John Cockerill & Cie. was an iron, steel, and manufacturing company based at

Seraing Seraing (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-M ...

Liège Province Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium. Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Dutch province of Limburg, the ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It was founded in 1825 by English-born industrialist John Cockerill. It was one of the most notable companies to emerge in the early years of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

in Belgium. John Cockerill, a son of British entrepreneur

William Cockerill William Cockerill (1759–1832) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British inventor, entrepreneur, and industrialist. Designing and producing machines for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, new industrial textile manufacturing, he ...

, owned the company, and it was known as John Cockerill & Cie. However, John Cockerill died in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1840 after a business trip to Russia. Following his death, the company became

state owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to a ...

, and in 1842, it became known as the Société anonyme pour l'exploitation des établissements de John Cockerill.Also written as Société anonyme John Cockerill, or SA John Cockerill. In English, it is often referred to as the "John Cockerill Company". For much of its existence, Cockerill was one of the major iron and steel producers in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. It was a significant producer of derived products, including rail and railway locomotives, iron production equipment, and other large-scale iron and steel constructions. In 1955, the company merged with

Ougrée-Marihaye The Belgian iron and steel producing company Ougrée-Marihaye was formed in 1835 by the merger of the iron and steel works in Ougrée (nr. Seraing) in Liège Province, and the coal mines of Marihaye. The company merged with the '' Société anonym ...

to form SA Cockerill-Ougrée. In 1981, it merged with

Hainaut-Sambre Hainaut-Sambre was a Belgian group of steel companies based in the Charleroi region, it was founded in 1955 by the merger of ''Usine Métallurgiques du Hainaut'' (based in Couillet, Charleroi), and the metal making division of '' Sambre et Moselle ...

to form

Cockerill-Sambre Cockerill-Sambre was a group of Belgian steel manufacturers headquartered in Seraing, on the river Meuse, and in Charleroi, on the river Sambre. The Cockerill-Sambre group was formed in 1981 by the merger of two Belgian steel groups – SA Cocke ...

History

John Cockerill & Cie. (1825–1842)

In 1799, the British-born blacksmith and mechanical engineer

set up a textile-machinery factory in

Verviers Verviers (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the cent ...

. In 1807, he moved to

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

and created a factory that constructed machinery for the carding, spinning and weaving of wool, as well as steam engines. His family from England joined him, and his sons

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Charles James Cockerill managed the factory in Liège. After purchasing the former palace of the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...

in 1817, John and Charles James Cockerill constructed an iron foundry and machine-building factory there. From its inception in 1817, the complex in the Liège region expanded under the control of the Cockerills, with a coke-fired blast furnace and manufacturing facilities for steam engines, railway locomotives, steam-powered blowers for blast furnaces, and traction engines. John Cockerill's business interests also expanded to include coal mining and collieries. The company rose to be the primary steel company of Europe, spurred on by its involvement in the construction of the Belgian railways.Caractéristiques des bassins industriels dans l’Eurégio Meuse-Rhin, b.1. Le bassin houiller et sidérurgique de Liège William Cockerill retired in 1813, and his son John took over the company. In 1825, it became known as John Cockerill & Cie. In 1839, a banking crisis hit Belgium, and John Cockerill's company faced bankruptcy. In 1840, he traveled to Russia in an attempt to raise funds for the company, but he died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

on the trip home, leaving no direct heir. Faced with the prospect of closing an enterprise that employed 30,000 people, the state bought the assets, and on 20 March 1842, the company became known as the Société anonyme pour l'exploitation des établissements de John Cockerill.

Société anonyme John Cockerill (1842–1955)

Under state control, the company expanded further. In 1865 when the plant at Seraing was visited by a mission from Japan, it was in size and had two coal mines, as well as facilities for the manipulation of iron and steel, with boiler and locomotive works. A

bessemer converter The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities and undesired elements, primar ...

had been installed in 1863, and the company expanded into the production of transatlantic ships and bridges, ironclads, and tunneling machines. In 1866 the company's director, Eugene Sadoine, began an expansion of the company's mining assets; developing nearby coal mines in Colard and iron mines in Spain. By 1872 the company's first Siemens-Martin converter began operation, and in 1886 it began to use the

Gilchrist–Thomas process The Gilchrist–Thomas process or Thomas process is a historical process for refining (metallurgy), refining pig iron, derived from the Bessemer converter. It is named after its inventors who patented it in 1877: Percy Gilchrist, Percy Carlyle Gi ...

(basic process). In 1945 the company took over ''SA Angleur-Athus'', and in 1955 ''SA John Cockerill'' merged with '' SA Ougrée-Marihaye'' to form '' SA Cockerill-Ougrée''.

After 1955

The company Cockerill-Ougrée underwent further mergers as the Belgian steel industry was consolidated in the second half of the 20th century, becoming ''

Cockerill-Ougrée-Providence Cockerill-Sambre was a group of Belgian steel manufacturers headquartered in Seraing, on the river Meuse, and in Charleroi, on the river Sambre. The Cockerill-Sambre group was formed in 1981 by the merger of two Belgian steel groups – SA Cocke ...

'' in 1966, ''

Cockerill-Ougrée-Providence et Espérance Longdoz Cockerill-Sambre was a group of Belgian steel manufacturers headquartered in Seraing, on the river Meuse, and in Charleroi, on the river Sambre. The Cockerill-Sambre group was formed in 1981 by the merger of two Belgian steel groups – SA Cock ...

'' in 1970; the name was shortened to ''Cockerill''. In 1980 merger with

produced

, which through further mergers then became part of

Usinor Usinor was a French steel making group formed in 1948. The group was merged with Sacilor in 1986, becoming Usinor-Sacilor and was privatised in 1995, and renamed Usinor in 1997. In 2001 it merged with Arbed (Luxembourg) and Aceralia (Spain) to ...

in 1999,

Arcelor Arcelor S.A. was the world's largest steel producer in terms of turnover and the second largest in terms of steel output, with a turnover of €30.2 billion and shipments of 45 million metric tons of steel in 2004. The company was created in 2002 ...

in 2002, and then part of

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing corporation, headquartered in Luxembourg City. It is ranked second on the list of steel producers behind Baowu, and had an annual crude steel production of 58 millio ...

in 2008. The mechanical engineering part of the Cockerill, which distinguished itself from other Belgian steelmakers, became a separate company in 2002 when it was purchased from Usinor by a private consortium. As of 2010 the company operates as '' Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie'' (CMI) (previously Cockerill Mechanical Industries) and produces a range of products, including boilers, shunting locomotives, steel mill and other large-scale industrial equipment, and military equipment. As of 2010 steel production in Seraing continued under the name ''ArcelorMittal Liège'', producing flat carbon steel with processes from coking and blast furnace production of steel and continuous casting and hot rolling to coating of steel with zinc or plastic. In 2011 all liquid steel production in the ArcelorMittal Liège division was ended, resulting in protests, strikes, and the temporary kidnapping of several ArcellorMittal executives as a protest against the closure. The company cited overcapacity and uncompetitiveness as reasons for the closure. However, a report by Syndex commissioned by trade unions contradicted the claims of un-competitiveness, claiming ArcelorMittal's reports had used biased accounting. Union officials called for the liégeois steel industry to be taken into ownership outside ArcellorMittal to protect it.Sources: * * * * * *

Notes

References

Sources

External links

List of existing steam locomotives built by John Cockerill''Description de l'établissement John Cockerill à Seraing''
(1854) *, Seraing steelworks {{DEFAULTSORT:John Cockerill (company, 1825-1955) . Defunct manufacturing companies of Belgium John Cockerill Defunct locomotive manufacturers of Belgium History of Liège Seraing Manufacturing companies established in 1825 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1955 19th-century establishments in the Southern Netherlands 1955 disestablishments in Belgium Companies based in Liège Province 1825 establishments in the Netherlands