1939

1939 New steel mill comes on stream

The new steel mill established adjoining the rolling mill since 1937 came on stream in the middle of the year. As well as an open-hearth furnace with a capacity of 30 tonnes, another new 15-tonne electric furnace was installed here, in addition to a 5-tonne and a 10-tonne electric furnace from the previous steel mill on the Buderus iron works site. The product range of Röchling-Buderus steel works includes high-speed steels, alloyed and unalloyed tool steels, alloyed and alloyed structural steels for general machine building and engine and motor vehicle manufacture, stainless steels, heat-resisting steels, scale-resisting steels, and acid-resisting steels, billets, bar stock, wire, plate, strip, closed-die forgings, machined and unmachined open-die forgings of all kinds, and welding rods. The company's systematic in-house research activity succeeded in developing new materials in the 1920s and '30s for which patents were granted. Examples of this are Roneusil, a silver effect stainless steel for tableware and for the chemicals industry, and the A M E special soft iron for DC magnetisation (e.g. for use in the telephone industry).