Outokumpu takes its name from a town in the eastern part of Finland where a rich copper ore deposit was discovered in 1910. Over the years Outokumpu has experienced a major transformation, evolving from a mining and multi-metal company to one of the world’s leading producers of stainless steel.
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The company that today makes Outokumpu has a rich tradition. The Group’s history dates back to 1848 in Sheffield, where stainless steel was invented around 1913. Harry Brearley found that steel that had been alloyed with a sufficiently high level of chromium was not susceptible to attack from etching acids or moisture. The Swedish firm Avesta purchased a licence to manufacture this steel, resulting in the first production of chromium alloy steel in Sweden in 1924. The early research in these two countries marked the beginnings of Outokumpu’s stainless steel business.
Although the company retains no operations in the town of Outokumpu, nor any copper operations, it proudly bears the name of a company that has been associated with metals and a deep understanding of metallurgy for almost 100 years.