Dec 24 2010
Fushi Copperweld Inc. (Nasdaq: FSIN) is pleased to announce the launch of Copperweld® HIDE™, a new product designed to combat the rising theft of copper wire in industrial applications.
Copperweld® HIDE™ is a copper-clad steel wire jacketed in a steel-grey colored PVC coating. It performs the same function as pure copper wire in electrical grounding, railroad signaling and many other applications highly exposed to theft, but it is primarily made of steel, and as such, of minimal scrap value to plunderers. Furthermore, the grey PVC makes it look from a distance like plain galvanized steel wire.
HIDE™ is Fushi Copperweld's first brand developed specifically for a jacketed product, and the company is getting enthusiastic feedback from customers. Many of them already know too well the damage and losses that come from copper theft, which is a burgeoning industrial crime in many parts of the world.
"HIDE™ is a quadruple-threat to copper thieves," says Joe Longever, CEO of Fushi Copperweld. "First, it looks like steel until you're very close to it. Second, it is made of genuine high-strength Copperweld® -- much harder to cut than copper wire -- which should be the first tip-off to would-be thieves that they are going after the wrong material. Third, if they do decide to cut, they will be sorely disappointed when the time comes to cash in, because the metal is of very little scrap value. Finally, Fushi Copperweld is even imprinting this message on the jacket itself, in both English and Spanish in the American market, to go one step further in letting copper thieves know to move on."
In the United States and Canada, HIDE™ will be sold by ACA Conductor Accessories, Fushi Copperweld's exclusive distributor for grounding products. Fushi Copperweld will market the product directly in the rest of the world. The company has begun shipments of the product, which was previewed at the IEEE's Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition in New Orleans in April.