Bekaert announced it has reached an agreement on the sale of its Steel Wire Solutions businesses in Chile and Peru to its current partners.

A press release said that the transaction—which has a total enterprise value of approximately $350 million, and will result in net proceeds for Bekaert’s stake of $136 million—is expected to close in 2023, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The facilities manufacture, sell, and distribute steel wire products primarily for construction, agricultural fencing, mining, and industrial applications.

The agreement includes shares held by Bekaert in the following entities: Industrias Chilenas de Alambre-Inchalam SA in Talcahuano, Chile; and Prodalam SA in Santiago, Chile; along with their subsidiaries in Chile and Peru. Bekaert currently holds 52% of the shares in the Chilean entities and 38% of the shares in the Peruvian entities. The transaction excludes Bekaert’s wholly owned Bridon-Bekaert ropes entities in Chile and Peru.

The release said that the divestment decision relates to Bekaert’s strategy in recent years to improve its business portfolio by reducing exposure to more commoditized and volatile markets while increasing its presence in faster growing markets. Those include new mobility, green energy, and low-carbon concrete solutions that typically offer higher profit margins and higher returns on capital. “While the partnership has been successful for nearly 75 years, Bekaert believes it is now the right time to exit these businesses and focus on our target segments.”

The activities of the companies to be divested generated approximately €650 million in consolidated revenue in 2022, with a profit margin below the Bekaert target range. “The proceeds from the transaction will further strengthen our balance sheet and support our commitment to shareholder returns and investment plans for growth.”

“Bekaert was an early entrant into the Latin American market,” said Kenart CEO Oswald Schmid. “Our partnership ... in Chile dates back to 1948 and was extended with the establishment of our partnership in Peru in 1994. ... At the same time, it is another important strategic step in the ongoing transformation of Bekaert and its further positioning in new, fast-growing markets.”

Italy’s Continuus-Properzi announced that it has been selected by Adani Group to supply a Properzi ETP TOP copper rod line for a subsidiary—Kutch Copper Ltd.—for its new copper complex project in Gujarat, India.
U.S.-based Fort Wayne Wire Die announced the opening of a new die service center in Querétaro, Mexico, where the business—Fort Wayne Wire Die de México—will service the fast-growing Mexican wire and cable market with locally produced single crystal diamond and polycrystalline diamond wire drawing dies and recutting service for the same. See p. 95 for more about the company.

“Having a local service center in the heart of Mexico will allow our company to provide a much higher level of service to our Mexican customers,” said FWWD President Eric Bieberich. “The ability to finish new dies from rough drilled inventory and to recut and repolish worn dies without their leaving the country will greatly improve our responsiveness to the demanding and growth oriented Mexican market.” The location will be a focus factory with a heavy concentration on new and recut diamond and PCD dies for rod breakdown, intermediate, and fine wire drawing operations, including matched die sets for high-speed, multi-wire drawing machines.

Tino Corral, a Spanish-speaking 30+ year FWWD sales veteran, along with his wife, have re-located to Querétaro, where he will head the office. A core team of Mexican nationals with a variety of experience have gone through extensive wire die specific training in Fort Wayne and another service center.

FWWD also has plants in Canada and the Philippines, and the Mexican addition is the first new one for the company in some 15 years. “Servicing the Mexican wire and cable market from the U.S. had been a challenge,” Bieberich said. “To really get serious about this market, the best solution for us was to do this. It can be intimidating to staff a new plant, but we have been impressed by the steep learning curve of our newest employees.”

Italy’s Continuus-Properzi announced that it has been selected by Adani Group to supply a Properzi ETP TOP copper rod line for a subsidiary—Kutch Copper Ltd.—for its new copper complex project in Gujarat, India.

A press release said that the deal represents a strategic milestone for the entire copper field, not only in India but also worldwide. “We are more than happy and proud to announce this strategic sale of a brand new Properzi CCR line designed to produce up to 250,000 tons of ETP copper rod per year and even more, with our mission to make this CCR line as the most efficient, easiest to operate, and highest quality in the sector. This new project, after several others during the last years, is further proof of our leading position in the copper and aluminum rod fields; Properzi is the benchmark and reference throughout the world.”

Company President Giulio Properzi said that the continuous casting and rolling ETP line to be delivered in 2023 to Adani will produce 38 t/h of copper rod. He noted that all such lines are developed in partnership with customers to meet their specific needs. “Every contract and every negotiation in our field requires considerable dedication and a lot of patience, as dialogues need very long times. But in this case, I could see the final achievement after an incredible long period of sixty years of sweat, efforts, hard work and engineering, since the first copper rod line my father provided, as a disruptive tool, to the industry in 1962.”

Per an on-line article in Business Today, Kutch Copper’s greenfield copper refinery project, in two stages, is designed to produce one million metric tons a year.

The Madem Reels Group announce that it has expanded in the Middle East with the Madem Gulf Ind. - Bahrain opening a new manufacturing, assembly and distribution plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

A press release said that the new site represents the company’s second manufacturing plant in the Middle East, following the initial plant located in Askar, Bahrain. The operations are scheduled to begin in 2023 with assembly and distribution beginning in the third/fourth quarter, while manufacturing is set for the first or second quarter of 2024.

The initial investment includes cutting-edge, fully automated wooden drum CNC lines. Annual capacity should reach over 1,000 truckloads of KD reel kits. The plant is expected to create more than a hundred new jobs.
“Aligned with our values and commitments to our customers, we are thrilled with the new plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said General Manager Alexandre Monte Mezzo. “It’s a great step in the continuous evolution of Madem Group to be part of KSA’s current developmental strategies and economic vision, which will further improve and maximize our production and delivery capacity within the kingdom itself as well as the GCC, Arab, and North Africa markets.”

“Opening a second branch within the GCC reiterates Madem Group’s strong commitment to cater to the growing requirements of customers in this region especially the booming KSA market in line with the Royal Vision 2030,” said Adel Abdulla Mohammed Janahi, general manager, sales. “This new plant incorporated with the latest automated technology will have increased capacity and productivity to meet all the requirements and demands of our customers in the region.”

Based in Brazil, the Madem Reels Group, has its own renewable forests, sawmill and manufacturing facilities in Brazil, USA, Bahrain, Colombia, Mexico and Spain that employ more than 700 associates world-wide. It ships to more than 200 wire and cable plants in 45 countries.