Bekaert : Lipetsk (Russia) launches major expansion program 05 Sep 2017

Katelijn Bohez

T +32 56 23 05 71

Irina Shchedrina

T +7 980 263 48 40

www.bekaert.com

The Management of Bekaert announced today a major expansion program for the company's manufacturing plant in Lipetsk, Russia. The announcement took place at the Lipetsk plant in the presence of Koshelev Ivan Nikolaevich, Head of the Lipetsk Special Economic Zone and Yvan Lippens, Bekaert Senior Vice President responsible for Rubber Reinforcement Operations EMEA. The expansion of the Lipetsk plant will contribute to the growth of the tire industry based in Russia and the wider CIS.

Also today, Bekaert Lipetsk celebrated the launch of the Bekaert Manufacturing Excellence program which is one of the Group's global transformation programs. The manufacturing excellence program aims at gaining competitiveness by optimizing the company's safety, quality, delivery performance and productivity. Earlier this year, the Lipetsk plant also implemented BeCare, Bekaert's Global Safety program which aims at creating a 'no-harm-to-anyone work environment' in all Bekaert locations worldwide. These programs will help the Bekaert Lipetsk team to realize their growth plans in the best possible way, so they continue to deliver superior value to their customers and contribute to the customers' growth ambitions in the region.

The Bekaert Lipetsk plant opened in 2010 and produces steel cord for the tire industry and Dramix® fibers for construction markets. Bekaert projects continued strong and growing demand from the tire manufacturers based in Russia and the wider CIS region. In order to accommodate for demand growth arising from the ongoing and projected expansions of our customers, Bekaert has decided to add an additional 50% tire cord production capacity to the plant by mid 2018, and to double the half-product capacity.

Bekaert (www.bekaert.com) is a world market and technology leader in steel wire transformation and coating technologies. We pursue to be the preferred supplier for our steel wire products and solutions by continuously delivering superior value to our customers worldwide. Bekaert (Euronext Brussels: BEKB) is a global company with almost 30 000 employees worldwide, headquarters in Belgium and € 4.4 billion in annual revenue.

Bekaert Lipetsk manufactures steel cord products for the tire industry and Dramix® fibers for construction markets, serving customers in Russia and the wider CIS region. Situated about 400 kilometers south of Moscow, Lipetsk is strategically located close to Bekaert's regional target markets, with good logistics and easy access to energy supplies and skilled labor. Bekaert also has a sales office in Moscow since 1998, serving a portfolio of customers with a wide variety of advanced steel wire products.