Manufacture of basic metals

NACE 24

Current registrations612

Starters, 12 months26

Employment (FTE)25,317

Median age21.1 years

In NACE division 24, 4.2 companies per 100 started in the past twelve months, against 7.5 nationally; that is lower than that of 78% of the 86 other NACE divisions. Comparison: as of 01-10-2026 05:30.

Key figures for NACE division 24

fiscal year 2025 · median over 279 filed annual accounts

Median solvency

43.0%

lower than 56% of 78 divisions

Median equity

€459,062

higher than 90% of 78 divisions

Median net result

€18,205

higher than 59% of 78 divisions

Annual accounts in sample

279

Foreign control in NACE division 24

448 registered companies

Companies with a foreign parent

6.5%

29 of 448; Belgium 0.3%

Staff at those companies

29%

6,475 of 22,054 FTE; Belgium 15%

Mostly from Germany (5), Netherlands (5) and France (4).Show on the map by municipality

Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 24

174 employers

Median

€66,900

Belgium €61,000

Middle half

€58,200 to €84,300

half of the employers lie between

Place among sectors

35 of 78

by median staff cost per FTE

By size class
Size	Median	Middle half	Employers
fewer than 10 FTE	€59,200	€49,500 to €70,600	56
10 to 49 FTE	€65,100	€59,000 to €74,300	61
50 to 249 FTE	€78,100	€67,600 to €89,200	44

Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench

Bankruptcies

past five years

Bankruptcies (5y)

Historical share

1.80%

Nationally, 1.61% of current registrations have a published bankruptcy opening in the past five years. This sector's historical share is higher than that of 64% of the 87 other NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability in NACE division 24 is 0.5%, against 0.5% nationally, over 405 scored companies. Comparison: as of 01-10-2026 05:30.

Regional split

by region · 500 of 612 enterprises with a registered office on file

Flanders 297 · 59.4%

Wallonia 178 · 35.6%

Brussels 16 · 3.2%

Unknown 9 · 1.8%

Recent bankruptcies in this sector

Date	Company
29-07-2026	SOUDURE CONSULT BE 0763.358.326
19-05-2026	Seid, Sadak BE 0734.934.950 · sole trader · Wetteren
06-05-2026	Fonderies J. Marichal Ketin et Cie BE 0403.965.705
06-03-2026	WEBER BELGIë BE 0436.808.717
07-11-2025	Aciéries Somville BE 0401.575.545
28-04-2025	Liberty Galati S.A. BE 0783.319.243
22-03-2024	METAMAGMA FONDERIE D'ART BE 0777.376.608
27-11-2023	ROYAL METAL BE 0665.564.510

Geographic distribution

by province · based on the establishment address

West Flanders WVL 64

East Flanders OVL 67

Antwerp ANT 78

Flemish Brabant VLB 32

Limburg LIM 56

Brussels BRU 16

Hainaut HAI 67

Walloon Brabant WBR 18

Namur NAM 16

Liège LIE 72

Luxembourg LUX 5

fewer moremax 78

Where are this sector's balance sheets registered? By municipality, down to the address

Subsidies in this sector

per register · legal entities with an enterprise number

Flemish subsidies €422.4m awarded 117 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Subsidie voor bedrijven ter compensatie van indirecte emissiekosten
Federal transfers 7.3m amount as published 2 recipients · 2023 to 2025 · largest: Financieringskost nucleaire bijdrage Synatom
EU budget €80.5m attributed share 5 recipients · 2022 to 2025 · largest: Innovation Fund
EU research €17.8m eu contribution 7 recipients · 2013 to 2027 · largest: Horizon Europe

Explore every recipient in this sector

How these figures are counted

Current enterprise registrations are counted through their registered main activities; establishment units are excluded. Counted in the KBO's NACE 2025 nomenclature, the one in which code 24 exists.

Share of currently registered companies with a published bankruptcy opening in the past five years. Registered main activities in the selected classification can overlap. This retrospective share is not a future bankruptcy probability.

The comparison with the country and with the other NACE divisions comes from a nightly overview of every division, each counted in the nomenclature in which it exists. A standing such as "higher than 80%" counts the other divisions that have the figure. The bankruptcy probability is the median of our nightly score over the division's companies that have one; the count is stated.

The middle company of the sector, based on all filed annual accounts.