optical cables with new fibre types.

Session 2 included ten reports. «Borealis» AG (Austria) mentioned in its report that despite the fast growth of the optical cable production, an intensive LAN-cable production will continue. According to “Borealis”, the LAN-cable market on the post-soviet territory will increase by not less than 14% until 2015. This is caused by the 45% annual growth of the Internet traffic. Data transmission rate has become 6 times higher. The solid polyethylene insulation still dominates in production of LAN-cables, however the shift to manufacture of CAT6 and CAT7 cables will require a wider application of a foamed insulation. This is an existent process because at present the available data transmission rate is 10 Gb/s, but in the new developments the values of 40 and 100 Gb/s appear. As a foam insulation “Borealis” suggests using a polyethylene compound where the high density polyethylene is the main part and a low density polyethylene that facilitates material extrusion is a smaller part. Linear speed of the standard compound application on the extrusion lines is 1000-1500 m/min, level of foaming – 65%. The company offers a new compound “Borcell HE 4873” that contains an increased quantity of a foam-forming initiator. This ensures a higher foaming speed (up to 80%), a better homogeneity of the pore structure and a smaller initiator deposition on the insulation surface. At the same time processing parameters are improved and an indentation resistance is increased.

«Rosendahl Maschinen» GmbH (Austria) presented the company opinion about the LAN-cable development prospects and informed of the new machinery for copper conductor insulation. The company focuses on the Russian LAN-cable market development as a number of significant events is planned in Russia (World Student Games, Olympic Games, Football Worldcup). The demand for CAT5 LAN-cables will be preserved in Russia until 2013 and then should gradually go down giving way to the CAT6, CAT6-a and CAT7 cables. Furthermore, in the nearest future the market share of the CAT6-a cables can reach 32%. For the cables like these it is obligatory to have a foam-skin-foam insulation. In constructions of high category cables the changes that ensure a decreased alien cross talk are foreseen. Unshielded cables of the UTP type (CAT6-a) should have a separator between the twisted pairs and a smaller lay length (7-13 mm). That however increases the copper consumption. Screened cables of the S/FTP type (CAT6-a, CAT7, CAT7-a) are manufactured with 30-45 mm lay length, this decreases the copper consumption, but an additional braiding operation is required. For LAN-cable insulated conductor manufacture «Rosendahl» offers to use a continuous production line that combines an inline wire drawing unit and an extrusion line. An extruder group includes 4 extruders, a gas injection system ensures a highly precise dosing. The line is equipped with measuring devices for geometry and capacitance, as well as with a computerized control system.

In the presentation of «Setic» s.a.s. (France) various LAN-cable production methods were analyzed and a corresponding machinery was offered. Two LAN-cable production methods are known: 1) a one-step process with application of group-twinners; 2) a two-step process that foresees sequential operations of a pair twisting and a core stranding on two different machines. On the offered lines pairs are produced with a back-twist stranding. A triple stranding process is developed: it combines a double strander and a special pay-off that increases productivity by 40-45%. Stranding speed during pair twisting – up to 6500 t/min, during core assembly – up to 1600 t/min. For the high category LAN-cable production it is recommended to use the one-step process.

«Maillefer» SA (Switzerland) too, emphasized the tendency to use high category LAN-cables for which stranding quality and an optimal technology of insulation application by the extrusion method are exceptionally important. The company recommends to manufacture cables like these on the TEL 35E, a continuos production line where extrusion and drawing are combined. Drawing – with anealing and a wire calibration. Screw length to diameter ratio is L/D=24-30. This extruder diameter is 60-80 mm. Gas is injected into the polyethylene melt at the pressure of 700 bar. Cooling is done in several passes, therefore the total length of the cable in the cooling trough is 74 m.

«SAMP» S.p.A. (Italy) dedicated its presentation to the analysis of the physical foaming of the LAN-cable polyethylene insulation. It was mentioned that during the chemical method the foaming level is ~40%, during the physical method it can reach 70%. The company offers a method for the injector diaphragm diameter calculation. For the 0.015 kg/h mass of the gas supplied to the cylinder the diaphragm diameter is 6 micron (for linear conductor speed of 2200 m/min on the extrusion line). The SAMP extrusion machinery for insulation application on the conductor during the LAN-cable production ensures a linear speed of 1300-1750 m/min. Foaming – up to 70%; rejects go down to minimum as the process gets stable after several seconds from the work start-up.

«Niehoff» GmbH (Germany) reported about the variants of double stranding machines application for manufacture of high-quality data cables and special cables. During production of such cables pairing machinery is operated at the speed of about 4200 t/min. This frequency can be raised up to 6000 t/min. When pairing is done for CAT5-e LAN-cables, stranding speed drops down to 2500-3000 t/min. For manufacture of CAT6-8 cellular polyethylene insulated LAN-cables it is necessary to use pay-offs with a conductor back-twist. Screened pair stranding is done at the speed of 3200-3500 t/min, stranding of pairs into cable – at the speed of 2000-2500 t/min. Back-twist is used for production of LAN-cables of CAT 6-8 and ensures practical absence of crosstalk. For pair twisting a method of 3-fold stranding is used, thus ensuring a minimum total deformation. Niehoff stranders provide for a 20-30% lower electricity consumption as compared to the earlier produced equipment.

«Zumbach Electronic» AG (Switzerland) gave an overview of devices for diameter non-contact continuous measurement during the LAN-cable production. All gauges in the company’s measuring systems are offered with software and corresponding processors (USYS process control systems). All processors can be joined in one network and provide for statistics. The offered laser scanners can make measurements in 2 and 3 axes perpendicular to the conductor diameter. A new Zumbach device KW 13 TRIO is a lump and neckdown detector. It can detect faults 0.2-0.3 mm long and 0.01 mm high. The company offers a spectrum of devices to be used during the LAN-cable production:

- ODEX^® 10 – for non-contact diameter, ovality and eccentricity measurement (accuracy of the diameter measurement is ±0.1 µm and ±0.5 µm of the eccentricity measurement);

- САРАС^® - a capacitance measuring system with a reduced active measuring length – down to 10 mm;

- AUTAC 250S – for wire temperature control;

- Spectrum analyser FSA-PC for on-line monitoring of structural return loss;

- SPEEL 3000 – system for non-contact measurement of cable length and linear speed during insulation application (speed range – from 0 to 3000 m/min, minimum controlled diameter – approx. 1.0 mm, measurement accuracy - ≤0.05%).

«SIKORA» AG (Germany) also considered measuring and control technology for LAN-cable production in its report. It was underlined that a shift from solid to foam insulation in these cables raised requirements to their base parameter control. The company offers mathematized systems (FFT-analysis) that help to control periodical failures of the cable production technological process, and a system of structural return loss (SRL) prediction. The FTT system evaluates standard parameters of cables: capacitance, diameter and eccentricity, etc.. Moreover, it analyses irregularities caused by the pressure inside the extruder head, by the disbalance of rotating parts, or by the change of linear speed and a conductor preheat temperature. This allows manufacturers to receive a useful information about the sources/reasons of appearing irregularities.

«SIKORA» offers a range of devices to be used in the LAN-cable production:

- CENTERVIEW Series 8000 for eccentricity, wall thickness, diameter and ovality measurement with a heavy-duty processor that enables a spectrum analysis with the FFT system and a SRL determination;

- a multi-zone capacitance sensor CAPACITANCE for insulated conductors and cables in the diameter range from 5 to 60 mm with the speed of 1000 measurements per minute;

- LASER Series 2000/6000, a basis for highly precise diameter measurement in the range from 0.25 to 80 mm. The devices can be installed in the extrusion lines in 3 points: before extruder head, after extruder head and before the capstan (measurements for diameter range 0.05-500 mm are made in two axes, for diameter range 2.0-100 mm – in three axis).

Application of the modern measuring devices provides for material saving during the cable production.

«AESA» S.A. (Switzerland) reported about the automatic HF measurements of LAN-cables with and without «balun». The «balun» method is conventional at the moment. However for the HF measurements of high category LAN-cables it is recommended to use the «balunless» method. In this case a number of measurements in the range up to 600 MHz becomes bigger. Cost of the offered unit is approx. 30% higher, however it enables the simultaneous measurement of some additional LAN-cable parameters necessary to the cable end-users.

«Medek & Schörner» GmbH (Austria) offers machinery for identification ringmarking in the LAN-cable production.

For identification, pairs of full coloured and ringmarked wires are combined in the cable assembly. In order to avoid crosstalk resonance, both ringmark and starnding pitches are usually selected to be non-integral multiples of each other. For quick change of colour “on the fly”, the tandem units RS707 T are available. They include two individual marking machines with common electronic synchronization with the line speed. While one ringmarker is running, the other one can be prepared for the next ringmarking colour.

For identification of LAN-cables on their outer sheath is made by cable printers, typically with the speed of 1200 m/min. Changing over to the new print can be effected in a second.

Furthermore, «Medek & Schörner» offers a VST marking quality supervision system which is an ultra high speed camera system allowing to show the print or other marking results in big magnification on a computer screen. Sophisticated software allows to continuously compare the image with a reference, which has been entered as good, and to release an alarm signal when the marking quality tends to drop.

At the General Meeting the following companies were accepted into the IA «Intercable»: «Setic» s.a.s./ «Pourter» s.a.s. (France) as one member considering that these two members of «Gauder Group» have the same management, and «Tulsa Power Inc.» |(USA). Memberships of «Corning Inc.» (USA) и VUKI a.s. (Slovakia) were reinstated.

The next General Meeting of the IA «Intercable» will be held in Brussels (Belgium) from 12 to 16 December 2011. In its framework a Scientific and Technical symposium will be held: Session 1. Environmental problems in the cable industry. Session 2. New types of bare conductors for overhead transmission lines: design, technological machinery, applied materials.