Usinor
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| Industry | Steel |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Usinor-Sacilor (1986-1997) Usinor (1948-1986) Sacilor (1964-1986) others |
| Successor | Arcelor |
| Defunct | 2002 |
Usinor was a French steel making group formed in 1948. The group was merged with Sacilor in 1986, becoming Usinor-Sacilor and was privatised in 1995, and renamed Usinor in 1997.
In 2001 it merged with Arbed (Luxembourg) and Aceralia (Spain) to form the European company Arcelor, which became part of ArcelorMittal in 2006.
In 1704 Jean Martin de Wendel bought an Ironworks in Hayange in Lorraine (region), north-eastern France. Over the next one hundred years industrial production grew, and, in 1822 the first coke fired blast furnace in France was constructed. Further growth occurred under de Wendel family ownership in the next century; in 1950 approximately 20,000 tons of iron and cast iron each were produced, by 1869 this had increased 15 blast furnaces and a production of well over 100,000 tons of cast iron and iron each. Production included rails, bars, sheet, tin and wire.
The company was split as a result of the Alsace-Lorraine region becoming part of Germany after that countries victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. After Germany's defeat in the First World War the region returned to France, and the factories regained. Production continued to increase, with over 1.5million tons of iron and cast iron each produced in 1929.
The Great Depression in France affected the company's ability to invest and in 1948 nine steelmakers formed the Société Lorraine de Laminage Continu (Sollac), pooling their resources to modernise. Further consolidation took place in the 1950s and 60s; Sidélor was formed from the Rombas and Homécourt group of companies in 1950, in 1963 the Union des consommateurs de produits métallurgiques et industriels (UCPMI) and Knutange merged to form the Société Mosellane de Sidérurgie (SMS).
Sacilor (Société des Aciéries et Laminoirs de Lorraine) was first created in 1964 as a joint venture between the de Wendel and Sidélor groups (France for the construction of a modern steel plant in Gandrange, Lorraine. The groups themselves merged with SMS in 1967, forming de Wendel-Sidélor; in 1968 this group produced 40% of French production: 20million tons of Iron.
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