RHI Magnesita N.V. is a supplier of

refractory In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure, or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline, polyphase, ...

products, systems and services. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

and is a constituent of the

FTSE 250 Index The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...

History

In 1908

Mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

Josef Hörhager discovered a magnesite deposit at Millstätter Alpe in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. A German American, Emil Winter, acquired the mining rights and founded the "Austro-American Magnesite Company" (later Radex Austria). In 1974 the company was bought by National Refractories Co. and in 1987 Radex-Heraklith Industriebeteiligungs AG ('RHI AG') emerged from the National Refractories Co. as a result of a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

. Then in 1991 RHI AG acquired Veitscher Magnesitwerke Actien-Gesellschaft, a rival business founded by Carl Spaeter in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1889. Next, in 1995, RHI AG acquired a majority stake in its previous competitor Didier-Werke AG (founded by Friedrich Ferdinand Didier in 1834 when he acquired a

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and lime firing plant near

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, and established the factory "Chamottefabrik F. Didier" in

Podjuchy Podjuchy (german: Podejuch) is a municipal neighborhood of the city of Szczecin, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, cov ...

, thus becoming one of the first manufacturers of refractory bricks in Germany). RHI AG acquired Global Industrial Technologies (GIT) in 2000. GIT had a subsidiary, APG (formerly A.P. Green Refractories Company), which has been named as defendant in hundreds of thousands of asbestos-related injury litigation cases. GIT entered bankruptcy under

Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

in February 2002. RHI AG sold its North American subsidiaries, including GIT, later in the year. In 2004 the company was required to pay a civil penalty of $650,000 for failing to undertake asbestos remediation at a plant in Marelan,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

which it had been ordered to sell to Resco Products, Inc. in 1999. The company completed the takeover of Stopinc AG (Switzerland) in 2012 and bought a majority stake in Orient Refractories. In October 2017 RHI AG merged with Magnesita, a Brazilian competitor, and then abandoned its listing on the Vienna Stock Exchange and instead secured a listing on the

as RHI Magnesita. Additionally, the RHI Magnesita shares can still be traded via the global market segment of the Vienna Stock Exchange. In May 2021, RHI Magnesita merged its other two Indian subsidiaries, RHI Clasil and RHI India, into Orient Refractories, which was publicly listed. In July 2021, Orient Refractories was renamed to RHI Magnesita India. RHI Magnesita India is publicly listed on the

National Stock Exchange of India National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is the leading stock exchange under the ownership of various group of domestic and global financial institutions, public and privately owned entities and individuals. It is located in Mumbai, Mah ...

and the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Operations

The company produces roughly 3 million tons of refractory products each year at 35 main production and 10 main raw material sites around the world.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Vienna