60 years of the Linz-Donawitz (LD) process

The world's first industrial-scale LD converter went into operation sixty years ago in Linz. This was a milestone in the history of steelmaking and a good reason for voestalpine to celebrate. It was the birthday of our modern corporate group.

After a good six years of research and development, the first 30 tons of LD steel were tapped from the converter on 27 November 1952 in the former LD steelmaking plant 1 of VÖEST in Linz.

This was a significant step for everyone involved and at the same time the official beginning of the winning LD technology throughout the world, a method used to produce steel by blowing industrial oxygen into hot metal.

Please find more detailed information about this topic on the web site of voestalpine AG: