Acerinox

Acerinox, S.A., headquartered in Madrid, is a manufacturer of steel and related products. In 2022, it was the 4th largest producer of stainless steel worldwide.[2] It has operations in Europe, Asia, the U.S., and South Africa. It has fifteen factories including five in its stainless steel division.[3] The company has been focused on increasing production in the U.S.[4]

History

The company was founded in 1970. It was financed in part by Nisshin Steel. In 2009, Nisshin increased its ownership in the company from 11.3% to 15.0%.[5]

In March 2020, it acquired VDM Metals for €532 million.[6] In November 2024, it acquired Haynes International for $798 million.[7] It also sold its subsidiary Bahru Stainless for $95 million.[8]

Accidents

In 1998, the Acerinox factory in Los Barrios, Cadiz melted a capsule of cesium-137 that was in a consignment of scrap metal.[9][10] The radioactive substance was released into the atmosphere and spread over Europe — nuclear authorities in France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland detected up to 2,400 microbecquerels of ionising radiation in the air, 1,000 times higher than the norm.[11] Two other factories in Huelva and Badajoz also became contaminated by waste transported to them from Acerinox.[10] During the clean-up, 7,000 metric tons of radioactive waste were dumped in Mendaña Marshes in Huelva.[12] The estimated costs of the accident were 20 million US dollars for lost production in the factory, $3 million for clean-up, and $3 million for waste storage.[9]

See also

• List of steel producers

External links