From wire rod to rebar

Everyone knows the image of a pile of rusty reinforcement netting on construction sites. That image certainly does not do the product justice, because reinforcing steel is a crucial part of the concrete construction. And the process that precedes it should not be underestimated. Van Merksteijn International, responsible for the annual production of about 1 million tons of reinforcing steel, gives us a look behind the scenes.

Van Merksteijn International is a family business that purchases wire rod on a large scale and converts it to reinforcing steel at its various production facilities in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. "We deform the wire rod from various diameters and qualities and bring it up to strength so that it has the right mechanical quality to provide strength to concrete structures," explains Arno Westerhof, Operations Director at Van Merksteijn Almelo. "We supply the reinforcing steel to reinforcement plants, precast concrete factories and stockist wholesalers throughout northwestern Europe."

Rebar in rolls

Every year, Van Merksteijn produces very large volumes of reinforcement nets. "These are prefabricated nets that we produce fully automated with our welding machines," Westerhof clarifies. "Much of it is produced in standard dimensions, but we also produce to customer specifications for a specific production process or for a specific project. We also produce a huge volume of rebar in coils in various diameters, an evolution of the last few decades. Instead of traditional reinforcing bars, rebar plants and precast concrete plants now work mainly with rebar in coils. We 'simply' adapt our services to that." Finally, another important product group are spacers, lattice girders and other specialized products for the concrete industry, which are produced in large volumes at subsidiary Intersig in Dendermonde (BE).

80 years young family business

Van Merksteijn, according to commercial director Kris van Ginderdeuren, is a true family business with a history now spanning 80 years. "It has already come up briefly: we are very service-oriented toward our customers," says Van Ginderdeuren. "In that we really make a difference and that is appreciated. We are lucky to have a very loyal clientele that we have worked with for many decades. Despite that, we keep asking ourselves every day 'how can we do it even better?' In addition, our R&D people are members of various committees of sector and industry associations in order to continuously improve the chain itself. We are therefore well informed, know what's going on, how the market is moving, and are able to respond skilfully. It may not be a complex matter, but it is one of the many facets when you see what has to happen before a reinforcement mesh ends up on the construction site. We master that process like no other."

Most modern factories in the world

Van Merksteijn International maintains close contact with customers in order to constantly adapt the product range to them. "In addition, we are continuously looking for solutions where ecology and economy give each other a hand to take a step forward together," says Thomas Truyens, Director of Intersig Dendermonde and from next year the successor of Van Ginderdeuren. "We are leading the way in our sector, produce exclusively with green electricity and invest between 10 and 20 million euros annually in the renewal and sustainability of our machinery. We do this not only for the environment, but very much for the well-being, safety and ergonomics of our 1,100 employees. Our factories are among the most modern in the world. And we are proud of that. We regularly receive requests from all over the world to visit our factories. Because even if a reinforcement mesh like this looks like a rusty piece of steel after two days in the rain, the way we produce them is absolutely distinctive."