defunct merged into arcelor in 2002 headquarters luxembourg city luxembourg products steel website web.archive.org http www.arbed.lu the aci ries r unies de burbach eich dudelange french ; literally united steelworks of burbach eich dudelange better known by its acronym arbed was a major luxembourg based steel and iron producing company . created in 1911 after the merger of three steel producing companies arbed had a significant role in the economy of the grand duchy until it merged in 2002 with two other european steel companies to create arcelor . contents 1 origins 1882 1911 2 growth and development of arbed 1911 1945 3 les trente glorieuses 1946 1974 4 world economic crisis and restructuring 1975 2002 5 arcelor and arcelormittal 2002 onwards 6 references 7 external links and further reading origins 1882 1911 edit the discovery of iron ore in luxembourg in the 1850s 1 and the introduction of metallurgy in 1876 led to the development of an important national steel industry especially in the south of the country and provided luxembourg with sustained economic growth during the second half of the 19th century . 2 this economic growth was greatly boosted during the two decades preceding world war i when large integrated steelworks able to convert cast iron into steel and rolled steel were constructed . steel production surged from 145 313 tonnes in 1900 to 1 115 004 tonnes in 1913 2 and steel making accounted for around 60 % of total industrial employment in luxembourg before world war i. 2 the close economic relationship between luxembourg and its neighbours especially germany enabled investors to develop cross border projects . as early as 1856 luxembourg industrialists and members of parliament founded the saarbr cker eisenh ttengesellschaft soci t en participation des forges de sarrebruck saarbr cken ironworks shareholding company . 3 similarly german industrialists invested funds in the development of luxembourg steel companies . 2 south luxembourg s important economic development due to steel production led to the creation of several steel producing companies . in 1882 the soci t anonyme des hauts fourneaux et forges de dudelange high furnace and forging mills of dudelange shareholding company was founded 4 by the soci t en commandite des forges d eich le gallais metz et cie founded in 1838 and the main shareholders of the saarbr cken shareholding company . 3 as steel production increased exponentially it soon became necessary to merge companies . in 1911 at an extraordinary general corporate meeting of the soci t anonyme des hauts fourneaux et forges de dudelange decision was taken to incorporate the soci t anonyme des mines du luxembourg et forges de sarrebruck and the soci t en commandite des forges d eich le gallais metz et cie. into the dudelange company . the new shareholding company merging the three largest local steel companies 5 was named arbed s.a. the acronym for aci ries r unies de burbach eich dudelange soci t anonyme . 3 growth and development of arbed 1911 1945 edit arbed headquarters in luxembourg city built in 1922 . at its founding arbed operated 21 blast furnaces 3 electric furnaces 2 steelmaking plants and several rolling mills . in 1912 raw steel production from the arbed works reached 824 500 tonnes . 4 although steel production almost halted during world war i the following decades prove to be very successful . in order to further develop arbed took an international dimension and acquired and absorbed several companies in belgium and germany in the 1920s . at the end of world war i german capital was withdrawn and steelworks were taken over by groups with franco belgian luxembourg capital . 2 two companies soci t metallurgique des terres rouges and soci t mini re des terres rouges were specifically created by arbed and other french and belgian companies for the purpose of acquiring plants and mines west of the rhine which had to be sold by germany as a consequence of the treaty of versailles . 3 arbed already a major regional steel producer further developed its international reach by establishing with the soci t metallurgique des terres rouges company a joint sales company called columeta in 1920 and a joint shipping company called transaf 3 in 1922 . in order to develop its international reach an arbed offshoot called companhia sider rgica belgo mineira was established in sabar minas gerais brazil in 1921 . 4 as arbed s growth continued arbed and soci t metallurgique des terres rouges finally merged in 1937 . 3 world war ii severely affected steel production and many steel mills were either destroyed or heavily damaged . luxembourg had been officially absorbed into germany and arbed was temporarily renamed h ttenwerke burbach eich dudelingen burbach eich dudelange metallurgical plants . les trente glorieuses 1946 1974 edit during the three decades following the end of world war ii arbed played a key role in the development of the luxembourg economy . during this period called les trente glorieuses the thirty glorious national raw steel production rose from 2.45 million tonnes in 1950 to 6.45 million tonnes in 1974 and luxembourg reached an exceptional annual growth rate of 6.7 % between 1946 and 1951 then a good average of 3.9 % until 1975 . during the first half of the 1970s the steel industry represented close to 30 % of the total sum of added value in the national luxembourg economy and more than half the total added value of industry . by 1974 luxembourg steelworks and iron mines provided work for around 25 000 employees in 1974 16 % of the total national . 2 during these three decades arbed not only developed its local plants but also increased the diversification of its activities . in 1962 arbed became a partner in the creation of the maritime sidmar complex in belgium and later obtained a majority stake in the new company . 4 in 1974 arbed created trefilarbed as part of the extension of wire drawing activities and samarco created through the mining company samitri to develop iron ore resources in brazil . 4 a powerful regional the european economic actor arbed gradually became a global actor through the magnitude of its operations . world economic crisis and restructuring 1975 2002 edit the 1973 oil crisis and its global repercussions had a dramatic impact on luxembourg and on arbed in particular as it coincided with worldwide global steel overproduction . 2 despite arbed s international sales network s restructuring in 1976 columeta was renamed tradearbed and the establishment of trefilarbed korea in 1978 4 by 1983 steel production had slumped back to 1955 levels 3.2 million tonnes compared with 6.45 million tonnes in 1974 . 2 by 1985 the steel industry employed only half of its 1974 level work force . 2 in 1978 arbed becomes a 25 % shareholder in m tallurgique et mini re de rodange athus mmra 6 mining and hot steel production is shut down and in 1994 mmra merges with arbed esch schifflange to from aci ries rodange esch schifflange ares a subsidiary of profilarbed 7 from 1982 to 1983 the luxembourg steel industry was restructured and the luxembourg government invested heavily in arbed finally owning 42.9 % of the company s shares . 2 furthermore during the following two decades arbed developed its international activities as well as its production of long steel products steel bars and rods produced for a variety of uses such as building and bridge construction and electric arc furnace steel 5 while reducing its domestic steel producing operations . certain key events in the economic expansion of arbed occurred in the 1990s . in 1990 arbed jointly acquired yates a u.s. company specialising in the production of copper foil with japanese group furukawa electric . 4 the following year the luxembourg company founded trefilarbed arkansas usa a steelcord plant in pine bluff arkansas . in 1992 it founded long steel products company stahlwerk th ringen in germany . in 1993 arbed founded profilarbed a subsidiary company specialized in the production of long steel products and arbed americas a subsidiary of tradearbed in 1994 to manage all united states commercial activities . 4 arbed also expanded by taking over other companies ; in 1995 it obtained the majority of shares of german kl ckner stahl now stahlwerke bremen and in 1997 it developed a strategic partnership with spanish steel company aceralia formerly csi . 5 however during this period of geographic expansion and division of sectors the remaining luxembourg blast furnaces gradually stopped operating the last one in belval definitely halting its operations in 1997 . 2 arcelor and arcelormittal 2002 onwards edit main article arcelormittal despite the end of its luxembourg steel production arbed remained a global economic actor . its diversification and development of its international scope enabled arbed to remain competitive . in 2002 arbed and two other european steel producing and manufacturing companies spanish strategic partner aceralia and french usinor merged into arcelor 4 a steel industry giant with a 96 000 strong workforce spread throughout 60 different countries . in 2006 mittal steel launched a takeover for arcelor that led to the creation of arcelormittal the world s largest steel company 5 not in citation given . references edit luxembourg in a nutshell . retrieved 2007 11 14 . a b c d e f g h i j k economic and social portrait of luxembourg . archived from the original on 14 november 2007 . retrieved 2007 11 14 . a b c d e f stages in the development of the burbach iron and steelworks from its beginnings up to the merger with r chling eisen und stahlwerke gmbh in 1971 . archived from the original on 16 october 2007 . retrieved 2007 11 14 . a b c d e f g h i historique de l arbed in french . retrieved 2007 11 14 . a b c d history of arbed . archived from the original on 14 october 2007 . retrieved 2007 11 14 . s.a. mini re et m tallurgique de rodange mmr . www.industrie.lu in french . presentation arcelormittal rodange & schifflange s.a. . www.ares.lu . external links and further reading edit wikimedia commons has media related to arbed . luxembourg portal companies portal arbed archive paul thomes ; marc engels . eisen und stahlerzeugung im luxemburger minett . geo.uni.lu in german . gr atlas . knebeler christophe february 2011 . wichtige technische beitr ge der arbed zur stahlherstellung pdf . forum in german 304 . retrieved 19 january 2016 . schoentgen marc february 2011 . heim ins reich die arbed konzernleitung w hrend der deutschen besatzung 1940 1944 zwischen kollaboration und widerstand pdf . forum in german 304 . retrieved 19 january 2016 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title arbed & oldid 741818441 categories steel companies of luxembourgcompanies established in 1911companies based in luxembourg cityarcelormittalhidden categories cs1 french language sources fr all articles with failed verificationarticles with failed verification from 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