History

The oldest Saarstahl site, the Neunkircher Schmelz smeltery is mentioned in writing for the first time.

The Stumm steel dynasty from the Hunsrück region acquires the Neunkirchen plant.

Neunkirchen is one of the first smelters in Germany to manufacture railroad tracks.

Luxembourg industrialists and parliamentarians found the Saarbrücker Eisenhüttengesellschaft ironworks – the birth of the Burbach site.

Founding of the Völklinger Hütte ironworks in Völklingen,  the third Saarstahl site. The Röchling family would acquire the company in 1881 and determine its fortunes for almost 100 years.

The gas blower machines at the Völklinger Hütte ironworks are the first in the world to be operated with blast furnace gas.

Workers at the Burbacher Hütte steelworks in Burbach make history: In the first steelworks strike in the Saar region, they stop work for 10 days to fight for their right to represent their interests.

In Völklingen, a milk kitchen, a maternity counselling center and a company kindergarten, forerunner of today’s Saarstahl daycare center, are opened.

Electric steel production begins in Völklingen with the Röchling-Rodenhauser induction furnace, a patented in-house development. High-speed steels, tool steels and special structural steels are produced in the electric steel plant.

The “Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG vormals Gebrüder Stumm,” as the company was named in 1920, starts producing free-cutting steel and other special steels.

Reforestation of the slag heaps begins in Völklingen. Over the next 10 years, 100 hectares of slag heap area are planted with greenery.

The Völklingen and Burbach iron and steelworks merge to form “Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH”. The merger results in the coordination of previously separate production programs and is also the basis for using advanced production methods.

One of the world’s most efficient wire rod mills went into operation in Burbach. The four-strand production line, an investment of DM 145 million, had an annual capacity of 900,000 tons, which has increased to its current capacity of 1.2 million tons.

The new LD steelworks in Völklingen starts production with continuous casting machines.

ROGESA is founded as the first step towards joint production of hot metal for all of Saarland’s steel mills, followed by the founding of the Zentralkokerei Saar coking plant the following year.

Merger of “Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH” with “Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG vormals Gebrüder Stumm” to form “ARBED Saarstahl GmbH”. This makes Neunkirchen the third site in the Saarstahl Group.

Founding of Saarstahl AG

Following its conversion and modernization, the Neunkirchen plant is ready for single-roll thermomechanical rolling. The cooling line concept, called “the Loop,” is a worldwide sensation.

Burbach is the first Saarstahl plant, and the second steel company in Germany, to receive environmental certification in accordance with DIN ISO 14001.

Völklingen is the first steel producer in the world to use mechanical soft reduction for continuous billet casting in the 150 x 150 mm casting format.

Neunkirchen offers customers improved wire rod properties through the use of double thermomechanical rolling.

A new continuous casting machine at the LD steelworks is the first in the world to use mechanical soft reduction for the 180 x 180 mm casting format.

With the integration into the Group of the French plants Saarstahl Ascoval and Saarstahl Rail, Saarstahl is now able to supply “green” rails for the first time.

Burbach supplies the thinnest wire rod in Europe for the first time, with a diameter of 4.5 mm. The new super-thin product is used for cables and spring wire in the automotive industry and in mechanical engineering.

In December, Dillinger, Saarstahl, and their joint subsidiary ROGESA receive the respective funding decision for the historic Power4Steel transformation project.