Italy's Prysmian will abandon a plan to build a plant in the United States to make cables for offshore wind parks, the group said in a statement seen by Reuters on Tuesday, even as it expands its overall business in the country.
Prysmian, the world's biggest cable maker and a major player in offshore wind transmission, does not see a strong enough market in the U.S. for wind farms, a source close to the company told Reuters.
"It is not a political decision," a spokesperson for the company said. "The market for offshore wind is in Europe".
On Monday President Donald Trump suspended new federal offshore wind leasing pending an environmental and economic review, saying wind mills are ugly, expensive and harm wildlife.
That sent shares in the world's top offshore wind firm Orsted plunging 17% on Tuesday after it warned of higher costs and delays to a crucial U.S. offshore project.
Shares in Prysmian were down 1.4% by 1045 GMT.
But the group, which is planning a potential dual listing in the U.S. after the recent acquisition of Encore Wire, added in the statement that opportunities in the country continued to show strong growth potential.
"We have all the requirements for a listing in the United States if we decide to go ahead with it," the company spokesperson told Reuters. "The fundamentals are the same, nothing has changed."
The cable maker's decision not to build the Brayton Point plant in Somerset, Massachusetts, was taken before Trump's inauguration, according to the group, which added that demand for its products will continue to grow under Trump.
"There will be giant investments related to data centers, giant investments related to upgrades to have a modern and future energy system, and this is in line with what Trump said," the spokesperson said.
Prysmian announced the plan to build the Brayton Point plant in 2021, saying it would invest around 200 million euros ($207 million) in the project as part of two contracts worth a total of almost $900 million in the U.S.
The offshore wind sector took a hit earlier this month when Trump said he would try to ensure that no windmills are built on his watch, criticising the sector less than two weeks before he took office.
($1 = 0.9660 euros)
(Reuters - Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari and Alessandro Parodi, editing by Alvise Armellini, Louise Heavens and Jan Harvey)