Comsteel
Formerly | Commonwealth Steel Company Vickers Commonwealth Steel Products Commonwealth Steel Products |
---|---|
Industry | Steel |
Founded | 1918 |
Founder | Clyde Engineering Goninan & Co Pioneer Spring Co Ritchie Brothers |
Headquarters | , Australia |
Parent | American Industrial Partners |
Website | www.comsteel.com |
Comsteel is an Australian manufacturer of steel products based in the Newcastle suburb of Waratah. It is a subsidiary of American Industrial Partners.
History
[edit]Comsteel was founded as Commonwealth Steel Products in 1918 by Clyde Engineering, Goninan & Co, Pioneer Spring Co and Ritchie Brothers to manufacture wheels, tyres, axles and steel castings for railway use.[1]
A plant was established in the Newcastle suburb of Waratah with Howard Smith acquiring a shareholding. After Vickers acquired a shareholding, in 1923 it was renamed Vickers Commonwealth Steel Products. In the 1930s, BHP gradually bought out the other shareholders and it became the Commonwealth Steel Company.[1] In 1959, a mill was opened in Unanderra for the cold rolling of stainless steel.[2][3] In 1971, Comsteel was licensed by Midland-Ross to produce couplers, draft gears and freight wagon bogies.[4]
In 1983, Commonwealth Steel Company and the Australian subsidiary of Vickers merged to form Comsteel with BHP and Vickers each holding 38% shareholdings.[2] In 1985 Comsteel was purchased by Australian National Industries (ANI).[5]
It was included in the 1999 takeover of ANI by Smorgon Steel which in turn was purchased by OneSteel in 2007.[6] Since 2016 it has been owned by American Industrial Partners.[7][8][9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Commonwealth Steel Products Ltd Newcastle Industrial Heritage Association
- ^ a b Australians in Company BHP 1985
- ^ Comsteel Unanderra Illawarra Heritage Trail
- ^ US licensing deal International Railway Journal October 1971 page 10
- ^ Engineering giants sell joint venture Canberra Times 24 December 1985 page 11
- ^ Smorgon Steel now Set to Acquire 100% of ANI Smorgon Steel 29 January 1999
- ^ Arrium's MolyCop sold for $1.6 billion SBS World News 4 November 2016
- ^ American Industrial Partners completes the acquisition of Molycop American Industrial Partners
- ^ Who we are MolyCop 3 January 2017