Voestalpine AG – stylized as voestalpine – is an Austrian steel-based technology and capital goods group based in Linz, Austria. The company is active in steel, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel industries. As of 2017, it is one of the few profitable steel companies in Europe.
45 percent of its workforce is based in Austria. The Linz hot strip mill is a "fully integrated steel works" operated by voestalpine Stahl GmbH, a part of the steel division of voestalpine AG. In addition to Linz the most important plants are in Leoben in Styria and in Krems in Lower Austria. It had a large plant at Liezen in Styria which closed in the 1990s. Voestalpine is responsible for 10% of all Austrian CO2 emissions, which makes it the biggest emitter in the country.
The name of the company amalgamates its two principal components, the VÖEST (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke) in Upper Austria, established through nationalization in July 1946, and the ÖAMG (Österreichische-Alpine Montangesellschaft) in Styria, established in 1881.
Major divisions
Major divisions of Voestalpine are: Voestalpine Steel, a market leader for steel strip, heavy plate and casings for large turbines Voestalpine High Performance Metals, specialized in high performance materials and services like high-tech surface treatments, heat treatment and additive manufacturing processes Voestalpine Metal Engineering, railway infrastructure and industrial systems, including full welding solutions and seamless tubes Voestalpine Metal Forming, produces tubes, sections and precision strip steel products
History
Alpine Montan (1881–1945)
The Alpine Montangesellschaft (English: Alpine Mining Society) was founded in Vienna on July 19, 1881, as a vehicle of consolidating Austrian iron and steel assets. Some of these assets were later depleted, abandoned or sold. The core assets that remained concentrated in Styria: the iron ore pits in Erzberg and a steel mill in Donawitz. The company also owned smaller businesses and railroads in the Mur River valley and in Lower Austria (Krems and Schwechat). Alpine, chaired by Karl Wittgenstein, peaked in 1912, when it owned four coal mines, two iron ore mines and six metallurgical plants.
In 1922 fifty-six percent of Alpine Montangesellschaft, then owned by Fiat (see Camillo Castiglioni), was purchased by Hugo Stinnes for the German giant Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VS). After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the Nazi leadership and the German steel barons clashed in a conflict over the rate of economic growth: the Nazis demanded rapid buildup of industrial capacity while the big business feared overproduction and preferred to keep status quo. In the first half of 1937 the Nazi leadership openly broke with the steel barons and settled for state control over iron and steel production. In the same year Hermann Göring expressed his desire to control Austrian iron reserves at Erzberg. After the Anschluss state-owned Reichswerke Hermann Göring purchased a 13% share in Alpine, and for the next six months wrestled with the VS over control of the company. In March 1939 the VS stepped aside and the Reichswerke acquired 70% share of Alpine in exchange for a 10% share in the new plant in Linz. In June 1939 its name was changed to Alpine Montan AG Hermann Göring. The Reichswerke continued acquisitions and outright confiscations, and soon controlled around half of Austrian heavy industries. In 1944, the peak year for Alpine, its sales reached , 16% of the whole mining and steel sales of the Reichswerke.
Construction of Reichswerke in Linz (1938)
The Reichswerke announced its plans for a new steel mill in Linz before the takeover of Alpine, as an incentive for VS to extract more ore at Erzberg. Linz had a special place in Nazi system, and the steel project received full financial commitment of the state. On May 13, 1938 the ground breaking ceremony for the Hermann Göring Werke in Linz was held. Paul Pleiger was appointed chief of the Reichswerke in Linz for his services to the Nazis during the Anschluss. The synergy of steel works in Linz and ore reserves at Erzberg, vertically integrated into the Reichswerke, made it virtually independent of the steel elite of the Ruhr. The works in Linz were viewed as a hub of a future steel conglomerate spanning over the whole Central Europe.