Voestalpine
Encyclopedia
Voestalpine AG is an international steel company based in Linz
, Austria
. The company is active in steel
, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel
industries.
47 per cent of its workforce is based in Austria. The Linz hot strip mill
is a "fully integrated steel works" operated by voestalpine Stahl GmbH, a part of the steel division of voestalpine AG. In addition to Linz the most important plants are in Leoben
in Styria and in Krems in Lower Austria
. It had a large plant at Liezen
in Styria which closed in the 1990s.
The name of the company amalgamates its two principal components, the VÖEST (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke) in Upper Austria
, established through nationalization
in July 1946, and the ÖAMG (Österreichische-Alpine Montangesellschaft) in Styria, established in 1881.
on July 19, 1881, as a vehicle of consolidating Austrian iron and steel assets. Some of these assets were later depleted, abandoned or sold. The core assets that remained concentrated in Styria: the iron ore pits in Erzberg and a steel mill in Donawitz. The company also owned smaller businesses and railroads in the Mur River valley and in Lower Austria
(Krems and Schwechat
). Alpine, chaired by Karl Wittgenstein
, peaked in 1912, when it owned four coal mines, two iron ore mines and six metallurgical plants.
In 1922 56% of Alpine Montangesellshaft, then owned by Fiat
(see Camillo Castiglioni
), was purchased by Hugo Stinnes
for the German giant Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
(VS). After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the Nazi leadership and the German steel barons clashed in a conflict over the rate of economic growth: the Nazis demanded rapid buildup of industrial capacity while the big business feared overproduction
and preferred to keep status quo
. In the first half of 1937 the Nazi leadership openly broke with the steel barons and settled for state control over iron and steel production. In the same year Hermann Göring
expressed his desire to control Austrian iron reserves at Erzberg. After the Anschluss
state-owned Reichswerke Hermann Göring
purchased a 13% share in Alpine, and for the next six months wrestled with the VS over control of the company. In March 1939 the VS stepped aside and the Reichswerke acquired 70% share of Alpine in exchange for a 10% share in the new plant in Linz
. In June 1939 its name was changed to Alpine Montan AG Hermann Göring. The Reichswerke continued acquisitions and outright confiscations, and soon controlled around half of Austrian heavy industries. In 1944, the peak year for Alpine, its sales reached 371 million RM
, 16% of the whole mining and steel sales of the Reichswerke.
was appointed chief of the Reichswerke in Linz for his services to the Nazis during the Anschluss. The synergy
of steel works in Linz and ore reserves at Erzberg, vertically integrated into the Reichswerke, made it virtually independent of the steel elite of the Ruhr
. The works in Linz were viewed as a hub of a future steel conglomerate spanning over the whole Central Europe.
The integration was completed with the takeover of Danube shipping companies and local construction businesses. The steel mill was completed during the war and was generously subsidized by the state. In 1943-1944, when the Ruhr
was bombed to the ground, Hitler demanded a sharp increase in steel production in Austria. Göring launched a huge and unmanageable expansion campaign and spared no expense, all in vain: the Allied bombers levelled most of Linz, too.
, too far from coal and ore reserves, and too large to be economical. The American authorities at first concurred and suggested to reduce the Linz works to eight coke ovens under Alpine-Montan management, dismantle the furnaces and use the parts for the needed repairs in Donawitz (Styria). The Soviets voted to dismantle Linz altogether.
The Austrian national government carefully persuaded the Americans to save Linz. In the summer of 1946, when allied negotiations on Linz reached a stalemate, the Americans decided to restore Linz unilaterally, regardless of British or Soviet opinion. Tactics of reconstruction became a subject of a debate between the Department of State
, which advocated nationalization
, and the U. S. Army
, represented by Mark W. Clark, who stood for privatization. The diplomats prevailed, and the Austrian government was allowed to nationalize the former German assets at will. The mills of Linz were nationalized in July 1946 as the VÖEST (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke, United Austrian Iron and Steelworks).
VÖEST decided to dispose with three of its six blast furnace
s. One was dismantled and sold to Sweden
; the proceeds were used to purchase coal in Poland
. The supply of coal allowed VÖEST to restart its pig iron smelting in June 1947; the first pig iron was shipped to Sweden. Two other furnaces were earmarked for sale to Czechoslovakia
; Mark Clark objected to this deal since 1946 and it finally fell apart after the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
.
VÖEST assets became the principal Austrian recipient of the Marshall Plan
aid but access to American cash came only after a protracted political battle within Austrian establishment. Geoffrey Keyes
had to recruit steel expert William E. Brewster to sort through the Austrian proposals. Brewster supported the Austrian four-year plan but its key opponent Franz Nemchak called it "a colossal stupidity" and demanded a halt on VÖEST program. The controversy spilled into the U. S. Senate, causing delays in Marshall Plan financing for VÖEST. VÖEST received its new slabbing mill but the new hot strip mill was delayed by the opposition of the Pentagon, which feared that VÖEST product would be sold to the Soviet bloc. The Pentagon removed their objections in January 1952, conforming to the consensus of other U. S. agencies. The hot and cold strip mills were, at last, put into operation in 1953. By the end of 1953 the first phase of reconstruction was complete.
process proposed by Robert Durrer
(itself a development of Henry Bessemer
's 1858 patent). By June 1949 VÖEST developed an adaptation of Durrer's process, the LD (Linz-Donawitz) process, (German: LD Verfahren; U.S. names: Oxygen Converter Process, Basic Oxygen Furnace Process, BOP, OSM). In December 1949 the VÖEST and the ÖAMG committed to building their first 30-ton oxygen converters. They were put into operation in November 1952 and May 1953 and temporarily became the leading edge of the world's steelmaking, causing a surge in steel-related research. 34 thousand businesspeople and engineer visited the VÖEST converter by 1963. The LD process reduced processing time and capital costs per ton of steel, contributing to the competitive advantage of Austrian steel. However, errors made by the VÖEST and the ÖAMG management in licensing their technology made control over its adoption elsewhere impossible and by the end of the 1950s the Austrians lost their competitive edge.
VÖEST was merged with Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft and other companies in the 1970s, and the resulting company took the name Voest-Alpine AG.
Restructuring of Austria's nationalised industries by 1988 produced a company called Voest-Alpine Stahl AG.
, and Voest-Alpine Stahl AG, and Böhler-Uddeholm
. Privatisation began in 1995, and the government sold its last shares of the company in 2003. Voest-Alpine Stahl owned 21.25 of Voest-Alpine Technologie, which was the parent company of the former Voest-Alpine plant-building unit Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
, split from the larger company in 1956.
In 1998, Voest-Alpine Stahl and Vossloh AG
joined to purchase 90 percent of VAE Group. The Austrian manufacturer of railroad switch
es, turnout systems and related products was founded in 1851. as Hugo-Hütte by Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck
and owned by Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft from 1889 until that company's 1973 merger with Voest-Alpine AG, and had been independent since 1990. In 2002 the 45% Vossloh share in VAE was bought by Voest-Alpine for €140 million, and in 2003 VAE Group GmbH became a subsidiary of voestalpine Bahnsysteme division.
In 2001, the name of Voest-Alpine Stahl Group changed to voestalpine AG in order to fit the standard naming pattern of Austrian public corporations.
In 2006, voestalpine decided to sell its steel trading group. Voestalpine Stahlhandel is now Cognor Stahlhandel, still based in Linz and part of the Cognor Group, a division of Zlomrex S.A.
Capital Group.
In April 2007, voestalpine made a bid for 20.95 percent of the Austrian tool steel
producer Böhler-Uddeholm
, which was created in 1991 from the merger of Böhler Group and Swedish
Uddeholm Group, the latter acquired by Voest-Alpine Stahl AG in 1990. The combined company was one of three created from Austrian Industries AG in 1993. By June, voestalpine held 55 percent of voting stock after "the largest acquisition in Austria’s industrial history", worth 2 billion Euro
s. In March 2008, voestalpine said it owned 90.24 of Böhler-Uddehom and intended to buy the rest.
, Canada
formed a joint venture in 1990 called VAE Nortrak North America, Inc.
, which later added operations in the United States. The Birmingham, Alabama
plant opened in 1992, followed by the Cheyenne, Wyoming
plant in 1997, now the company's headquarters. As a result of two 2004 acquisitions, Nortrak has other U.S. facilities in Pueblo, Colorado
; Newton, Kansas
and Chicago Heights, Illinois
; and Seattle, Washington
.
Roll Forming Corp., incorporated in 1947 and headquartered in Shelbyville, Kentucky
, is the roll forming
division of voestalpine AG. The company has supplied parts for the aerospace industry since 1949 and for Boeing
airplanes since 1969. It also supplies NASA
and McDonnell Douglas
. Products also include model train
tracks and gym
nasium bleacher
s. At first the company made aluminum parts for airplane structures, but in the late 1980s, Roll Forming added preparing parts for assembly. The company still uses this process for Spirit AeroSystems
, which puts together stringers for many of Boeing's larger planes. Other locations for Roll Forming are Jeffersonville, Indiana
and Farrell, Pennsylvania
. Roll Forming agreed to the purchase by Voest-Alpine Krems in 2000, giving the Voest-Alpine Stahl AG subsidiary its first manufacturing facilities in the United States.
In addition, voestalpine AG owned a portion of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
(VAI), whose Voest-Alpine Industries subsidiary had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. Siemens
purchased VAI parent VA Tech in 2005.
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The company is active in steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel
Tool steel
Tool steel refers to a variety of carbon and alloy steels that are particularly well-suited to be made into tools. Their suitability comes from their distinctive hardness, resistance to abrasion, their ability to hold a cutting edge, and/or their resistance to deformation at elevated temperatures...
industries.
47 per cent of its workforce is based in Austria. The Linz hot strip mill
Strip mill
The strip mill was a major innovation, with the first being erected at Ashland, Kentucky in 1923. This provided a continuous process, cutting out the need to pass the plates over the rolls and to double them, as in a pack mill. At the end the strip was cut with a guillotine shear or rolled into a...
is a "fully integrated steel works" operated by voestalpine Stahl GmbH, a part of the steel division of voestalpine AG. In addition to Linz the most important plants are in Leoben
Leoben
Leoben is a Styrian city in central Austria, located by the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial center and hosts the University of Leoben which specialises in mining...
in Styria and in Krems in Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
. It had a large plant at Liezen
Liezen
Liezen is a municipality in the Austrian federal state of Styria, district capital of the district of the same name and economic center on the River Enns.Liezen covers a surface of 56.36 km2 and has a population of 6,991 people, as of the 2001 census...
in Styria which closed in the 1990s.
The name of the company amalgamates its two principal components, the VÖEST (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke) in Upper Austria
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
, established through nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
in July 1946, and the ÖAMG (Österreichische-Alpine Montangesellschaft) in Styria, established in 1881.
Major divisions
- Voestalpine Stahl
- Voestalpine Railway Systems, including voestalpine Schienen, which is the top rail manufacturer in Europe
- Voestalpine Profilform, the company's third largest division and the largest maker of cold rolled-form steel sections
- Voestalpine Division Automotive, started in 2001 and originally called Motion Division, supplies parts to high-end automobile manufacturers
Alpine Montan
The Alpine Montangesellschaft (English: Alpine Mining Society) was founded in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on July 19, 1881, as a vehicle of consolidating Austrian iron and steel assets. Some of these assets were later depleted, abandoned or sold. The core assets that remained concentrated in Styria: the iron ore pits in Erzberg and a steel mill in Donawitz. The company also owned smaller businesses and railroads in the Mur River valley and in Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
(Krems and Schwechat
Schwechat
Schwechat is a city south-east of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. It is also home to the refineries belonging to the Austrian national oil company OMV.- Geography :...
). Alpine, chaired by Karl Wittgenstein
Karl Wittgenstein
Karl Wittgenstein was a steel tycoon. A friend of Andrew Carnegie, with whom he was often compared, at the end of 19th century he controlled an effective monopoly on steel and iron resources within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and had by the 1890s acquired one of the largest fortunes in the world...
, peaked in 1912, when it owned four coal mines, two iron ore mines and six metallurgical plants.
In 1922 56% of Alpine Montangesellshaft, then owned by Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
(see Camillo Castiglioni
Camillo Castiglioni
Camillo Castiglioni was an Italian-Austrian financier and banker, and was the wealthiest man in Central Europe during World War I. Nicknamed “Austrian Stinnes”, he was active in aviation's pioneering days and invested in the arts.-Early life:Castiglioni was born in Trieste, then Austria–Hungary...
), was purchased by Hugo Stinnes
Hugo Stinnes
-Life and career:Stinnes was born in Mülheim, in the Ruhr Valley, North German Confederation. His father was also named Hugo, and his grandfather Matthias Stinnes had founded a modest enterprise in Mülheim....
for the German giant Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
The Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG was a German industrial conglomerate producing coal, iron, and steel in the interbellum and during World War II....
(VS). After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the Nazi leadership and the German steel barons clashed in a conflict over the rate of economic growth: the Nazis demanded rapid buildup of industrial capacity while the big business feared overproduction
Overproduction
In economics, overproduction, oversupply or excess of supply refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market...
and preferred to keep status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
. In the first half of 1937 the Nazi leadership openly broke with the steel barons and settled for state control over iron and steel production. In the same year Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
expressed his desire to control Austrian iron reserves at Erzberg. After the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
state-owned Reichswerke Hermann Göring
Reichswerke Hermann Göring
Reichswerke Hermann Göring was an industrial conglomerate of Nazi Germany. It was established in July 1937 to extract and process domestic iron ores from Salzgitter that were deemed uneconomical by the privately held steel mills...
purchased a 13% share in Alpine, and for the next six months wrestled with the VS over control of the company. In March 1939 the VS stepped aside and the Reichswerke acquired 70% share of Alpine in exchange for a 10% share in the new plant in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
. In June 1939 its name was changed to Alpine Montan AG Hermann Göring. The Reichswerke continued acquisitions and outright confiscations, and soon controlled around half of Austrian heavy industries. In 1944, the peak year for Alpine, its sales reached 371 million RM
German reichsmark
The Reichsmark was the currency in Germany from 1924 until June 20, 1948. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig.-History:...
, 16% of the whole mining and steel sales of the Reichswerke.
Reichswerke in Linz
The Reichswerke announced its plans for a new steel mill in Linz before the takeover of Alpine, as an incentive for VS to extract more ore at Erzberg. Linz had a special place in Nazi system, and the steel project received full financial commitment of the state. Guido SchmidtGuido Schmidt
Guido Schmidt was an Austrian diplomat and politician....
was appointed chief of the Reichswerke in Linz for his services to the Nazis during the Anschluss. The synergy
Synergy
Synergy may be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.The term synergy comes from the Greek word from , , meaning "working together".-Definitions and usages:...
of steel works in Linz and ore reserves at Erzberg, vertically integrated into the Reichswerke, made it virtually independent of the steel elite of the Ruhr
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
. The works in Linz were viewed as a hub of a future steel conglomerate spanning over the whole Central Europe.
The integration was completed with the takeover of Danube shipping companies and local construction businesses. The steel mill was completed during the war and was generously subsidized by the state. In 1943-1944, when the Ruhr
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
was bombed to the ground, Hitler demanded a sharp increase in steel production in Austria. Göring launched a huge and unmanageable expansion campaign and spared no expense, all in vain: the Allied bombers levelled most of Linz, too.
Reconstruction
In 1945 Allied-occupied Austria was partitioned into four occupation zones; the heavy industries of the former Reichswerke concentrated in the American (Linz) and British (Erzberg) zones. The future of Linz was debated in 1945–1946. Local government of Styria and the British objected to reconstruction of Linz works, calling it the white elephantWhite elephant
A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth...
, too far from coal and ore reserves, and too large to be economical. The American authorities at first concurred and suggested to reduce the Linz works to eight coke ovens under Alpine-Montan management, dismantle the furnaces and use the parts for the needed repairs in Donawitz (Styria). The Soviets voted to dismantle Linz altogether.
The Austrian national government carefully persuaded the Americans to save Linz. In the summer of 1946, when allied negotiations on Linz reached a stalemate, the Americans decided to restore Linz unilaterally, regardless of British or Soviet opinion. Tactics of reconstruction became a subject of a debate between the Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, which advocated nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
, and the U. S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, represented by Mark W. Clark, who stood for privatization. The diplomats prevailed, and the Austrian government was allowed to nationalize the former German assets at will. The mills of Linz were nationalized in July 1946 as the VÖEST (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke, United Austrian Iron and Steelworks).
VÖEST decided to dispose with three of its six blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
s. One was dismantled and sold to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
; the proceeds were used to purchase coal in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The supply of coal allowed VÖEST to restart its pig iron smelting in June 1947; the first pig iron was shipped to Sweden. Two other furnaces were earmarked for sale to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
; Mark Clark objected to this deal since 1946 and it finally fell apart after the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
The Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 – in Communist historiography known as "Victorious February" – was an event late that February in which the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia, ushering in over four decades...
.
VÖEST assets became the principal Austrian recipient of the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
aid but access to American cash came only after a protracted political battle within Austrian establishment. Geoffrey Keyes
Geoffrey Keyes
-External links:...
had to recruit steel expert William E. Brewster to sort through the Austrian proposals. Brewster supported the Austrian four-year plan but its key opponent Franz Nemchak called it "a colossal stupidity" and demanded a halt on VÖEST program. The controversy spilled into the U. S. Senate, causing delays in Marshall Plan financing for VÖEST. VÖEST received its new slabbing mill but the new hot strip mill was delayed by the opposition of the Pentagon, which feared that VÖEST product would be sold to the Soviet bloc. The Pentagon removed their objections in January 1952, conforming to the consensus of other U. S. agencies. The hot and cold strip mills were, at last, put into operation in 1953. By the end of 1953 the first phase of reconstruction was complete.
Innovation
In the summer of 1948 VÖEST, ÖAMG and Swiss Roll AG agreed to co-develop the basic oxygen steelmakingBasic oxygen steelmaking
Basic oxygen steelmaking , also known as Linz-Donawitz-Verfahren steelmaking or the oxygen converter process is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon-rich molten pig iron is made into steel. Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron lowers the carbon content of the alloy and changes it into...
process proposed by Robert Durrer
Robert Durrer
Robert Durrer was a Swiss engineer who developed the basic oxygen steelmaking process...
(itself a development of Henry Bessemer
Henry Bessemer
Sir Henry Bessemer was an English engineer, inventor, and businessman. Bessemer's name is chiefly known in connection with the Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel.-Anthony Bessemer:...
's 1858 patent). By June 1949 VÖEST developed an adaptation of Durrer's process, the LD (Linz-Donawitz) process, (German: LD Verfahren; U.S. names: Oxygen Converter Process, Basic Oxygen Furnace Process, BOP, OSM). In December 1949 the VÖEST and the ÖAMG committed to building their first 30-ton oxygen converters. They were put into operation in November 1952 and May 1953 and temporarily became the leading edge of the world's steelmaking, causing a surge in steel-related research. 34 thousand businesspeople and engineer visited the VÖEST converter by 1963. The LD process reduced processing time and capital costs per ton of steel, contributing to the competitive advantage of Austrian steel. However, errors made by the VÖEST and the ÖAMG management in licensing their technology made control over its adoption elsewhere impossible and by the end of the 1950s the Austrians lost their competitive edge.
VÖEST was merged with Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft and other companies in the 1970s, and the resulting company took the name Voest-Alpine AG.
Restructuring of Austria's nationalised industries by 1988 produced a company called Voest-Alpine Stahl AG.
Private corporation
In 1990, Österreichische Industrieholding AG (Austrian Industry Holding AG) became Austrian Industries AG as it took the first steps toward privatisation. In 1993, three companies formed from Austrian Industries AG--Voest-Alpine Technologie AGVA Tech Wabag
VA Tech Wabag GmbH is a multinational company with dual headquarters in Chennai, India and Vienna, Austria.Founded in 1924, the company is the largest in the world specializing in water treatment for municipal and industrial users. The company has completed a total of 6000 projects.-Wabag:In 1924,...
, and Voest-Alpine Stahl AG, and Böhler-Uddeholm
Böhler-Uddeholm
Böhler-Uddeholm is a large Austrian company specialised in producing tool steel and special forgings. It was formed in 1991 as a result of a merger between the Austrian parastatal Böhler and of Uddeholms AB of Sweden. The company has production sites in Austria, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Belgium,...
. Privatisation began in 1995, and the government sold its last shares of the company in 2003. Voest-Alpine Stahl owned 21.25 of Voest-Alpine Technologie, which was the parent company of the former Voest-Alpine plant-building unit Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau Gmbh & Co. was an engineering, equipment and construction company based in Linz, Austria and had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, split from the larger company in 1956.
In 1998, Voest-Alpine Stahl and Vossloh AG
Vossloh
Vossloh AG is a German transport technology manufacturer based in the Westphalian town of Werdohl. The group has 4,700 employees , and generated sales of €1.2 billion, of which approximately 60% came from the rail infrastructure division, and the remainder from the motive power and components...
joined to purchase 90 percent of VAE Group. The Austrian manufacturer of railroad switch
Railroad switch
A railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
es, turnout systems and related products was founded in 1851. as Hugo-Hütte by Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck
Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck
Hugo Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck was a German-Austrian entrepreneur.-Biography:...
and owned by Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft from 1889 until that company's 1973 merger with Voest-Alpine AG, and had been independent since 1990. In 2002 the 45% Vossloh share in VAE was bought by Voest-Alpine for €140 million, and in 2003 VAE Group GmbH became a subsidiary of voestalpine Bahnsysteme division.
In 2001, the name of Voest-Alpine Stahl Group changed to voestalpine AG in order to fit the standard naming pattern of Austrian public corporations.
In 2006, voestalpine decided to sell its steel trading group. Voestalpine Stahlhandel is now Cognor Stahlhandel, still based in Linz and part of the Cognor Group, a division of Zlomrex S.A.
Zlomrex S.A.
Złomrex S.A. is a major producer of steel and steel products and the largest scrap supplier in Poland. Złomrex Group income for 2007 was 3.37 milliard złoty, and net profit was 205.8 million złoty...
Capital Group.
In April 2007, voestalpine made a bid for 20.95 percent of the Austrian tool steel
Tool steel
Tool steel refers to a variety of carbon and alloy steels that are particularly well-suited to be made into tools. Their suitability comes from their distinctive hardness, resistance to abrasion, their ability to hold a cutting edge, and/or their resistance to deformation at elevated temperatures...
producer Böhler-Uddeholm
Böhler-Uddeholm
Böhler-Uddeholm is a large Austrian company specialised in producing tool steel and special forgings. It was formed in 1991 as a result of a merger between the Austrian parastatal Böhler and of Uddeholms AB of Sweden. The company has production sites in Austria, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Belgium,...
, which was created in 1991 from the merger of Böhler Group and Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Uddeholm Group, the latter acquired by Voest-Alpine Stahl AG in 1990. The combined company was one of three created from Austrian Industries AG in 1993. By June, voestalpine held 55 percent of voting stock after "the largest acquisition in Austria’s industrial history", worth 2 billion Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s. In March 2008, voestalpine said it owned 90.24 of Böhler-Uddehom and intended to buy the rest.
American operations
Voest-Alpine Eisenbahnsysteme and Nortrak Railway Supply Ltd. of Richmond, British ColumbiaRichmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
formed a joint venture in 1990 called VAE Nortrak North America, Inc.
VAE Nortrak North America, Inc.
VAE Nortrak is a manufacturer of railroad track components. It started in October 1981 as Nortrak Railway Supply Ltd., an industrial supplier of new and used railroad track components. In November 1983, the company began manufacturing trackwork in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada...
, which later added operations in the United States. The Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
plant opened in 1992, followed by the Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
plant in 1997, now the company's headquarters. As a result of two 2004 acquisitions, Nortrak has other U.S. facilities in Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
; Newton, Kansas
Newton, Kansas
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 19,132. Newton is located north of Wichita and is included in the Wichita metropolitan statistical area...
and Chicago Heights, Illinois
Chicago Heights, Illinois
Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,373 at the 2005 census. Chicago Heights is nicknamed 'Crossroads of the Nation'.-History:...
; and Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
Roll Forming Corp., incorporated in 1947 and headquartered in Shelbyville, Kentucky
Shelbyville, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,085 people, 3,822 households, and 2,549 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,333.5 people per square mile . There were 4,117 housing units at an average density of 544.4 per square mile...
, is the roll forming
Roll forming
Roll forming, also spelled rollforming, is a continuous bending operation in which a long strip of sheet metal is passed through sets of rolls mounted on consecutive stands, each set performing only an incremental part of the bend, until the desired cross-section profile is obtained...
division of voestalpine AG. The company has supplied parts for the aerospace industry since 1949 and for Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
airplanes since 1969. It also supplies NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
. Products also include model train
Rail transport modelling
Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale...
tracks and gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium bleacher
Bleacher
Bleachers is an American term used to describe the raised, tiered rows of seats found at sports fields or at other spectator events...
s. At first the company made aluminum parts for airplane structures, but in the late 1980s, Roll Forming added preparing parts for assembly. The company still uses this process for Spirit AeroSystems
Spirit AeroSystems
Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. , based in Wichita, Kansas, is the world's largest first-tier aerostructures manufacturer. The company builds several important pieces of Boeing aircraft, including the fuselage of the 737, portions of the 787 fuselage, and the cockpit of nearly all of its airliners...
, which puts together stringers for many of Boeing's larger planes. Other locations for Roll Forming are Jeffersonville, Indiana
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Jeffersonville is a city in Clark County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It is directly across the Ohio River to the north of Louisville, Kentucky along I-65. The population was 44,953 at the 2010 census...
and Farrell, Pennsylvania
Farrell, Pennsylvania
Farrell is a city in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,050 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown–Warren–Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. Roll Forming agreed to the purchase by Voest-Alpine Krems in 2000, giving the Voest-Alpine Stahl AG subsidiary its first manufacturing facilities in the United States.
In addition, voestalpine AG owned a portion of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau
Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau Gmbh & Co. was an engineering, equipment and construction company based in Linz, Austria and had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
(VAI), whose Voest-Alpine Industries subsidiary had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
purchased VAI parent VA Tech in 2005.