Engaging with wire rod suppliers for a better tomorrow

As part of our sustainability ambition, we have set the target to reduce our Scope 3 emissions – upstream and downstream emissions from purchased goods and services – by 19.7% by 2035. When it comes to achieving this target, what carries the biggest weight is collaborating with our suppliers and embedding transparency and accountability along the way.

In 2021, Bekaert launched the Wire Rod Supplier Campaign focused on innovation. We targeted wire rod suppliers because steel wire rod is the main raw material we use to manufacture steel wire products, representing more than half of our total spend of purchases. 

We selected 40 wire rod suppliers, representing around 90% of our total buying volume. We started the collaboration with sharing our sustainability ambition, requirements and needs along the supply chain to build alignment and share knowledge. We also asked them to provide details about how they support Bekaert’s ambition to reduce carbon emissions by 46.2% by 2030 and to be carbon-neutral by 2050. Finally, we mapped current and future performance, capabilities and strategies to position the supplier base and identify a common vision.

As a result of the campaign, we have already identified four partners for specific sustainable wire rod sourcing projects in North America, Europe, India and Indonesia. At the same time, we continue to work with our supplier base and explore future collaboration opportunities.

One of the main focus areas of these wire rod partnerships is to identify and implement roadmaps to deliver “greener” steel by reducing carbon intensity and increasing scrap content. The campaign is just one of the steps we take on our journey towards making the world more sustainable and ultimately reaching carbon net zero by 2050.