WREXHAM Mineral Cables, the only company in the UK and one of only a handful worldwide making specialist electric cables capable of withstanding temperatures more than 1,000 deg C, has signed its first major export deal to the Middle East.
The business has shipped out two 40-ft containers of high-performance cables for use in a major multimillion-dollar upgrade of the electricity distribution infrastructure in the UAE. The £250,000 ($357,110) order is the first of four run-on contracts it hopes to secure over the next 12 months worth £1 million in total.
The success follows a concerted export push by Wrexham in order to mitigate the effects of the recession in the UK. The company is being supported by the Welsh Assembly Government in making inroads into these new markets.
“These markets offer tremendous opportunities for our products, far more than we originally thought. We have won this significant order, for the supply of specialist cables for new electricity distribution projects within the UAE and have quoted for a number of other contracts which are in the pipeline,” says Phil Thomas, divisional manager of Wrexham.
The mineral-insulated cables provide circuit integrity for power and control circuits of critical equipment used in public buildings, including hospitals, schools, hotels, sports grounds, transport hubs as well as power stations, foundries, mines, and the oil and gas industry.
The company’s export drive in the Middle East has benefited from participating in Welsh Assembly Government-led trade missions to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Dubai. These events provide “a great opportunity” to promote its highly-specialised products and to meet senior key buyers from a number of business organisations, says Thomas.
Commenting about the deal, he says: “This new business compensates for the drop in the UK market. We have a number of good leads to follow up as a result of these missions and the organisations we have dealt with have all promised us an opportunity to quote for new work.”
Ieuan Wyn Jones, Minister for Economy and Transport, has welcomed the news and the support the Assembly Government had been able to provide.
“Wrexham Mineral Cables operates in a highly-specialised niche market and I am pleased to see that it is maximising new opportunities overseas which is also compensating for a decline in UK sales as a result of the recession. The Welsh Assembly Government’s support is available to help businesses of all sizes explore and target overseas markets, which are of particular relevance in the current challenging business environment,” he says.
Wrexham Mineral Cables was established in 1989 to operate a unique patented manufacturing process in a purpose-built facility. Part of a privately-owned group, it employs 40 people in Wales. The cables manufactured at Wrexham are the only mineral cables made in the world to carry accreditation from the British Approvals Service for cables (Basec). The company also appointed a sales manager last year to help target the major markets in the Middle East.
