LS Group’s U.S. subsidiary Essex Solutions is ramping up production capacity for transformer winding wire as demand surges from artificial intelligence data centers and aging infrastructure replacement in the United States.
The South Korean-owned manufacturer has recorded an 11% annual growth rate in North America and 8% in Europe over the past four years, with sales reaching $129 million last year. The company recently added two production lines at its North American facilities and plans to increase capacity from 3,500 tons to 8,500 tons by 2030.
Essex’s European operations are also set for expansion, with plans to boost production from 11,000 tons to 15,000 tons through efficiency improvements and equipment upgrades.
The transformer wire industry is experiencing unprecedented demand, with delivery times extending beyond two years due to supply shortages expected to continue until 2030. Essex aims to capitalize on this imbalance by increasing its market share from 19% to 50% in North America and from 28% to 35% in Europe by 2028.
The boom in transformer wire demand comes as approximately 70% of U.S. transformers are due for replacement, coinciding with the rapid expansion of power-hungry AI data centers requiring substantial electrical infrastructure.
