Internationalisation of the Group
In 1989, Antonio Marcegaglia launched the Marcegaglia Group's internationalisation policy[3] which has strengthened its direct presence in the international markets.
Marcegaglia Deutschland of Düsseldorf was established in 1989 for the distribution of the Group's own products on the German market and in Scandinavia. United Stainless Steel was also created in the UK near London, followed by Marcegaglia U.K., for the production of welded tubes from hot and cold rolled strip, and then by Marcegaglia UK at Dudley, West Midlands.
In 1991 Antonio Marcegaglia launched the project which would see the group enter into the transatlantic markets. In the second half of the year The New Bishop Tube of Philadelphia was acquired in the US, and, in February 1992, Damascus of Greenville. Two major production units which then led to the creation of Damascus-Bishop Tube Company, specialising in the production of stainless steel.
In 1993 Antonio Marcegaglia acquired the Belgian Cotubel group, a distributor of stainless steel products and tubes in France and Benelux, and founded the trading company Central Bright Steel for the distribution of welded tubes in the UK; it also began production of these same products near Birmingham in 1997.
In the summer of 1998, a large industrial area in Munhall, near Pittsburgh, was acquired to accommodate the new Marcegaglia USA, which would also incorporate the Damascus-Bishop Tube Company.
During the same period, two other companies were formed in the United States, as subsidiaries of the parent companies in Italy: Oskar Usa in Birmingham (Alabama) and Oto Mills Usa in Wheaton (Illinois).
In 1999 Antonio Marcegaglia's efforts led to the incorporation of Marcegaglia Iberica, Marcegaglia Ireland, Marcegaglia France, Marcegaglia Austria and Marcegaglia do Brasil, the latter tripling its turnover by 2005, extending its plant and taking the number of its employees to 1000. Meanwhile, in Bremen, in joint venture with the Arbed Group, the first Marcegaglia company to produce quality steel was formed.
In 2000, the Group acquired Earcanal of Leioa, Spain. Following the joint venture with Arbed, in 2004 the Marcegaglia Group signed an agreement with the Corus group for the 10-year co-management of its British steelworks on Teesside, guaranteeing the supply at cost price of one million tonnes per year of slabs for the production of coils and sheets. Oto Mills do Brasil was founded in San Paolo in the same year.
In 2005 the Group proceeded with the expansion of Marcegaglia do Brasil, and in June Antonio Marcegaglia opened its fourth overseas production plant in Praszka (Poland), to manufacture tubes for refrigeration, panels and corrugated steel sheets. One year later, 20 kilometres away, the plant at Kluczbork was added, for the production of tubes and drawn products. Marcegaglia established Marcegaglia Gulf at Doha, Qatar in 2007. The expansion of its industrial activities continued in 2008 with its entry into China, where, in Yangzhou, 270 km north-west of Shanghai,[4] it created its first Asian plant for the production of stainless steel tubes and high-precision carbon steel, with the establishment of Marcegaglia Romania at Cluj, and with the start of work on the new production plant at Vladimir, Russia.
In January 2023, the Group acquired an electric arc furnace steel mill for stainless steels in Sheffield, United Kingdom. The operation also included a wire rod rolling mill and a bar production plant, both in Sheffield; a bar production plant in Richburg (United States); and a hot rolling mill for wire rods and a drawn wire production plant in Fagersta (Sweden).[5]
In 2024, Marcegaglia completes its steel production capacity with the Fos-sur-Mer facility in France, which is capable of meeting approximately 30% of the Group's steel requirements.[6]
