Bekaert (www.bekaert.com) seeks sustainable profitable growth based on its two core competences: advanced metal transformation and advanced materials and coatings. Bekaert aims to consolidate its position as both market and technological leader around the world. With its broad range of high technological products, systems and services, Bekaert offers high added value for its customers. Bekaert (Euronext Brussels: BEKB) is a European based company, headquartered in Belgium, employing over 23 000 people. Bekaert, present in 120 countries, generates annual combined sales of more than € 3.4 billion.
Bekaert's basic raw material is wire rod, steel wire about the thickness of a finger, which is converted by mechanical deformation and heat treatment into wires that can be as fine as 1/50th the thickness of a human hair. Wires are then turned into cable and cord, woven or knitted into cloth or processed into ultra-fine filters and fibers, for a wide range of industrial applications in virtually all sectors of the economy.