In 1915, when a group of engineers in Rankin, Pennsylvania first created a permanent metallurgical bond between copper and steel, they probably had little idea of how valuable their invention would become.
When these industry pioneers discovered the power of two metals over one, they paved the way for strong carbon steel and light weight aluminum to offer the electrical conductivity efficiency of copper in a wire that is stronger, lighter and less expensive than a solid carbon wire. Today, there are virtually infinite applications for Copperweld bimetallic wire.
From its founding, Copperweld Corporation moved to nearby Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania— the center of the American steel industry, and grew into a formidable player in the primary and secondary metallurgical products market. The company offered a diversified product range that included bimetallic pipe, tube, wire, strand, strip, plate, solder and skiving, and employed thousands at multiple facilities in the USA, Canada and Britain. The bimetallic process moved beyond simple copper and steel, and eventually also combined metals and alloys such as aluminum, tin, brass, gold, nickel and silver.
In 1999, Copperweld was acquired by America’s third-largest steel producer, Ling-Temco-Vought, and formed LTV Copperweld. The new ownership filed for Chapter 11 protection a year later. As part of the restructuring that ensued, all the divisions of the former Copperweld Corporation except the bimetallic wire division were acquired by large international conglomerates.
That single division, with three manufacturing facilities, was sold to Atlas Tube (now Dofasco) in 2001, and subsequently spun off as a privately held company called Copperweld Bimetallics LLC, operating its world headquarters from its Fayetteville, Tennessee manufacturing plant.
About that same time in Dalian, China, a small copper-clad aluminum facility started up to respond to the overwhelming need for wire products in China’s explosive infrastructure boom in telecommunications and public utilities. That company, Fushi International, began operations in 2001, and has experienced phenomenal growth. The company’s need for additional manufacturing capacity led it to acquire Copperweld in 2007, forming the world’s largest bimetallic wire producer. The new entity, now called Fushi Copperweld, is publicly traded on NASDAQ Global Markets under the symbol FSIN.
In 2009, the company acquired the Dalian Jinchuan Electric Cable Co. In 2010, Fushi Copperweld moved its world headquarters to Beijing, and opened a new plant in Yixing (Jiangsu Province).
Fushi Copperweld’s metal cladding process is the most effective and efficient in the marketplace. Both the American and the Chinese divisions have been leaders in innovation, with many patented processes to their credit. This expertise, along with our service and innovation, has allowed us to help bring electricity to remote areas, spread the reach of electronic communications, and improve many existing products by making them stronger, lighter, and more affordable.
We work with our customers to produce bimetallic wire to their exact specifications, in packaging that matches with their production or transportation systems. And we deliver on time so that deadlines – even those on the other side of the planet – can be met. Quality and innovation: that’s the power of two.