Wire Rod – Aurubis ROD and RheinROD

Our wire rod is produced and marketed under the brand name Aurubis ROD.  With its uniform high electrical conductivity, Aurubis ROD ensures the highest possible efficiency in converting and transmitting electrical power and signals. The basis of these characteristic features of our rod is its high chemical purity, a result of using cathodes that fulfill the LME Grade A standard.

Our rod has outstanding drawability, uniform recrystallization behavior and excellent surfaces, therefore fulfilling the requirements for use in advanced processing methods and applications.

The preliminary product for sophisticated applications

Aurubis ROD is the ideal starting product for further processing and can be drawn or rolled into individual wires, braids, cable, enameled wire, flat wire and profiles.

The very good qualities of our rod ease our customers’ processing significantly. The uniformly high quality and purity mean that our rod is much sought after for demanding applications. Whether in electrical engineering, infrastructure, energy technology, automotive engineering or aviation: Aurubis ROD has gained an outstanding reputation in nearly all applications over the last four decades.

Quality assurance

The rod is subject to comprehensive quality assurance. Using process and in-line testing data as well as product test results, each coil is automatically issued a quality classification in accordance with a target/actual comparison for the corresponding application requirements. Only rod that fulfills international standards and customer-specific requirements is delivered to our customers.
All Aurubis ROD plants are certified pursuant to the international norms ISO 9001 and 14001.

Dimensions:

• Wire diameter from 8-23.5 mm in coils with weights from 3.5-10 t

Applications:

• Further processing into individual wires, braids, cable, enameled wire, flat wire, profiles

Standards:

• Exceeds the standards DIN EN 1977 and ASTM B 49

Materials:

• Cu-ETP1 (CW003A; C11040) alloys CuAg0.1 or CuSn0.3

Production sites:

• Avellino (I), Emmerich (D), Hamburg (D) und Olen (B)

Schematic production process according to South Wire®  

Rod is produced in an integrated process that includes smelting, casting, rolling, cleaning and packaging. Aurubis constantly steers, manages and develops this efficient and energy-optimized process within narrow limits. The production process conforms to European and international standards and the product quality fulfills cutsomers' stringent requirements.

After refining, copper is ready for further processing in its purest form, as a cathode. These cathodes with a copper content of more than 99.99 % are first melted down in a cathode shaft furnace under strict process monitoring. The 1,200 °C molten copper is then transferred via channels to the casting machine, the heart of the casting plant, where the copper is cast into an endless bar. There are two main casting machine technologies: Hazelett casting machines and South Wire casting machines (see graphic below), both of which are utilized in the Aurubis Group. Although the casting processes are different, the product is the same: a roughly 900 °C endless copper bar.

Still glowing, the bar then enters the rolling line, which is made up of many roll stands. Diameters between 23.5 mm and 8 mm can be attained by constantly reducing the cross-section. The 400 to 500 °C wire is then surface-treated and cooled at a constant speed. The temperature is subsequently reduced to 40 °C. After it is dried and treated with a protective wax coating, the rod is wound into coils with a weight of 3.5 to 10 t. The rod is now ready to be shipped all over the world. Aurubis produces up to 800 of these coils per day.