Frost & Sullivan Lauds Castolin Eutectic for Outstanding Strategies That Resulted in Deeper Market Penetration during the Economic Downturn

LONDON, June 7, 2010 - The 2009 Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Market Growth Leadership is
presented to Castolin Eutectic. Though there has been a low demand for
welding equipment and consumables owing to the market recession, the company
has not only sustained its market share but also slowly grown it by focusing
on value addition for the customer through development of specific
application and end user solutions.

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While several companies have lost market share with declining demand from
key end users like automotive, construction and shipbuilding, Castolin
Eutectic diversified and increased market penetration in other industries
such as power generation and offshore. The company is the leading consumables
supplier for repairs and maintenance by welding, coating and brazing
technologies to several ongoing power projects and the offshore drilling and
exploration activities in western and eastern Europe. The company's share,
which was stable in the first two quarters of 2009, saw a marginal rise over
the third quarter and beyond thanks to the deeper penetration strategies
implemented by the company.

"Castolin Eutectic has been growing its portfolio and reach by constantly
seeking orders in new industries and setting up CastoLab(R) Services and
distribution centers in the western and eastern European regions," says Frost
& Sullivan Research Analyst Archana Chauhan. "Besides trying to minimize its
production - logistic costs and utilize its resources efficiently to achieve
economies of scale, the company has tried to secure partnerships with key
clients to increase productivity by providing application designed ranges of
high quality consumables for repairs and maintenance."

Currently, Castolin Eutectic has one of the widest ranges of high alloyed
electrodes, cored wires, wearfaced welded plates / tubes, atomised powders
and brazing alloys for repair and maintenance applications in industries such
as cement, glass, steel, oil, automotive, and waste and recycling. These
high-quality, proprietary alloy formulations are developed after many
advances and studies in materials science, metallurgy, wear protective
coatings and their related processes. These specialised alloys are designed
to perform beyond the limits of standard conforming welding consumables
available on the retail shelves.

Castolin Eutectic's product portfolio, specifically designed for repairs
and maintenance, now includes a new generation of cost effective NanoAlloy
cored wires and atomised powders for the power, cement, steel and recycling
industries where higher deposition rates and exceptional wear resistance
under harsh service conditions is vital.

"An important reason for Castolin Eutectic's increased market share in
2009 is its personalized approach to corporate promotion and advertising,"
notes Chauhan. "The company has direct contact with most of its key end-user
industries wherein the salesman and the technical support team contact
industry participants and provide them with technical and application
expertise."

These well experienced "consulting" teams reach out 365 days a year, 24
hours a day to customers and maintain the company's brand image in its key
targeted industries. Castolin Eutectic also participates & advertises in
specific events, congresses or exhibitions conducted by these industry
players. Additionally, it participated in the Essen welding fair in 2009,
where it was the part of the Messer group, showcasing a selection of repair
and maintenance applications.

Of course, the company's network of self owned units also ensures direct
sales and helps provide sufficient technical support to all its customers
personally. While its competitors sell products through distributors, who
also stock consumables of other companies, Castolin Eutectic are responsible
to develop application-specific procedures, processes & products and to
transfer necessary technical support to customers. Further, its CastoLab
Services offer repairing subcontract options to customers lacking their own
maintenance or welding departments. Since the company has its own operations
in several regions of Europe like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain,
Benelux, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic,
Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, it can provide a rapid response service to
customers.

Overall, for its outstanding customer-specific portfolio of repairs and
maintenance consumables, its ability to grow market share during an economic
downturn, its unique strategy of personalized promotion to grow brand
recognition and the value added services it offers through CastoLabs,
Castolin Eutectic is the worthy recipient of the 2009 European Frost &
Sullivan Award for Product Market Growth Leadership in the repairs and
maintenance consumables market.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has
demonstrated excellence in capturing market share within its industry through
unique products. The award recognizes the fastest measured rate of change of
market share within an industry - how fast a company increases its
penetration of a market, in terms of revenues or units as specified. The
recipient has demonstrated strategic excellence in product innovation,
marketing and sales strategies that have resulted in the largest gain in
market share over the past 2-3 years. To choose the recipient of this award,
the analyst team tracks market share gain, increase in sales, and brand
awareness efforts within the industry. This is accomplished through
interviews with market participants, end-user studies, and extensive
secondary research.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety
of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and
superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation,
customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts
compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth
interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify
best practices in the industry.

About Castolin Eutectic

With more than 2000 people worldwide, Castolin Eutectic is the leading
company in fighting wear and providing specialist coating, repair and joining
solutions in harsh operating conditions. We provide products with application
know-how to customers and are increasingly moving to becoming a service based
business. More than 100 years of experience in welding, brazing and thermal
spraying technologies stands for professional and innovative solutions.
Castolin Eutectic is your partner with industrial expertise in surface
protection, repair and joining solutions. To find out more about us, please
visit www.castolin.com or www.eutectic.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

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    Catherine Brassell
    Best Practices
    Frost & Sullivan
    Tel: +44-207-915-7867
    Email: catherine.brassell@frost.com

Catherine Brassell, Best Practices of Frost & Sullivan, +44-207-915-7867, catherine.brassell at frost.com