1900–1980
Sandvikens Jernverk was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1901.[6]
In 1907, production of hollow rock drill steels began, and by the 1920s, the company was considered internationally leading in that product area.[6][8]
In 1914, the company established its first sales subsidiary outside of Sweden, in Birmingham, UK. Further foreign subsidiaries were opened 1919 in the United States, 1923 in France, and 1926 in Canada.[6]
In the 1920s, the company began melting stainless steel, and in 1924, it started producing its first stainless seamless tubes. In 1932, it acquired a license to use a new method for cold-rolling tubes, called pilgering, and in 1934, it became the first European company to use the method at industrial scale.[6][7]
In 1937, there were subsidiaries in 37 countries.[8]
World War II forced the company to reorganize production. Exports were halved, but demand from the Swedish military for grenades prevented a corporate crisis.[6]
Already before the war, the company had wanted to enter the cemented carbide tool market, but the patent situation was complicated, and it was unable to find a suitable business partner. However, in 1942, it entered into an agreement with the Lumalampan subsidiary of Kooperativa Förbundet. Lumalampan mainly produced tungsten light bulbs but also made tungsten carbide tips for grenades, as well as its own carbide tools for filament wire drawing, and thus possessed the required technology. In the same year, the Sandvik Coromant brand was registered for cemented carbide products, and the company started working on tools for metal cutting and rock drilling. Metal cutting tools were successfully produced beginning in 1943, but it took several more years to develop sufficiently durable rock drilling tools.[6]
Bessemer steel production was discontinued in Sandviken in 1947. In the same year, the company became the exclusive supplier of cemented carbide rock drill steels to Atlas Diesel (later known as Atlas Copco).[6]
In the 1950s, the company expanded its cemented carbide production capacity by building factories in new locations. A workshop that was opened in the small town of Gimo in 1951 gradually expanded into a major production facility, and in 1953, a factory was opened in the Västberga district of Stockholm. By then, rock drills had emerged as the most important cemented carbide product area for the company.[6][9]
In 1967, Sandvikens Jernverk had 40 subsidiaries and sales in 100 countries. The company changed its name to Sandvik AB in 1972.[6]
In 1979, Sandvik acquired the British company Osprey.[6]
Steel conveyor belts of various types had been part of the product range since 1902, and in 1980, a conveyor-belt-based system called Rotoform for granulation of liquid chemicals was developed.[6]
