on December 6, 2013 the Nirosta melt shop in Krefeld, Germany was closed for good.
I visited them 2 weeks before.
Tag Archives: Outokumpu
A Farewell To Steel Making In Bochum
A history of more than 170 years of steel making ended in Bochum, Germany in late June when the Nirosta stainless steel plant was closed for good.
The original BOF shop was built in 1957 by the Bochumer Verein to be only the second of it’s kind in Germany.
In 1972, after the closure of the blast furnace site both vessels were transformed into AOD converters and an electric arc furnace was installed in the same building to produce stainless steel.
In 1982 a huge new 135 MVA electric arc melt shop was attached and the old EAF was replaced by a ladle furnace.
I payed the site a final visit before the demolition started.
Avesta
Now at stahlseite.de.
The speciality steel mill in Avesta was founded in 1883 under the name Avesta Jernverks AB.
Stainless steel was produced since 1924.
The company was taken over by British Steel in 1992 and now called Avesta Sheffield AB.
In 2001 Outokumpu from Finland acquired the Avesta mill and produces stainless strip and plate.
It’s Over
The Nirosta Krefeld melt shop was closed on Friday, 6th of December after more than 110 years of steel making.
I had the chance for a last visit three weeks before.
Now at my website.
The steel mill in Krefeld, Germany was established in 1900 by Carl Spaeter, Peter Klöckner and August Thyssen under the name Krefelder Stahlwerk AG. Open hearth steel production started in 1901. In 1907 three rolling mills were installed. In 1911 a tube mill was added. A forging press went into production in 1917.
In 1927 the Krefeld mill became part of the speciality steel group Deutsche Edelstahlwerke AG out of Bochum, Germany.
The first electric arc furnace was installed in 1930.
The new melt shop number 3 including two 70 ton electric arc furnaces was built by DEMAG in 1952.
A new wire mill started rolling in 1963.Open hearth steel making ceased in 1970.The year 1971 saw the complete takeover by the August Thyssen Hütte AG from Duisburg.
The new name from 1974 on was Thyssen Edelstahlwerke AG the Krefeld mill was merged now with Edelstahlwerk Witten AG.
In 1977 the first of two 80 ton AOD-converters was installed by the GHH company.Two rolling mills were closed in 1982.
In 1985 one electric arc furnace was modernised and the other one closed down. In 1989 the old melt shop NO 1 (30 ton furnace) was closed.The wire mill was shut down in 1993.
A new name in 1994: Edelstahlwerke Witten-Krefeld GmbH.
Krefeld merged with Krupp’s Bochum based stainless steel mill to form Krupp Thyssen Nirosta GmbH in 1995.
All forging activities in Krefeld came to EWK (now Deutsche Edelstahlwerke). A strip caster was installed in 2001.
VAI Siemens installed two new 80 ton AOD-converters in 2009.
The Finnish Outokumpu group takes over the Nirosta mills (now called Inoxum) in 2012.
No More Steel From Bochum ?
According to a German newspaper the Finnish Outokumpu steel corporation declared yesterday that they will definitely close their stainless steel mill in Bochum, Germany they only just had bought from ThyssenKrupp in 2016.
Main reason are the high energy costs in Germany.
The mills includes an electric arc melt shop built in 1982 (the 145 ton UHP furnace is one of the largest in Germany) and the converter mill built by the Bochumer Verein in 1957.
This BOF shop is the oldest existing in Germany. It was converted into an AOD shop in 1972.
After GM recently announced the closure of it’s Bochum car assembly plant for 2016 this is another heavy blow for Bochum’s economy.
Images at stahlseite.de