In 2010 Bekaert continued its growth path by expanding its presence in regions where industrial growth is predominant: we increased capacity in India, Indonesia, Latin America, Central Europe and Russia to meet the growing local demand. In the tire cord market we could further strengthen our position with the acquisition of 2 Bridgestone steel cord plants, located in Sardinia and in Huizhou (China), which were fully integrated in the course of the year.
Bekaert stepped up its investments in technological leadership by opening a new technical center in Ranjangaon, near Pune (India) to support our local customers with enhanced technical services. In Jiangyin (China) we inaugurated a new state-of-the art building to accommodate our Asia Research & Development activities.
In addition, we brought our efforts towards more environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes one step further with the inauguration of the greenest steel cord plant in Shenyang. To this end we pulled together the newest technologies for optimized energy conservation, reduced environmental impact and workspace comfort. Further strides were made in making our plants ISO14001 compliant throughout 2010.