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The action is officially signed at the head office in The Hague. |
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Mrs Wenckebach-Snellen lights Blast Furnace 1 at 11.15 hours. |
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The first company fire brigade training. |
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90 years of steel company in IJmuiden
‘We are not ninety years old, but ninety years young!’
(Marjan Oudeman, Strip Products Division Director, Corus Group)
In the spring of 1914 Henri J.E. Wenckebach met J.C. Ankersmit B Sc, who presented the first concrete design for a large blast-furnace (Dutch: Hoogoven) steelworks in the Netherlands. They continued to work together on the plan for two years. In 1916 Ankersmit leaves for the United States and Wenckebach continues on his own. In May 1917 a ‘Committee for the establishment of a Blast-furnace, Steel and Rolling mill’ is formed, made up of eighteen leading figures from the world of bankers, industry, business houses and from the logistics and transport world.
After some deliberation and agreement about a certain amount of government participation, the moment has arrived. On 20 September 1918 Wenckebachs’ work becomes a reality on paper: in The Hague, in the office on 25 Nassau square, in the presence of the entire committee, the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken ( Royal Dutch Blast Furnaces and Steelworks) (KNHS) is set up.
Background
The Dutch industry wanted to be less dependent on steel import from abroad. Moreover, the favourable location of the Netherlands offered excellent possibilities for the establishment of an iron and steel factory. This posed an advantage both for the supply of feedstock and the export of products. IJmuiden was chosen as the place of business, because it was directly at sea. Moreover, the hinterland was readily accessible through the North Sea Channel
The first years
The founding capital was raised by businesses, private persons, the Dutch state and the city of Amsterdam. In 1920 the actual construction of the company commenced and in 1924 the first blast-furnace was put into operation in IJmuiden. By the mid-thirties the Hoogoven (blast-furnace) was already the largest pig iron exporter in the world. From 1936 the Pipe Foundry also started producing cast-iron pipes. In 1939 the production of steel started when the first Siemens-Martin furnace was put into use. In 1941 Hoogovens (Blast Furnaces) took over van Leer’s Rolling mill, after which the rolling mill was baptized ‘Walserij Oost’ (East Rolling Mill).
The sixties
Halfway during the sixties Hoogovens decided to actively diversify, namely within the aluminium and mining sectors. As a result, the Aldel primary aluminium smelter was put into operation in 1966; the foil mill and finishing company Vaassen Aluminium had been purchased the year before. In 1970 a participation in the aluminium mill and extrusion company Sidal followed.
The seventies
On 7 July 1972 Hoogovens and Hoesch from Dortmund (Germany) merged: Estel was a fact. There had been collaborative agreements between the two companies for some time in sub sectors. Both companies’ places of business held great advantages: Hoogovens with its favourable location at sea and Hoesch with its location in the centre of a large buyer area, in the inland of Europe. The production programmes of both companies also largely complemented each other. In 1975 the steel industry was faced, however, with the largest crisis in its history, which also brought with it heavy losses for Estel for a number of years. Partly because of this, the collaboration was ended in 1982.
The eighties
After rescission of the merger, Hoogovens Group significantly expanded its aluminium activities in 1987 by the take-over of the European activities of Kaiser Aluminium. Due to this the Hoogovens Aluminium division belonged to the four largest producers of aluminium mill and extrusion products in Europe.
The nineties
In 1990 the new Hoogovens Steelworks and Trade division started. Together with the Steel, Aluminium, Industrial Supply companies and Technical Services, the Hoogovens Group activities are now spread across five divisions.
The trend towards increasing in scale within the European steel industry led to the merger talks with British Steel in 1999. On 6 October 1999 the merger with British Steel under the name of Corus became a fact.
The new millennium
Now, in 2008, Corus is a subsidiary company of steel producer Tata Steel from India. The concern (Tata Steel and Corus combined) has branches in almost 50 countries, 84,000 employees spread across five continents, and a raw steel production capacity of 27 million tons in 2007.
The strategy of Corus in IJmuiden is aimed at quality, sustainable growth. So not growth for the sake of growth, but a growth strategy aimed at innovative products. That is why Corus in IJmuiden is continually innovating the production processes. Innovation at Corus steel producer is more and more centred on sustainability. We call this smarter steel for a better world!
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