Foseco's key strengths, which have contributed to its success to date, are:

• Global leadership in foundry consumables

• Global reach, with highly trained sales and technical staff in almost every significant industrial economy in the world, which provides Foseco with a key competitive advantage

• A well recognised and established brand built on over 75 years of history and patent protected technologies

• A close partnership with its customers to optimise the application in which products are used. The combination of effective products and high levels of technical service is key to the Foseco brand strength.

• The commitment to product development which has enabled Foseco to be a leading innovator and to maintain its competitive advantage

• The proven track record in establishing, nurturing and growing successful businesses in developing economies. This experience and expertise will support the effective exploitation of substantial new opportunities associated with key growth markets, notably China and former Soviet-Bloc countries

• The diverse customer bases of Foseco: we supply over 5,000 customers serving a broad range of end-user sectors including automotive, railway and heavy transport, construction and heavy machinery and general engineering, across the world.

• The Division's strong, well regarded management team, which has extensive experience in the industry