Sollac

Sollac (Société Lorraine de Laminage Continu) was a French steel company formed in December 1948 as a cooperative to produce steel rolls in Lorraine from steel provided by several other companies. There were various changes of ownership during the years that followed. In 1970 the company, under pressure from the French government, began to develop a large new continuous strip mill in the south of France. The French steel industry soon went into crisis, with excess capacity and declining demands from automobile manufacturers and the construction industry. Sollac became a subsidiary of Usinor in 1987, responsible for all flat products. In 2002 Usinor became part of Arcelor, which in turn was merged into ArcelorMittal in 2006. After World War II (1939–45) the United States wanted to ensure that the French steel industry could compete effectively with the Ruhr. Usinor (Union Sidérurgique du Nord de la France) was formed in 1948 by a merger of Denain-Anzin, founded in 1849 and Nord-Est (Forges et Aciéries du Nord-Est). The main reason for the merger was to implement a continuous rolling mill to reduce costs and satisfy the expected growing market for automobiles and consumer goods. The company used technology from United Engineering and Westinghouse Electric International. In 1948 it was accepted that a second strip mill should be set up, also using American equipment. In 1948 Léon Daum promoted the creation of Sollac as a joint-venture flat steel manufacturer. Most of the funding came from the state. François Bloch-Lainé justified this in 1948 on the basis that Sollac would be in the state's interest. The Société Lorraine de Laminage Continu (Sollac) was established in December 1948. It was created under a cooperative model to build a wide-strip rolling mill in Florange, as well as a Thomas and Martin mill and two cold mills. The founding companies retained their autonomy. Each company supplied its share of cast iron or steel, which Sollac turned into sheet metal, charging cost price.