Belgium's Bekaert inaugurates Russian steel cord plant in Lipetsk

The Belgium-headquartered steel cord and wire manufacturer Bekaert has announced that on January 20, 2010, it officially inaugurated its new steel cord production plant located in Lipetsk Special Economic Zone in Russia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the company's main customers and suppliers in the region were present at the inauguration. Production at the first phase of Bekaert's new steel cord plant, with a capacity of 15,000 mt of steel cord for tire reinforcement, was started on December 31, 2009. Work on the steel cord plant project was started in January 2008 and is scheduled to be fully completed in 2013. The total investments involved are estimated at about €100 million, with €18 million already invested in the first phase of production. "This new manufacturing platform will service the domestic market and the wider CIS region. In so doing, Bekaert is responding to the rising local demand for steel cord products," reads the company's statement. The Lipetsk region, about 400 kilometers south of Moscow, is strategically located close to the target markets, with good logistics, good access to energy supplies and a skilled labor force. The new plant currently employs 92 people. Another 320 jobs will be created in line with the planned investments, from now through 2013.