Sacilor and predecessors In 1704
Jean Martin de Wendel bought an
ironworks in
Hayange,
Lorraine in north-eastern France. Over the next one hundred years industrial production grew, and, in 1822 the first coke fired blast furnace in France was constructed. Further growth occurred under
de Wendel family ownership in the next century; in 1850 approximately 20,000 tons of iron and cast iron each were produced, by 1869 this had increased 15 blast furnaces and a production of well over 100,000 tons of cast iron and iron each. Production included rails, bars, sheet, tin and wire. The company was split as a result of the
Alsace-Lorraine region becoming part of Germany after that country's victory in the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870. After Germany's defeat in the
First World War the region returned to France, and the factories regained. Production continued to increase, with over 1.5million tons of iron and cast iron each produced in 1929. (France for the construction of a modern steel plant in
Gandrange, Lorraine. The groups themselves merged with SMS in 1967, forming
de Wendel-Sidélor; in 1968 this group produced 40% of French production: 20million tons of Iron. The company was formed for the consolidation of the steel works in the region, with a new plant in
Denain, opened in 1952. Another factory, dedicated to steel sheet production, was opened in
Dunkirk in 1971, receiving materials by sea and from abroad. Usinor restructured as primarily a flat carbon steel producer in the last years of the 20th century, and disposed of several speciality steel product and
long steel product businesses: the Usinor/Cockerill owned rolling mill manufacturer
Forcast was sold to
Akers (company) in 1998; in 1998-9 the subsidiary:
Unimetal (long products) and its subsidiaries
Trefileurope, and
Societe Metallurgique de Revigny (SMR) were sold to Ispat International (later
Mitall Steel Company) for approximately $107 million (693 million
francs); railway wheelset and axle manufacturing subsidiaries
Valdunes and
RTM were sold to
Freedom Forge Holding (
Standard Steel, USA) in 1998; railway rail manufacturing subsidiary
Sogerail (Hayange, France) was sold to
British Steel plc in 1999. the special long products and forged products subsidiary
Ascometal was sold to
Lucchini S.p.A. in 1999; and the
electrical steel subsidiary UGO (
Usinor Grains Orientés SA) was sold to
Thyssen Krupp in 2000. In 2001/2 the group merged with
Arbed of Luxembourg and
Aceralia of Spain to form
Arcelor. ==References==