The HBIS GROUP Serbia Iron & Steel, commonly known as the Hesteel Serbia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Хестил Србија, Hestil Srbija, separator=" / ") or Železara Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Железара Смедерево), is a Serbian

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

manufacturing conglomerate with the headquarters in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. It operates with facilities in Radinac ( steel plant, hot and cold rolling mill),

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

( harbor),

Šabac Šabac ( sr-Cyrl, Шабац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river ...

(

tinplate Tinplate consists of sheet metal, sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rust, rusting. Before the advent of cheap mild steel, the backing metal (known as "") was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinp ...

) and Kučevo (

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

History

1913–2003: SARTID

On 20 February 1913, the

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

was founded under the name ''SARTID'' a.d. (''Srpsko akcionarsko rudarsko topioničarsko industrijsko društvo'' a.d.). In the beginning, mainly foreign investors were shareholders of the company. During the period from 1945 to 1992, the Government of

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

operated the steel plant. Many new factories were opened in that period, while Železara Smederevo was seen as a pillar of the Yugoslav metallurgy. During the 1990s, the company's value declined significantly, mainly due to the sanctions which were put in effect during Yugoslav War. The loss of market and suppliers caused the later bankruptcy of the company.

2003–2012: U.S. Steel

In April 2003, two weeks after the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of the

Prime Minister of Serbia The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијер Србије, premijer Srbije; feminine gender, feminine: премијерка/premijerka), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председн ...

Zoran Đinđić, the bankrupted company was sold to American steel company U.S. Steel (USS) for $23 million. U.S. Steel also pledged to invest $150 million in plant modernization. Following the company's acquisition, the owners changed its name from ''SARTID'' a.d. to ''U.S. Steel Serbia'' d.o.o. (''USS Serbia'' d.o.o.). Over the years, while being owned by U.S. Steel Corporation, the company formed an important part of the Serbian GDP, and also was the biggest Serbian exporter during the period from 2003 to 2012. On 31 January 2012, U.S. Steel sold the company to the Government of Serbia for $1, leaving it with 5,400 employees and amounted liabilities due to dropped global steel prices.

2012–2016: Privatization process

With the departure of U.S. Steel, the company plunged into even greater problems. By the end of June 2012, it shut down both of its two large furnaces, while the remaining 5,000 workers were sent on paid leave. Since 22 April 2013, it started operating again with reduced operation. Since then, the Government of Serbia was looking for the strategic partner. However, several public tenders were canceled due to lack of valid bids. On 5 December 2014, a Serbian Privatization Agency issued a public tender for the purchase of 80.01 percent of the company. On 12 January 2015, an American company Esmark Steel Group was confirmed by the Government of Serbia as a sole valid bidder, and thus began negotiations on takeover of the company. On 17 February 2015, after month of negotiations, a Serbian PM Aleksandar Vučić announced that the Government of Serbia has decided to reject Esmark's offer for the purchase of the company. The decision was made mostly because the Government hasn't received assurances from Esmark that the factory won't be shut down after few years of service. On 21 March 2015, a Management Service contract was signed between Železara Smederevo and the Dutch company HPK Engineering. Signing this contract, Government of Serbia elected HPK Engineering as a company to manage Smederevo steel plant for the next three years. It was stated that HPK Engineering will be responsible for creating the conditions for Železara Smederevo becoming profitable within the next 6 months while maintaining the current size of the labor force.

2016–present: Hesteel

In April 2016 Hesteel Group acquired the business, bidding €46 million. Initially stated plans were to invest $300 million over 2 years into the plant including installation of galvanisation equipment, and raise production to 2.2 million tons from 0.875 million. Also, the headquarters of the company has been moved from Smederevo to the capital of Belgrade. Hesteel Serbia finished the 2018 calendar year as the biggest Serbian gross exporter with 749.5 million euros worth of exports. It has produced around 2 million tonnes of steel products for 2018 calendar year.

Names

This is a list of names of the company throughout the history: * Srpsko akcionarsko rudarsko topioničarsko industrijsko društvo a.d.

(SARTID a.d. Smederevo) (1913–2003) * U.S. Steel Serbia d.o.o. Smederevo (USS Serbia d.o.o. Smederevo) (2003–2012) * Privredno društvo za proizvodnju i preradu čelika Železara Smederevo d.o.o. Smederevo (Železara Smederevo d.o.o. Smederevo) (2012–2016) * Hesteel Serbia Iron & Steel d.o.o. Beograd (Hesteel Serbia d.o.o. Beograd) (2016–)

References

External links

* {{Šabac Municipality 1913 establishments in Serbia 2003 mergers and acquisitions 2016 mergers and acquisitions Conglomerate companies established in 1913 D.o.o. companies in Serbia Electric power companies of Serbia Manufacturing companies based in Belgrade Manufacturing companies established in 1913 Serbian brands Steel companies of Serbia U.S. Steel