ArcelorMittal Bremen

ArcelorMittal Bremen is a steelworks on the banks of the River Weser in Bremen, Germany.

An ironworks was established on the site in 1911 as Norddeutschen Hütte - much of the works was destroyed or dismanteled during and immediately after the end of the Second World War. In 1957 steel group Klockner established a new steel works on the same site, Klockner Hutte Bremen. After growth during the 1960s and 1970s the business began to experience financial problems, and in 1the early 1990s Klockner became effectively bankrupt. In 1994 the steelworks at Bremen was acquired by Sidmar, renamed Stahlwerke Bremen; later becoming part of Usinor, Arcelor (2002), and ArcelorMittal (2006) through mergers of the parent holding company.

History

Norddeutschen Hütte (1911-1945)

Norddeutsche Hütte c.1911

In 1906 a consortium led by shipping firm Norddeutscher Lloyd was formed, and in 1908 established the Norddeutsche Hütte Aktiengesellschaft with a capital of 6 million Marks, and with Heinrich Wiegand as chairman. In the same period the port of Bremen was developed, with the construction of the central harbour (1907–10). Deliveries of iron ore by sea began in 1910, and in on 2 April 1911 the first of two blast furnaces built became operational. Other initially built facilities included 80 coke ovens with associated ammonia and tar plants. By 1912 a (slag) cement plant, benzene plant, third blast furnace, and a further 40 coke ovens had been installed; additionally coke gas was supplied to the Bremen region. Initial plans to add steel plant, foundry and rolling mills were not completed - the plant's main product pig iron was shipped to the Ruhr region.^[1]

In 1922 the Stumm group (Saar) became a major shareholder, after 1927 Krupp became the major shareholder.^[2] Much of the workforce was also from outside Bremen - both from Westphalia and from Poland.^[3] During the Great Depression two blast furnaces and the cement plant were idled, and 850 workers laid off - with the workforce reduced to a low of around 200 in 1933. Blast furnaces were restarted in 1935 and 1937/8. As part of economic policy toward self-sufficiency under Nazi Germany a steel production plant was added, and ferrovanadium production began. Forced labour was introduced, with Otto Hofmann installed as a technical director at the plant. During the second world war the workforce reached 1500 of which half were forced labourers.^[4]

Bombing practically ended production at the plant by 1945. (see also Bombing of Bremen in World War II.) As part of war reparations the vanadium plant was shipped to France. The blast furnaces were demolised in 1949, whilst the coking plant was retained, due to its necessity in supplying Bremen with gas. The cement plant was also retained for rebuilding work, supplied with bricks from detroyed buildings.^[5]

In 1954 Klockner took over the Norddeutsche Hütte.^[5]

1954-present

Stahlwerke Bremen from the opposite bank of the River Weser (2005)

The first stage of redevelopment was completed in 1957 at a cost of c. 400 million Deutschmarks, giving a capacity of c.600,000 tons steel pa. Facilities included three open hearth steelmaking furnaces, a hot rolling mill for coil and sheets, and a tinplate plant. In 1960 the board at Klockner authorised a second phase (200 million Deutschmarks) to increase capacity to 1 million tons. In 1960 the ultimate aim was to develop the site as a full steel mill with a production capacity of 4 to 5 million tons steel pa.^[6] By the 1960s the workforce had risen to 6,000, manly of the new workers were immigrants, predominately from Turkey.^[7] Second and third blast furnaces were complete in the mid-1960s and early-1970s respectively;^[8] Linz-Donawitz process steelmaking converters were added in 1968 at a cost of 92 million Deutschmarks.^[9]

A galvanising line BREGAL (Bremer Galvanisierungs GmbH) was authorised 1991, as joint venture between Klockner, Agais Stahlhandel and Rautaruukki.^[10][11]

During the mid-1980s oversupply compounded a weakened economic situation (see also Steel crisis) leading to financial problems for the company,^[8] in order to prevent bankruptcy the Klockner sought to have written off 40% of a 175 million Deutschmemark loan from the European Coal and Steel Community - in return Klockner agreed to reduce production capacity from 4.2 to 3.7 million tons pa. In late 1993 a consortium compring Klockner (33.35%) and mainly public funding from the Hanseatische Industrie Beteiligungen GmbH (HIBEG) (31.99%) and Stadtwerke Bremen AG (SW) (13.33%) proposed re-capitalised the business (c.250 million Deutschemarks, plus loans), as Klockner Stahl GmbH, after acquiring the business for a nominal sum; due to the largely public nature (see Public enterprise) of the shareholders the proposal was investigate by the European Union under its state aid rules (see European Union competition law.)^[12]

In July 1994 an altered consortium incorporating private steel firm Sidmar (25% stake) was given permission by the European Commission to acquire the business.^[13] Blast furnace 3 was permanently closed in 1994 reducing production capacity by 500,000 tons pa.^[14] In 1994 Sidmar acquired a controlling stake (51%) in the company.^[15][16]

A subsidiary providing tailored blanks Tailored Blank Bremen GmbH was added 1998, and a second galvanising line BREGAL 2 in 2001.^[17]

In 2002 the company became part of Arcelor through the merger of its parent - in 2006 the company was renamed Arcelor Bremen GmbH.^[17] In 2007 the company became part of ArcelorMittal through merger of the parent holding company.^[17]

In 2008 a subsidiary at Muuga Harbour in Estonia, formerly Galvex (est.1997), renamed ArcelorMittal Tallinn, was acquired added an additional galvanising line.^[17][18] In 2011 a subsidiary ArcelorMittal Bottrop GmbH. was acquired from RAG added a supplying coking plant in Bottrop.^[17][19]

References

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ArcelorMittal Bremen.

• Niggemeier, Uwe, "ARCELOR STAHLWERKE BREMEN, BREMEN", www.stahlseite.de