Acerinox, S.A. (), headquartered in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, is a manufacturer of steel and related products. In 2022, it was the 4th largest producer of
stainless steel
Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...
worldwide. It has operations in Europe, Asia, the U.S., and South Africa. It has fifteen factories including five in its stainless steel division.
The company has been focused on increasing production in the U.S.
History
The company was founded in 1970. It was financed in part by
Nisshin Steel
(previously known as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal until 2019) is Japan's largest steelmaker, headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company has four business segments, which are steelmaking, engineering, chemicals, and systems solu ...
. In 2009, Nisshin increased its ownership in the company from 11.3% to 15.0%.
In March 2020, it acquired
VDM Metals
VDM Metals Group (formerly Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke) based in Werdohl, Germany, is a manufacturer of corrosion-resistant, heat-resistant and high-temperature nickel alloys, cobalt and zirconium alloys as well as high-alloyed special stai ...
for €532 million. In November 2024, it acquired
Haynes International
Haynes International, Inc., a subsidiary of Acerinox headquartered in Kokomo, Indiana, is one of the largest producers of corrosion-resistant and high-temperature alloys. In addition to Kokomo, Haynes has manufacturing facilities in Arcadia, Lo ...
for $798 million. It also sold its subsidiary Bahru Stainless for $95 million.
Accidents
In 1998, the Acerinox factory in
Los Barrios
Los Barrios is a small town and municipality in the south of Spain. It is part of the province of Cádiz, which in turn is part of the Andalusia region. It belongs to the Campo de Gibraltar comarca. The town's name means “the districts” or “ ...
, Cadiz melted a capsule of
cesium-137
Caesium-137 (), cesium-137 (US), or radiocaesium, is a radioactive isotope of caesium that is formed as one of the more common fission products by the nuclear fission of uranium-235 and other fissionable isotopes in nuclear reactors and nucle ...
that was in a consignment of scrap metal.
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
Ionizing (ionising) radiation, including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have enough energy per individual photon or particle to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some par ...
in the air, 1,000 times higher than
the norm. Two other factories in
Huelva
Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...
and
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...
also became contaminated by waste transported to them from Acerinox.
During the clean-up, 7,000 metric tons of
radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...
were dumped in Mendaña Marshes in Huelva.
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.
See also
*
List of steel producers
This is a list of the largest steel-producing companies in the world mostly based on the list by the World Steel Association. The list ranks steelmakers by volume of steel production in millions of tons over time and includes all steelmakers wit ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange
IBEX 35
Manufacturing companies based in Madrid
Manufacturing companies established in 1970
Spanish companies established in 1970
Steel companies of Spain