5/4/2021:  The next staging of wire Southeast Asia—and its sister show, Tube Southeast Asia—will now be held Feb. 9-11, 2022 at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) in Bangkok, Thailand.

A press release from organizers Messe Düsseldorf said that the event, which was to be held Sept. 22-24, is being moved to the new dates to “allow for optimum international participation.” It noted that in the past, over 90% of the exhibitors came from overseas countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan and Korea. 

“It is anticipated that by next year with further easing of (Covid-19) travel restrictions and ongoing successful vaccine deployments worldwide, there will be a more optimistic environment for companies to do business safely and effectively at these trade fairs,” the release said.
The two trade fairs were first held in 1997. At the last staging in 2019, international exhibitors from 29 countries participated at the trade fairs, while 45% of trade visitors came from outside Thailand.

Champlain Cable is now approved by New York City Transit (NYCT) for thin-wall irradiation cross-linked TX-TW rail car wiring. This significant industry approval demonstrates our continued commitment to our Vision of innovative, value-added products for demanding environments. With our material science and processing technology, this product line further enhances our ability to offer a broad range of products over a wide variety of applications and markets.

“Champlain is excited to expand our market presence into the rail transit market with our EXAR-Rail line of products.” stated Bruce Sinnott, Champlain’s Vice-President of Business Development. “This qualification involved a united team effort across multiple departments at Champlain Cable. We are all very proud of this tremendous accomplishment.”

This thin-wall cable is typically used on rolling stock where weight and space utilization is a primary focus. These thin-wall wires can be up to 1/3 smaller than standard 600V rail wiring, which allows more circuits in limited spaces. Advanced polymer formulation and irradiation crosslinking allow for these thin-wall designs.

Champlain Cable Corporation is a premier manufacturer of Irradiation Cross-linked wire and cable serving the Rail, Automotive, Commercial Vehicle, UL / CSA, Military Shipboard and specialty Data Communication markets. Champlain’s products provide cost-effective solutions to wire and cable performance and processing problems. Champlain is headquartered in Colchester, VT and has two additional manufacturing facilities in El Paso, TX.

For more information about Champlain Cable Corporation, please visit www.champcable.com

4/9/2021: The U.S. Navy uses thoriated tungsten wire (W-Th) in their radar equipment. A small piece of W-Th is used inside high power microwave vacuum tubes to amplify radar signals. While W-Th has a good source of electrons and can operate at high temperatures, over time it can decay. One drawback is that making the wire produces hazardous byproducts, which is why the Navy is asking the industry for help. It wants a new material to replace W-Th that offers the same performance parameters yet is made in a more environmentally friendly process.

The Navy has several suggestions. One is improving W-Th wire performance by using additives. The majority of W-Th is tungsten, with 1% thorium oxide by weight. Another solution could be applying alternative wire surface coatings that would need to have a low work function, and be resistant to deformation at 1600°C. The Navy has already tested alloys of cerium and lanthanum with tungsten wire, but it is looking for a new process or alternative materials that can be used in the vacuum tubes, and operate within the same voltage and temperature as the W-Th wire.

Since the diameter of the wire used in the vacuum tubes is small, about 35 AWG, and each tube would only use about an inch of wire. The total length needed would depend on the number of tubes needed. An estimated 15 km of wire would be needed per year, notes Brady Walter, the science and technology contact at the Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3), which is a partner in the project.

The Navy is open to industry proposals. Anyone with expertise on the subject can submit a response, and a security clearance is not needed. The deadline for submissions has been extended to May 15, 2021. IN3 is working with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, on this project. The Navy ultimately decides if a proposal will be accepted, and if so, it will provide the funds. Enquiries about the project and submissions can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

4/9/2021: Wire buyers, manufacturers and investors who are planning for the upcoming year should see price spikes in wire and cable, specifically copper and silver, which is a healthy sign for the U.S. economy.

After the Covid-19 manufacturing slump, companies continue to ramp up. The pent-up demand for wire and cable reflects what should be a manufacturing boom. Other reasons include coronavirus vaccine roll-outs helping more people return to business as usual, China’s manufacturing recovery after the pandemic and President Biden’s American Jobs Plan infrastructure proposal that includes green initiatives such as electric cars and clean energy.

Once upon a time, the price of copper was talked about in pounds, and there were long periods when it was generally stable at about a dollar. Today, though, most of the world follows the price of copper by the metric ton, and it has been far from stable in recent years. Per MetalMiner, the price rose from $4,371 per metric ton in March 2020 to $8,631 in February 2021. Spurring the increase is China ramping up manufacturing and the need for copper in renewable energy products, electric vehicles, telecommunications, construction and transportation.

Yet where copper prices go from here is not so simple. It depends on who you listen to. One school of thought is that prices may not remain bullish. The initial rise in prices may fall back by year-end, once the supply crunch for copper rebounds with added production and orders being filled. But the view from the Trafigura Group, the world’s largest copper trader, is that copper prices could top $10,000 a metric ton this year, and as much as $15,000 a metric ton in the coming decade as demand from global decarbonization produces a deep market deficit.

Silver is another metal on the rise. It is used to plate copper in PTFE-insulated wiring conductors, but much demand stems from vast industrial demand for solar panels, the global roll out of 5G technology and jewelry production. The Silver Institute, a sterling organization, predicts that the price of silver, which rose from $16.19 per ounce in 2019 to $20.52 per ounce in 2020, could rise by 46% to a seven-year high of $30. Another cause in the spike in prices was a Reddit social media post encouraging a short squeeze on silver. The increase in silver prices will likely impact the rest of the wire and cable supply chain.

4/9/2021: Who hasn’t seen a slew of birds sitting in a line along overhead wires, all facing the same way, and wondered: why are they doing that? Is it really that comfortable there?

It turns out that there is no one reason. Birds perch on wires because they are resting, preening, scouting out the territory for prey (if they’re a predator) or for predators (if they’re likely to be the meal). They also like to sleep in high places for protection. Birds also gather on wires to look for a date and check out the competition. Conservation biologist Mark LaBarr of Audubon Vermont says that in late summer and early fall, birds congregate on wires as they prepare for their long migration south. It’s also easier for some birds than others to do this. Songbirds, also known as passerines, have four toes, three of which are directed forward and one backward, that allows them to firmly clasp onto branches … and telephone lines.