Espérance-Longdoz
| Industry | Steel |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Société anonyme des Hauts Fourneaux, Usines et Charbonnages de l'Espérance and Société Dothée et Cie. (Longdoz) |
| Successor | Cockerill-Ougrée-Providence-Espérance Longdoz (1970) |
| Headquarters | Longdoz, Liège, Belgium |
| Products | Rolled steel plate |
| Website | www |
Espérance-Longdoz was a coal mining and steel production company located in the Liege region of Belgium.
The company merged with Cockerill-Ougrée-Providence in 1970 to form Cockerill-Ougrée-Providence-Espérance Longdoz (known as Cockerill), later being merged into Usinor, then Arcelor then ArcelorMittal.
Production at Longdoz ceased in the latter part of the 20th century, the factory site was redevelopend in the 2000s into a shopping complex Médiacité, one part of the buildings at Longdoz has been preserved and is now the home of an industrial museum La Maison de la Métallurgie et de l'Industrie de Liège.
A later steelworks development, built at Chertal in the 1960s is still in operation (as of 2010) and is part of the ArcelorMittal group, within the Liege division.
In 1845/6 the Dothée brothers established a tinplate factory in Longdoz in Liege, then in 1862/3 the Dothée brothers merged their business with the Société anonyme des Hauts Fourneaux, Usines et Charbonnages de l'Espérance (founded 1836) forming the Société des Charbonnages, Hauts Fourneaux et Laminoirs de l'Espérance. In 1877 the company disposed of the coal mining business of the company and became the Société métallurgique d'Espérance-Longdoz.
The innovation of hot-dip galvanizing was introduced in 1881 by Paul Borgnet who later founded the Phenix Works in Flémalle in 1911. In 1920 Evence Coppée & Cie. acquired the company.
The company became the largest Belgian producer of sheet metal, reaching a peak production of 142,000 tonnes in 1948. The plant in Longdoz, however was hemmed in by the city, and could not expand. After 1957 the Longdoz plant ceased hot rolling of steel, and was used only for finishing of the plate, and distribution.
In 1960 the company formed, in joint venture with Allegheny Ludlum, a new stainless steel producer: Allegheny-Longdoz (ALZ) in Genk, Flanders.
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Wikipedia