The metal portfolio of Ducab is now almost complete from electrical viewpoint with the addition of aluminium a year back to already existing capacity in copper rods and wires. Besides, the company is already having an extensive cable portfolio, right from LV/MV/HV/EHV cables to specialized cables such as fire performance, nuclear, solar, wind, marine, defense, etc.
“In addition to the overall medium voltage or low voltage cables, which are our forte, we have been aggressively expanding in high voltage and extra high voltage categories, supplying to a range of regional and international customers. And, in the specialized cable, where high growth has been projected, we are now busy in expanding our portfolio. We have developed the range of solar cables, marine cables and have developed solutions for the overall defense sector,” said Mr. Ashish Chaturvedy, Marketing Manager, Ducab in a recent interview with Wire & Cable India.
Wire & Cable India: Tell us something about Ducab Aluminium Company.
Ashish Chaturvedy: Ducab Aluminium Company is an extension to the existing portfolio of products and services, which are currently being offered by Ducab. It is an addition to the wire and cable solution that we are already supplying. We have had the copper rod plant running very successfully and growing every year for the last 10 years with prestigious customers in over 25 countries globally. We have recently complimented the product range offered by the Ducab Group of Companies by adding the aluminium rod and overhead conductor business in order to further increase the portfolio.
Ducab Aluminium Company is a joint venture between Ducab and one of its parents, which is Senaat, held by the Abu Dhabi Government. We have been operational for the last 12-14 months and are already producing aluminium rods. We have now also started producing the overhead conductors. This has officially opened in the month of January 2018 by his Highness Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s court. We are now fully operational, exporting not only within the GCC but also in the wider Arab world and even outside the region like India and North America.
This facility once fully in line will have an installed capacity of 50,000 TPA of aluminium rod and overhead conductor. These are to be supplied not only to the electrical industry for producing aluminium cables and wires but also to the overhead transmission network utilities.
WCI: What are the new developments at Ducab?
AC: In addition to the overall medium voltage or low voltage cables, which are our forte, we have been aggressively expanding in high voltage and extra high voltage categories, supplying to a range of regional and international customers. And, in the specialized cable, where high growth has been projected, we are now busy in expanding our portfolio. We have developed the range of solar cables, marine cables and lots of solutions for the overall defense sector. Through our subsidiary AEI Cables in the UK, we have secured contracts to supply harnesses for armored vehicles for the military applications. These nuclear cables, solar cables, and marine cables (for the shipbuilding and other marine applications) are all part of the specialized cable portfolio, extending our reach both in terms of product diversification and market outreach to provide solutions to several specialist industry verticals. Range of Ducab fire performance cables for the quality conscious Hong Kong market are also worth noting.
WCI: What are your plans for the Indian market? Also, tell us about the growth of Ducab in the coming years with the government’s massive electrification initiatives.
AC: In the Indian scheme of things, we see ourselves playing major roles in times to come. One of course is being able to provide a lot of high-quality copper rod and wire, which we have been supplying all of these years, and to which we have now added the alumiunium rod and overhead conductor. From the metal business point of view, we are continuing to expand and grow, and also be a part of the overall growth story largely within the energy sector in the Indian market.
From the cable and wire solution viewpoint, we are only targeting the specific industry verticals; metros and rail solutions happen to be one of them. The fire performance cables which are approved and certified from the international bodies (like LPCB and BASEC) continue to be one of the core areas that we offer to the engineering professionals. We are constantly working with the consultants and the contractors to raise the significance of fire performance cables in the high-growth building and construction industry. And, on the other side of the cable and wire business, we want to be the part of the renewable growth story, i.e. solar and wind. We have a complete solution to address these segments that we are already supplying to solar parks to the gulf and the Middle-East region and also to the faraway places.
We also continue to develop the nuclear cable solutions. In addition to supplying Non-Class 1E cables to the nuclear power plants being built in Abu Dhabi, we are also supplying to the nuclear power plants in South Korea. We are developing and producing those cables in Abu Dhabi and supplying to the Korean power plants. That is the kind of export orientation that our business currently holds.
In times to come, we want to bring our complete portfolio of renewable targeted cable and wire solutions in order to continue to grow with these sectors. India, obviously, is well poised to high growth rate with the current infrastructure investment. And, it is very opportune to speak about the international solar alliances which have been formed recently. We are looking for ways and currently having multiple dialogues with like-minded people within the solar industry globally to be able to be a part of this industry and provide solutions which are the best fit for the future growth of the solar sector.
WCI: Are there any plans to do a technical tie-up or build any new facility in India in the near future?
AC: We constantly keep looking for more and more opportunities. There are always a couple of options on the table, both in terms of organic and inorganic growth. We try and actively look for likeminded people and partners who could very well fit in with the Ducab growth strategy. There is always room for expanding our existing portfolio. These are indeed the key elements of our growth strategy to be able to expand in terms of product portfolio that we offer and the geographical footprint that Ducab has across the world.
WCI: For Ducab, what challenges does the Indian market pose?
AC: Overall, in terms of the electrical and the power sector a market such as India offers a great opportunity for growth. With current GDP forecast at 7.5 percent for this year, India obviously is one of the most prosperous looking economies in the times to come by being one of the fastest growing GDPs. Having said that, in terms of Ducab’s overall strategy and portfolio of products and services, we see ourselves focusing more on the opportunities as opposed to challenges, on niche areas like power and energy, which is a huge area. We have our own expertise in multiple areas; transmission and distribution is indeed one of them but the niche segment that we continuously talk about is the transport mobility.
In addition to that, renewable and clean energy solutions are industries where we feel ourselves way ahead of the competitions – the solar and wind are two of them. We are more than happy to bring our technical expertise and know-how to this market as well. Ducab is also able to help industries like nuclear power where few plants have recently been announced.
Moreover, we would rather be a part of the industry where we think we are far more equipped to be able to provide solutions. While I am on the subject, fire performance is one of the areas close to our heart because we do believe in bringing the industry up to speed when it comes to updating on the codes of practice and the standards with regards to fire safety. We feel we have a lot of expertise in that area and we constantly work towards raising the awareness of the consultants and the contractors, especially in the fire performance and life safety.
WCI: Would you like to add something in the end?
AC: The metals portfolio for Ducab would obviously continue to grow. While we had a fresh air of business in the copper rod historically, we are now very keen to be the part of the Indian electrical sector in the aluminium vertical as well. This is because we now have a full solution of both the metals which are used in the electrical industry for the right conductivity purposes. We are looking forward to further developing the metals sector for the Indian wire and cable industry.
