Plansee Group

History

Paul Schwarzkopf (born 13 April 1886), an industrial entrepreneur and pioneer in the powder metallurgy field, founded Metallwerk Plansee GmbH in 1921. Schwarzkopf, who was searching for a suitable production site close to a hydropower station at the time by placing a newspaper advertisement, ultimately decided in favour of Reutte. Between 1929 and 1931, the company started to produce carbides and hard materials using new and specially developed approaches.

In 1938, Schwarzkopf was expropriated following the annexation of Austria to the German Reich, as he was considered to be Jewish under the Nuremberg laws and decided to flee from the National Socialists to the USA. As a result, the company was part of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke AG between 1938 and 1952.

In 1939, Schwarzkopf founded the American Electro Metal Corporation, today operating as Plansee USA LLC. Schwarzkopf continued to conduct research in the field of powder metallurgy in exile and returned to Europe in 1947. In 1952, Paul Schwarzkopf became the sole proprietor of Metallwerk Plansee GmbH again and expanded the company into an international enterprise.

Paul Schwarzkopf died in his home of Reutte in 1970. The company was subsequently run by relatives and non-family managers.

In the early 1980s, the Plansee Group comprised 14 companies worldwide. In 1987, the operations of Plansee High Performance Materials and Plansee Hard Metal Tools (Plansee Tizit) became separate divisions.

In 1996, a fire broke out in the sintering plant of Plansee Tizit in Reutte. Hilde Schwarzkopf, who represented the family’s interests on the Supervisory Board from 1978 on and was referred to as the Grande Dame of Tyrolean Industry, appeared before the workforce shortly thereafter, announcing her commitment to the reconstruction of the site despite the damage it had incurred.

In 2002, the Plansee Group merged its division Plansee Hard Metal Tools with the Luxembourg company Cerametal, forming the new company Ceratizit. The Plansee Group owns a 50 percent stake in Ceratizit. A joint venture had previously existed between Cerametal and Plansee in 1948.

In 2008, the Plansee Group acquired the division GTP from Osram Sylvania. Since 2011, the Plansee Group has successively acquired business interests in the Chilean molybdenum and rhenium producer Molymet.

The companies of the Plansee Group cover the entire powder metallurgy process chain. The extracted ore is processed into pure metal powder. The powder is then worked into semi-finished products and tool blanks using powder metallurgical methods – including pressing, sintering and forming – and is subsequently processed mechanically. Depending on the requirement, the Plansee Group supplies metal powder, semi-finished products or ready-to-install components made from refractory and hard metals. Since resources are scarce and expensive, the first step - procuring the raw materials by cooperating with mines or recycling facilities - is becoming increasingly important.

The Plansee Group primarily processes molybdenum and tungsten, but also other refractory metals such as tantalum, niobium and chromium as well as their alloys and composites.

Sales markets include consumer electronics, the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, the construction industry, energy engineering, medical technology, the semiconductor industry and aerospace.