wiredinUSA April 2014

INDEX

Greece network improvements

Agreement secured on fasteners

Chinese steelmaker Baosteel has signed a cooperative agreement with the Netherlands-based Nedschroef Group to supply high strength cold forged steel rod for Nedschroef’s automotive fasteners. Nedschroef is among the largest suppliers of fasteners and cold-heading machines in the world. Founded in 1894, Koninklijke Nedschroef Holding NV manufactures fasteners, cold-heading machinery and tooling for the automotive sector. Nedschroef is comprised of 24 facilities in 14 countries, employing 1,600 people and generating 2011 sales of $671 million. In 2013 the group opened a new production site in Kunshan, China, with the name of Nedschroef Fasteners Kunshan Co Ltd, to supply the increasing Chinese car market. The plant mainly supplies high specification automotive fasteners. Baosteel is the only Chinese supplier of high strength cold forging steel for the China-basedproduction facilitiesofGeneral Motors, Volkswagen and Nissan.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to provide a €235 million loan to the Greek Public Power Corporation (PPC) in support of electricity network improvements in the country. Covering a period to 2015, the multi-investment program aims at renovating and reinforcing the electricity distribution network, as well as extending it to enable 186,000 new connections across peninsular and insular Greece. The program is intended to benefit consumers and suppliers by improving the infrastructure and increasing the effectiveness of balancing electricity supply with requirement. The project will be managed by the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator, a subsidiary of PPC. The energy sector in Greece has been financed with a total of €4.6 billion since the country’s accession to the European Union, with PPCbeing themainbeneficiary of EIB loans in the sector.

EUROPE NEWS

wiredInUSA - April 2014

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