The Asia Pacific Cable Industry Association and Cable Information Institute have selected the top 10 competitive global submarine cable companies from 2020 to 2022 based on various factors such as brand notability, quality level, after-sales service, innovation ability, and consumer reputation. Notably, in 2021, four Chinese companies maintained their positions in the global top 10, demonstrating their strong competitiveness and comprehensive strength in the submarine cable industry. HENGTONG stands out as it ranked among the top 3 globally and claimed the first position in China, thanks to its internationalization strategy, long-term R&D investments, and technological innovation. ZTT and Orient Cable also improved their rankings compared to the previous year, while Qingdao Hanhe Cable exhibited rapid progress. This showcases the resilience and steady upward development momentum of Chinese companies in the global submarine cable market.
Benefiting from territorial resources, technology application, historical performance, and other advantages, leading enterprises such as Orient Cable, ZTT, and HENGTONG Optoelectronics occupy a significant share of the market. From November 2021 to August 2022, during the submarine cable bidding period, ZTT, Orient Cable, and HENGTONG Optoelectronics secured 37%, 33%, and 16% of the order amounts, totaling 86%. ZTT and Orient Cable combined accounted for 70% of the total. Furthermore, second-tier submarine cable companies, including Baosheng Co., Ltd., Hanhe Cable Co., Ltd., and Qifan Cable Co., Ltd., achieved remarkable success, taking advantage of the surge in offshore wind power installations in 2021 and their technical reserves.
Now, let's delve into the four Chinese companies and their contributions to the global submarine cable industry.
1.Ningbo Orient Cable Co., Ltd
Established in 1998, Orient Cable is a leading submarine cable company that has invested 2.5 billion RMB in building a world-leading marine equipment base in Ningbo. The company specializes in designing, developing, manufacturing, installing, and maintaining submarine cable systems for various applications, including electric power, communication, petrochemical, wind power generation, offshore oil and gas exploration, and marine military sectors. Their product range includes submarine fiber optic cables, telecommunication cables, and other related products. Orient Cable has emerged as one of the top 10 most competitive global submarine cable enterprises and ranks among the top 100 listed companies in China. In 2022, the company's total operating income from submarine cable systems and marine engineering reached 3.028 billion yuan. They have broken foreign technology monopolies and made significant advancements in the production of offshore umbilical cables, which are essential for deep-sea operations. Orient Cable has established itself as a leader in the submarine cable industry with two major industrial sectors: submarine cable systems and marine engineering. The company holds national accolades such as a national enterprise technology center, a national postdoctoral workstation, and an academician expert workstation. They have undertaken major national science and technology projects and have played a leading role in setting national standards for submarine cables. Additionally, Orient Cable was recognized as the national manufacturing single champion and selected as one of the first batch of digitized future factories in Zhejiang Province.
Submarine and land cable system solutions:
Focusing on large-scale offshore wind power centralized development and large-capacity offshore and land power transmission and other fields, based on independent research and development and international and domestic scientific research cooperation, it has the design, manufacturing and engineering service capabilities of high-end energy equipment such as 500kV AC submarine and land cable system and ± 535kV DC sea and land cable system. Its various technologies have reached the international leading level, and have achieved industrial application in many major energy engineering projects. It provides effective support for developing marine economy, developing clean energy, and realizing the dual carbon goal "3060" as soon as possible.
Marine engineering services and O&M system solutions:
Relying on the domestic leading marine and land engineering service platform and first-class operation and maintenance service team, the company has established a whole-process, multi-dimensional, high-quality marine and land engineering service system, laying and installation, completion and acceptance, fault location, emergency repair, testing and maintenance and other comprehensive service coverage. It has completed the derivation from the international leading submarine cable soft joints to high-voltage land cable fusion joints, power maintenance and upgrading of power grids, rails, petrochemicals and other industries, and the improvement of green supply and carbon reduction tracking in the whole industry. It has laid a solid foundation for the transformation and upgrading of Oriental Cable from a single product manufacturer to a system solutions provider.
2.Jiangsu HENGTONG High Voltage Submarine Cable Co., Ltd
Jiangsu HENGTONG High Voltage Submarine Cable Co., Ltd., established in 2009, is a leading company specializing in the design, research, development, production, and sales of various cables, including high-voltage and ultra-high-voltage cables, submarine cables, and fiber-optic composite submarine cables. They also provide system solutions for power communication transmission and offer services such as cable laying and installation. HENGTONG has a strong presence in the Smart Ocean Sector, which encompasses ocean telecommunication, marine power, marine engineering, submarine observation, port and ocean logistics, and cable accessories. They aim to be an internationally renowned marine energy interconnection system service provider.
With a registered capital of 600 million yuan, HENGTONG has established impressive infrastructure, including a 180-meter VCV tower and two 10,000-ton wharves. Their submarine cable products are exported worldwide, with a delivery length exceeding 20,000 km. These cables have been utilized in numerous international submarine cable projects in Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, Oceania, and other regions, including locations such as Maldives, Chile, and Papua New Guinea. HENGTONG prioritizes customer demand, focuses on integrity and quality, and strives to become a top-tier provider of marine energy interconnection systems on a global scale.
HENGTONG’s submarine cable manufacturing ability has reached the world-class level, with the production capacity of single-core cable section of 2500 mm² and three-core cable section of 1600 mm². Single-core and three-core cross-linked submarine cable preferentially adopts steel wire armor, with the ability to produce metal wire with the maximum single diameter of 8mm armor layer. It has completed a number of submarine cable projects such as the East China Sea Wind Power Demonstration Project, Russia's 220kV State Grid Project and Turkey's Submarine Cable Project.
HENGTONG Submarine Cable Testing Center is equipped with comprehensive testing capabilities for optical, mechanical, electrical and physical testing of submarine cable products and submarine cable systems. It is the only testing center in the Asia-Pacific region that has the ability to test the full performance of deep-sea relay submarine optical cables. It can fully guarantee the quality of products and provide professional testing services for submarine cable products and submarine cable systems worldwide.
3.ZHONGTIAN Technology Submarine Cable Co., Ltd
ZHONGTIAN Technology Submarine Cable Co., Ltd. is a holding subsidiary of Jiangsu ZHONGTIAN Technology Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: 600522), which is a national key high-tech enterprise, established on October 29, 2004. The company specializes in the research and development of submarine optical cables, deep-sea photoelectric composite cables, 500kV and below submarine cables, dynamic cables, umbilical cables and supporting accessories. The company has built a 10,000-ton multi-functional wharf, forming an annual capacity of 50,000 kilometers of cable production, storage and transportation. At present, nearly 20 core products independently developed by the company have filled the blank area in China, creating the largest number of cores, the largest section length, the largest water depth, the highest voltage level and many other national firsts: among them, in 2015, the State Grid "±320kV Xiamen Flexible Straight Engineering DC Cable Project" created the world's best; in 2017 successfully developed the world's largest transmission capacity, China's first ±525kV XLPE insulated flexible DC cable; in 2019 the world's highest voltage level 500kV AC submarine cable was put into operation.
Its products are widely used in State Grid, China Southern Power Grid, CNOOC, PetroChina, Sinopec, China Telecom, China Mobile, National Defense Communications and five major power generation groups and other key projects, and exported to the United States, Italy, Turkey, Angola, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and other countries. The cumulative operation of products exceeds 10,000 kilometers. Its domestic market share of submarine optical cable exceeds 60%; The domestic market share of submarine cables and photoelectric composite cables exceeds 50%. ZHONGTIAN Submarine Cable represents China's manufacturing level, represents the first enterprise from developing country to enter the US market, ranks in the top three in the State Grid centralized procurement bidding, and ranks first in the South Grid centralized procurement market.
4.Qingdao Hanhe Cable Co., Ltd
Qingdao Hanhe Cable Co., Ltd. is a technology-intensive enterprise group integrating cable and accessory system, condition detection system and general contracting of power transmission and transformation projects, R&D, production and operation. It is a national high-tech enterprise, and a national contract-abiding and credit-worthy enterprise. It has wholly-owned subsidiaries such as Jiaozuo, Xiuwu, Changsha, Beihai, Changzhou Bayi, Tonghe Han Cable, Nudao Cable, Qingdao Huadian High Voltage Electric, Hanhe Electrical Engineering, etc., and has a national enterprise technology center, a national engineering technology research center for high-voltage ultra-high voltage cables and a postdoctoral research workstation. It has passed ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS18001 system certification and internationally renowned KEMA, DNV, UL and other internationally well-known certifications, and was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. Focused on wire and cable high-tech research and development and production and operation for many years, the company's key production equipment and testing equipment has reached the advanced level. It mainly produces submarine optical fiber composite cable, oil platform cable, cable accessories and other products, and it is the only large-scale manufacturing service provider in China that provides 500kV and below cables and accessories, laying and installation, completion test complete set of services and turnkey projects.
It has been awarded as Top 100 Influential Enterprises in China's Mechanical and Electrical Industry, Top 500 Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises, Top 500 Global Chinese High-tech, Top 10 Most Competitive Enterprises in China's Cable Industry, National Technology Innovation Demonstration Enterprises and other honors; and the Beijing Olympic Power Security Contribution Award.
As an international famous wire and cable supplier, Hanhe Cable products have participated in many project works in India, the United States, Russia, Pakistan, Australia, Indonesia, Kuwait and so on. It is also a qualified supplier for multinational companies such as Shell, Rio Tinto, Siemens, UK National Grid, Aramco, Kuwait Ministry of Water and Electricity. Its products have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions in Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australia, creating an international supplier of complete solutions for power transmission.
From the perspective of the global submarine cable pattern, the quantity of leading companies in the industry is relatively small, and there only exist tens of companies with production qualifications. Submarine cable industry products are highly customized, different projects have different solutions. And submarine cable is a field of rigid demand in the offshore wind power and offshore communication construction industry. The market demand is strong, and the industry has a strong bargaining power downstream.
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