Outokumpu facts for kids
 |
|
 |
|
| Public company | |
| Traded as | OMX: OUT1V |
| Industry | Stainless steel |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Headquarters | Helsinki, Finland |
|
Key people
|
Kari Jordan (chairman), Kati ter Horst (President and CEO) |
| Products | Stainless steel |
| Revenue |  €7.7 billion (2021) |
|
Operating income
|
€705 million (2021) |
| €553 million (2021) |
|
|
Number of employees
|
 9,395 (2021) |
Outokumpu Oyj is a large international company. Its main office is in Helsinki, Finland. The company has about 10,600 employees. They work in more than 30 countries around the world.
Outokumpu is the biggest maker of stainless steel in Europe. It is also the second largest in North and South America. Stainless steel is a special type of steel. It does not rust easily.
The company also has a long history in mining. It still mines chromium ore. This ore comes from the Kemi mine in Keminmaa, Finland. Chromium is an important material. It is used to make stainless steel.
The Government of Finland is the biggest owner of Outokumpu. It owns about 26.6% of the company. This includes shares held by different Finnish government groups.
Contents
Company History
How Outokumpu Started
In 1908, a large amount of copper ore was found. This was in Outokumpu, in Northern Karelia. The Outokumpu company was started to dig up this copper. The mine is now empty.
In the 1940s, Outokumpu created a new way to melt copper. This was called the flash smelting process. It made melting copper much faster.
Changes and Growth
From 1986 to 1988, Outokumpu was part of a group of companies. These companies made agreements about stainless steel prices. They were found out in 1990. However, Outokumpu did not have to pay a fine then.
From 1988 to 2001, Outokumpu and a Swedish company called Boliden also made agreements. These were about copper tubing prices in Europe.
In 2001, a company called Avesta Sheffield joined with Outokumpu. Avesta Sheffield was formed in 1991. It was a mix of British Steel Stainless and a Swedish company named Avesta. The new company was called AvestaPolarit. It became the third-largest stainless steel maker in the world. Its main office was in Stockholm, Sweden. Outokumpu and another group of investors owned it together.
In September 2001, Outokumpu's building part, Outokumpu Technology, bought a German company. This company was called Lurgi Metallurgie.
In 2003 and 2004, Outokumpu had to pay fines. The European Commission fined them €36.14 million. This was for the copper tubing agreements.
In 2004, Outokumpu bought all the shares from the other owners of AvestaPolarit. So, AvestaPolarit became fully part of Outokumpu. Outokumpu's main office then moved to Espoo, Finland.
Focusing on Stainless Steel
In 2005, Outokumpu sold its copper business. It also combined its zinc business with Boliden. At the same time, Outokumpu sold all its shares in Boliden.
In June 2006, Outokumpu Technology became its own separate company. It was renamed Outotec in April 2007.
In March 2008, Outokumpu closed a factory in Sheffield, UK. This was part of a plan to save money. The part of the factory that melts metal still makes material. In April 2008, Outokumpu left the copper business completely.
On January 31, 2012, Outokumpu announced a big purchase. They bought Inoxum. This was the stainless steel part of a German company, ThyssenKrupp. The cost was 2.7 billion euros. At that time, the Finnish government owned 40% of Outokumpu.
In November 2012, the European Commission looked at this purchase. They worried it would make Outokumpu too powerful in Europe. So, they allowed the merger. But only if Outokumpu did not buy a part of Inoxum called Acciai Speciali Terni (AST). Outokumpu bought Inoxum in December 2012. Through Inoxum, Outokumpu got stainless steel factories in China, Mexico, Bochum, Germany, Werdohl, Germany, and Calvert, Alabama, USA.
In November 2013, Outokumpu announced another change. They would sell AST and other businesses back to ThyssenKrupp. ThyssenKrupp would also sell its shares in Outokumpu. This would end their business connections. In February 2014, the European Commission approved this deal.
In July 2014, Outokumpu settled a lawsuit. Boliden and another company had sued Outokumpu. This was about the copper tubing price agreements.
In October 2015, Outokumpu sold most of its shares in a company in Shanghai, China. This company was called Shanghai Krupp Stainless (SKS). It was a joint company with Baosteel. Outokumpu sold the rest of its shares in February 2016. This sale brought Outokumpu a lot of money. The SKS factory then stopped its operations.
In March 2017, Outokumpu opened a new service center. It is in Vilnius, Lithuania. About 100 people work there.
In April 2020, Heikki Malinen became the new chief executive of Outokumpu. He used to be the CEO of Posti.
In July 2024, Kati ter Horst was chosen as the next president and chief executive of Outokumpu. She started her new role in October 2024.
Production Sites
Outokumpu has many factories and mines around the world. These places make stainless steel and get the materials needed for it.
Finland
Tornio Works
Outokumpu's biggest factories are the Tornio Works. They are in the small Finnish town of Tornio. This town is on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia.
The Tornio Works make hot and cold rolled steel. They produce about one million tons each year. The site has a ferrochrome melting plant. It also has two steel-melting shops. There is a hot rolling mill and two cold rolling mills. The steel works were built in 1975–1976. Most of the products are sold in the EU. About 85% of them are sent all over the world.
Kemi Mine
The Kemi mine is in Keminmaa, near Tornio. This mine provides chromite. Chromite is the raw material for chrome. Chrome is needed to make stainless steel. In 2012, it was estimated that the mine had about 105 million tons of chromite. This was found down to a depth of one kilometer.
Sweden
Avesta and Nyby
Outokumpu bought Avesta Sheffield in 2001. This includes a stainless steel factory. It has a melting shop and hot rolling mills. It also has cold rolling mills. Avesta developed special types of stainless steel. These steels are strong and resist rust well. Avesta has a long history of making steel.
Thin Strip Nyby makes cold rolled stainless steel. It focuses on special types of steel. Nyby Ironworks in Torshälla started in 1829. But people were working with iron there much earlier.
Degerfors
The Degerfors Long Products steelworks was owned by Outokumpu in 2021.
United Kingdom
Sheffield Facilities
After buying Avesta Sheffield, Outokumpu owned the Sheffield factory in the UK. This factory has a melt shop. It also has places for continuous casting and finishing steel bars. It makes stainless steel in different forms. These include coils, plates, sheets, and bars. It also makes semi-finished products like slabs and billets.
Outokumpu's UK factories came from older steel companies. In 2005, some cold rolling units in Sheffield were closed. This meant over 600 jobs were lost. But the company kept the melting shop and other parts of the business. In March 2008, the Stocksbridge site also closed. Its work moved to another site.
In 2023, Outokumpu sold its Long Products business in Sheffield. This included the melting and bar operations. They were sold to Marcegaglia. Outokumpu still has a service center and sales company in Sheffield.
Germany
German Production Sites
As of 2018, Outokumpu has factories in Krefeld, Dillenburg, and Dahlerbrück.
The Krefeld factory has been making stainless steel for 100 years. Its melt shop closed in December 2012. Now it focuses on cold rolling and research. The Dahlerbrück factory makes very thin steel strips. It has a 300-year history of making iron and steel. The Dillenburg factory specializes in special surface finishes for steel. These are used in buildings and construction. The Bochum melt shop closed in 2014.
U.S. and Mexico
North American Operations
Outokumpu has a melt shop and a cold-rolling mill in Calvert, Alabama. They bought this from ThyssenKrupp. They also have a cold rolling mill in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. This factory makes coils, strips, sheets, and plates.
Organization
The company is run by a board of directors. It also has a leadership team.
As of June 2022, the Outokumpu Leadership Team included these people:
- President and Chief Executive Officer: Kati ter Horst (Finnish citizen)
- Chief Financial Officer: Pia Aaltonen-Forsell (Finnish citizen)
- Chief Human Resources Officer: Johann Steiner (German citizen)
- President – business line, Advanced Materials: Thomas Anstots (German citizen)
- Chief Technology Officer: Stefan Erdmann (German citizen)
- President – business area Ferrochrome: Martti Sassi (Finnish citizen)
- President – business line, Stainless Europe: Niklas Wass (Swedish citizen)
- President – business area Americas: Tamara Weinert (German citizen)
See also
In Spanish: Outokumpu para niños
