Acerinox, S.A. (Spanish pronunciation: [aθeɾiˈnoks]), headquartered in Madrid, is a manufacturer of steel and related products. In 2022, it was the 4th largest producer of stainless steel worldwide.[3] It has operations in Europe, Asia, the U.S., and South Africa. It has fifteen factories including five in its stainless steel division.[2] 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

References

  1. ↑ "Annual Information". Acerinox.
  2. 1 2 Carcar, Santiago (11 February 2025). "Acerinox, bajo el escudo del Capitán América" [Acerinox, under the shield of Captain America]. El Pais (in Spanish). Madrid.
  3. ↑ "Leading Stainless Steel Manufacturers of the Industry, 2022". Fortune Business Insights. July 19, 2023.
  4. ↑ Carcar, Santiago (27 February 2024). "Acerinox se abraza al acero futurista mientras trata de sofocar la crisis en Cádiz" [Acerinox embraces futuristic steel as it tries to quell the crisis in Cádiz]. El Pais (in Spanish). Madrid.
  5. ↑ "Nisshin Steel Increases Ownership in Acerinox". Association for Iron and Steel Technology. February 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Lindsay Goldberg Completes Sale of VDM Metals to Acerinox, S.A." (Press release). Business Wire. March 19, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Acerinox Completes the Acquisition of Haynes International" (Press release). Business Wire. November 21, 2024.
  8. ↑ Leng, Tan Ai (October 16, 2024). "Malaysia's Worldwide Stainless to acquire Bahru Stainless from Acerinox for US$95 million". The Business Times.
  9. 1 2 JA Azuara (1999). "Main Issues in the Acerinox Event". Procs. Conf. Safety of Radiation Sources and Security of Radioactive Materials, Dijon. IAEA.
  10. 1 2 "El CSN detectó la fuga antes del 9 de junio, pero no informó por considerarla menor". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 17 June 1998.
  11. ↑ de Elvira, Malen Ruiz (23 September 1998). "El caro incidente de la chatarra en Cádiz" [The expensive scrap metal incident in Cadiz]. El País (in Spanish). Madrid.
  12. ↑ "Los Verdes exige que el cesio de Mendaña sea trasladado a El Cabril" [The Greens demand that the cesium from Mendaña be transferred to El Cabril]. Huelva Información (in Spanish). Europa Press. 7 February 2008.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acerinox