In the coming months, cable manufacturer Prysmian Group plans to open two new plants for the production of telecom and data cables in Europe.
The plants are being built as extensions on existing factories located in Slatina, Romania, and Presov, Slovakia. Both plants will become the largest in Europe in their category once they reach full capacity at the beginning of 2017.
The Slatina factory started its manufacturing activity in 1973 with production of energy cables before introducing the first module for the production of optical fibre cables for backbone and access networks in 2009. After major investments in 2013-2014, the annual production capacity for optical cables grew to almost 4,500,000 fibre-km. With Prysmian’s latest investment of €22 million, the factory’s production capacity is predicted to almost double, reaching 8,000,000 fibre-km annually.
The Presov plant has been so far dedicated to the production of copper data cables for multimedia devices, with a current capacity of more than 600,000km per year. Following an investment of €21 million, production of optical fibre cables for multimedia applications will be added while production capacity for copper cables will also be increased.
‘With a manufacturing history of almost 140 years, Prysmian Group is one of the largest cable companies in Eastern Europe with six production units based in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic,’ said Francesco Fanciulli, CEO Prysmian Group Central Eastern Europe.
‘It is extremely significant that two centres of excellence in Europe for the production of telecom cables are located in Eastern Europe. This confirms Prysmian’s commitment to invest in the most competitive areas in Europe, helping its customers deliver quality and innovation through faster, flexible and cost-effective deployments.’
Philippe Vanhille, senior vice president telecom business at Prysmian Group, commented: ‘The investment in these new facilities is part of a major plan to increase our production capacity and further reinforce the Group’s competitiveness in telecom’s fast-changing market.’
Official inauguration ceremonies will take place in early 2017 to celebrate this significant event for the European cable industry, the company says.
