History

Klöckner & Co is established on Mercatorstrasse in Duisburg.

The young business Klöckner & Co moves to new premises on Friedhofsweg in the Neudorf section of Duisburg. Later, the street name is changed from Friedhofsweg to Otto-Keller-Strasse.

Branch office is set up in Mannheim, in the State of Baden-Württemberg. The new location is the Company's first in southwest Germany.

Meanwhile, Klöckner & Co has established seven subsidiaries.

Through its investment stake in the Company Wilhelm Alt Nachf. in Hamburg, which is renamed Eckardt 526 Co in 1928, Klöckner & Co expands its scrap trade business segment.

Klöckner & Co establishes its own chemicals division, which initially serves only as a centralized purchasing department for chemical products required for mining. Later, this develops into a division that sells chemicals manufactured by Klöckner’s own plants and associated companies.

The shipping and coal trading company Reederei und Kohlenhandlung GmbH (KRK) is established.At the same time, the cornerstone is laid for today's Klöckner & Co. The seven subsidiaries operate in the solid fuels, transportation and building materials business segments.After World War I, the company moves its headquarters to Mülheimer Strasse 54. This address will remain Klöckner & Co’s corporate headquarters for over 50 years

Klöckner Reederei und Kohlehandel GmbH (KRK) begins to create its own inland shipping fleet. For over 50 years, the green-and-white company flag will fly initially on all German and, later on, increasingly on European overseas routes as well.

Klöckner-Dünge-Handel GmbH is founded in Berlin. Under the name Klöckner-Werke AG, the Eisen- und Stahlwerk Haspe, Mannstaedt Werke, Düsseldorfer Eisen- und Drahtindustrie, Georgsmarien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein, and Eisen- und Stahlwerk Osnabrück merge to form a new mining and steel group.

Benefiting from the English miners' strike, Klöckner Reederei und Kohlenhandlung GmbH (KRK) achieves a record 1.3 million tons in coal exports.

Klöckner & Co enters the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer business with the founding of Stickstoff Gewerkschaft Victor in Castrop-Rauxel.

Following the death of Peter Klöckner’s only son, Waldemar Peter Klöckner, the Peter Klöckner Family Foundation established in 1931 is designated as the heir to the Klöckner Group.

Peter Klöckner brings his son-in-law, Dr. Günter Henle, into the company as a partner. Dr. Henle will not retire as General Partner until 1976 – after nearly 40 years with Klöckner & Co.

A delegation of leading German businessmen headed by Peter Klöckner is invited to Moscow. The volume of what back then was called the "Russian business" amounted to 2 billion Reichsmarks.  Klöckner & Co takes over the oil business of Deutzer Oel-Gesellschaft from what later will become Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG and Mineralölwerke Albrecht & Co, of Hamburg (today’s Deutsche Shell AG). The engine manufacturing and plant construction group becomes Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG.

The shipping and coal trading Company Klöckner Reederei und Kohlenhandlung GmbH (KRK) is now supplying customers in 38 countries. Coal exports exceed 1.5 million tons and domestic sales exceed 1 million tons. KRK thereby becomes one of the "Big Five" coal mining/trading companies.

The Group’s founder, Peter Klöckner, dies in Duisburg on October 5, 1940, at the age of 76. Until 1937, he was the sole shareholder and General Partner of Klöckner & Co.

World War II does not spare the Klöckner headquarters: after a heavy bombing raid, only emergency operations can be sustained there.

Klöckner & Co once again has a well-diversified product range which can now be sold for hard currency – the new Deutsche Mark. In addition, the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 creates a stable political and legal environment. The trend is typified by the scrap segment: until 1948, the division only traded relatively small quantities; shortly after the currency reform, it exceeds the 10,000-ton mark.

Klöckner & Co enters the heating-oil trade, thereby becoming one of the first German companies to start marketing and selling the new fuel. Eight years later, the company Klöckner Heizölhandel GmbH (Klöckner Heating-Oil Trading Co.) is established.

The ruins of the old Klöckner headquarters on Mülheimer Strasse are replaced by a modern, seven-story office tower. The city of Duisburg even uses the new “tower” in promotional ads for the city.

When the Allies ended scrap controls, thanks to a comprehensive network of warehouses and modern processing plants, the scrap iron/scrap metal segment develops into one of the biggest scrap operations in Europe. By acquiring the Company Kölner Reederei GmbH, the Group expands its shipping operations beyond the River Rhine and canal shipping to include maritime shipping as well.

The former Industrieanlagen GmbH (Industrial Plants Co.) is renamed Klöckner Industrie-Anlagen GmbH and quickly becomes a successful multinational Company engaged in the marketing and sale of turn-key industrial plants.

The company Stute Verkehrs-GmbH is established. The new company takes over the management of all group transportation activities.

Klöckner & Co publishes its first annual report. In the same year, the trading company begins setting up select foreign subsidiaries.

With the foreign division’s conversion to a product-management system, this business segment develops into an international steel trading company. The structure of the Klöckner & Co Group is streamlined based on the options stipulated in the Reorganization Act (Umwandlungsgesetz): the total number of subsidiaries is reduced to 30.

The company name Klöckner Eisenhandel (Klöckner Iron Trading), a name with a long tradition, is changed to Klöckner Stahlhandel (Klöckner Steel Trading). At the same time, the product line is expanded to include high-grade structural steel, bright steel and stainless steel.

Dr. Dr. h.c. Günter Henle retires from the company after 40 years as senior artner. His responsibilities are assumed by his sons, Jörg Alexander and Christian-Peter Henle.

Corporate management functions are reorganized, with the group concentrating on the five corporate management units - Steel, the central cffice for international business, raw materials/transportation, building materials/fuels/chemicals and the engineering and industrial plants segment.

Seventy-five years after it was established, Klöckner & Co is one of Germany’s major trading and service companies. It has approximately 10,000 employees. The company is represented in 80 countries around the world by 200 agents, representative offices and wholly owned subsidiaries.

The “International Crude Oil and Oil Products Trading” department runs up losses of between 600 and 700 million Deutsche Marks through risky speculation in crude-oil futures contracts. Deutsche Bank AG becomes the sole shareholder of Klöckner & Co. The company is converted into an Aktiengesellschaft (public limited corporation/joint-stock company). Christian-Peter Henle retires from the company’s management team.

The VIAG Group acquires Klöckner & Co from the Deutsche Bank, thereby becoming the company’s new shareholder.

Klöckner & Co develops into a global trading company. The new areas of focus are steel trading, PC components, PC products, chemicals, energy and textiles. Various investments and disposals are undertaken in order to realign the company.  Among other transactions, it acquires Computer 2000 (in 1995) and the Röder Group (in 1994).

Klöckner & Co focuses on its core business of multi metal trading. In pursuit of this goal, it acquires additional companies: the Swiss market leader, Debrunner Koenig Holding-Gruppe, the Austrian company Ettinger Stahlhandel Ges.m.b.H., the Dutch company ODS B.V. and the French company Arus (now Klöckner Distribution Industrielle). In addition, it acquires the Spanish company Grupo Comercial de Laminados S.A., shuts down its energy and chemical trading operations and deconsolidates its textile investments.

Decision is made to dispose of stake in Computer-2000 and the Röder Group as part of the strategic focus.

Klöckner & Co concludes focus on core business in accordance with corporate law: all materials businesses are transferred to a new company, which once again will operate under the name Klöckner & Co.

Klöckner & Co acquires the British company Richardsons Westgarth and becomes the biggest independent steel trader (not affiliated with any steel mill) on the British Isles. In addition, the subsidiary Klöckner Steel Trade GmbH is sold to England’s Balli Group. This marked the end of Klöckner & Co’s direct-to-customer, warehouse-independent trading.

E.ON AG – which was created by the merger between Viag and Veba – sells Klöckner & Co to the Balli Group, of London.

In May 2003, WestLB AG becomes Klöckner & Co’s majority shareholder. Another shareholder is HSH Nordbank AG.

Dr. Thomas Ludwig is appointed as Chairman of the Management oard of Klöckner & Co AG. He has operating responsibility for the group’s North American businesses and functional responsibility for human resources, corporate communications, legal affairs/compliance, internal auditing and risk management.

WestLB AG sells Klöckner & Co to the American private-equity firm Lindsay, Goldberg & Bessemer (LGB).

Gisbert Rühl joins Klöckner & Co AG as Chief Financial Officer. He is responsible for Accounting, Controlling/M&A, Corporate IT, Finance, Investor Relations, Corporate Taxes and Insurance.

Klöckner & Co goes public on June 28, 2006.

Admission to the MDAX on the Deutsche Börse is finalized on January 29, 2007. In April the American private-equity firm Lindsay, Goldberg & Bessemer sells its last holdings in Klöckner. Since then free float is 100%. On July 27, 2007, Klöckner & Co issues EUR 325 million of convertible bonds to further optimize the group’s financing structure.

On August 8, 2008, Klöckner & Co AG is converted into a European Company (SE = Societas Europaea). In October 2008, in response to the deepening financial crisis, Klöckner & Co initiated a program of urgent measures called "Wave 1": The program of urgent measures includes the temporary suspension of acquisitions, cost-cutting, debt reduction and working capital as security for group financing.

In March 2009, "Wave 2" of the program of urgent measures is introduced. The cost-oriented program builds on "Wave 1" of the program of urgent measures, which was instituted in October 2008. On June 9, 2009, the Company issues EUR 97.9 million of five-year convertible bonds. Klöckner & Co plans to use the proceeds for general business purposes and later for pursuing its proposed external growth strategy. In September, Klöckner & Co carries out a capital increase of 20 million registered shares with gross proceeds of EUR 200 million. With the funds raised by the capital increase, Klöckner & Co plans, among other things, to pursue the industry-consolidation strategy it has followed since its IPO in 2006.

Effective November 1, 2009 Gisbert Rühl takes over from Dr. Thomas Ludwig as Chairman of the Management Board of Klöckner & Co SE. In addition to his role as Chairman of the Management Board (CEO), Rühl will also serve as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  Only ten days after Gisbert Rühl became CEO, Klöckner & Co signed a preliminary agreement to acquire the Becker Stahl-Service Group.

The next acquisition followed at the beginning of 2011. On April 29, 2011 Klöckner & Co took over Macsteel – one of the leading flat steel service center companies in the USA – thereby completing the biggest acquisition in the company’s recent history. Macsteel operates in the significantly more stable, higher value-added steel service center segment; moreover, it serves less volatile and more value added customer sectors. Thanks to the Macsteel acquisition, Klöckner & Co now has a top-3 position in the USA, as it does in all the European markets in which it operates.

Another goal elucidated in the “Klöckner & Co 2020” strategy – that of entering emerging markets – has also been accomplished with the May 6, 2011 takeover of Frefer, Brazil’s third-largest independent steel and metal distributor.

In June 2011, Klöckner & Co carried out a capital increase in order to ensure its ability to take advantage of future growth opportunities while maintaining a solid financial and balance sheet. The group issued 33,250,000 new non-par-value shares, which yielded net proceeds of approximately €516 million that will be used primarily to continue pursuing the “Klöckner & Co 2020” growth strategy.

Effective October 1, William A. Partalis, former CEO of Namasco and CEO of Klöckner USA Holding, has been appointed to the management board of the Klöckner & Co SE. He represents the Americas' segment on the Board. In addition, he is still responsible for managing the American business operations.

After about a year of construction Kloeckner Metals Corporation, a subsidiary of international steel and metal distributor Klöckner & Co, opened a new light gauge flat rolled processing center on the plant site of ThyssenKrupp Steel USA in Calvert, Alabama (USA). With the new service center the company wants to strengthen its traditional value-added flat-rolled business, continue to drive the expansion into the attractive automotive processing business and moreover realize toll-processing for the adjacent steel mill.

In spring 2014 Klöckner & Co has purchased a 75% stake in the Swiss reinforcing steel specialist Riedo Bau + Stahl AG via its Swiss country organization Debrunner Koenig Holding AG. Since then Riedo has become wholly owned. The acquisition of Riedo strengthens Klöckner & Co's leading market position in the attractive Swiss market for reinforcing steel.

Klöckner‘s objective is to fully digitize the supply and service chain. We are thus in the process of revolutionizing the unprofitable business models currently used in the steel trade. kloeckner.i bundles all digitization-oriented projects and initiatives at the core of the startup scene in Berlin. kloeckner.i controls the development and international implementation of all digital solutions and uses Silicon Valley concepts such as “Design Thinking” and “Lean Startup”.

Through its US country organization Kloeckner Metals Corporation, Klöckner & Co has acquired the US sheet metal fabrication company American Fabricators based in Nashville, Tennessee/USA. American Fabricators specializes in the professional fabrication of sheets into complex parts for customers from a wide range of different industries. The company operates state-of-the-art machinery on production facilities spanning some 10,000 square meters. With around 150 employees the highly profitable enterprise generates annual sales of around USD 30 million.

At the beginning of March the new Klöckner web shop went online. Developed using a radically customer-centric design thinking approach, the solution sets new industry standards in terms of user-friendliness and convenience in buying steel online. The webshop as well as other digital tools have been already integrated into the likewise new Klöckner service platform. This platform works as a central access point for all customers and is therefore an important milestone towards the launch of the envisaged Industry Platform in 2017.

Due to a ruling of the index commission of the Deutsche Börse, Klöckner & Co shares left the MDAX index with effect from March 21, 2016 and are since then listed in the SDAX.

In June, Klöckner & Co launched a new program called "One Europe" to further optimize its European distribution business. The program not only aims to cut costs and facilitate synergies, but also to ensure faster, more efficient implementation of the digital transformation. Part of the program are the activities of the country organizations in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The beginning of May saw the further expansion of business with higher value-added products and services. The first section of the Becker Aluminum-Service center, which processes aluminum flat products for the automotive and manufacturing industries, came into operation at Bönen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Marking a major investment of some €35 million, the center is planned to reach its full processing capacity of 80,000 tons of aluminum a year as early as 2018.

As one of the very first companies in Germany, Klöckner & Co stepped up to 186 global frontrunners of climate change engagement and has committed to align its business to the UN Global Compact “Business Ambition for 1.5°C”. In this regard, Klöckner & Co intends to act even more responsibly and take appropriate and verifiable measures helping to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

Effective May 13, 2021, Guido Kerkhoff took over from Gisbert Rühl as CEO of Klöckner & Co SE. With its new corporate strategy "Klöckner & Co 2025: Leveraging Strengths”, the company aimed to become the leading one-stop shop for steel and other materials in Europe and the Americas through accelerated customer growth, comprehensive expansion of its own product and service portfolio as well as expansion of its partner network.

As one of the first companies in the world, Klöckner & Co had its net zero carbon reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Klöckner & Co has thus committed to reducing emissions in the entire value chain to net zero by 2050. Learn more about our reduction goals.

To bring together the entire portfolio of sustainable products and services, Klöckner & Co launched the Nexigen® brand. Under this brand, the company provides transparent, CO₂-reduced solutions in the three categories of materials, processing and logistics.

In August 2023, Klöckner & Co closed the acquisition of National Material of Mexico, a leading independent service center and materials supplier serving automotive and industrial end markets in North America with ten facilities throughout Mexico. The transaction was signed in December 2022 and was made through Klöckner & Co’s U.S. subsidiary, Kloeckner Metals Corporation (“KMC”). The acquisition will help KMC to significantly increase its presence in Mexico, putting it closer to its most important industrial and automotive clients.

In March 2024, Klöckner & Co completed the sale of parts of its European distribution business, comprising the national organizations in France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium, to the Spanish company Hierros Añon S.A. In return, at the end of the year, it invested in a new aluminum processing plant before selling eight distribution sites in the US in September 2025. With these transactions, the company has strengthened its focus on higher-value-added processing while reducing its dependence on volatile, low-margin commodity markets.

In January 2025, Klöckner & Co relocated its corporate headquarters to a sustainable, modern building in Düsseldorf. The new premises follow the “New Work” approach and promote flexible, networked collaboration. Kloeckner Metals Germany GmbH and the Duisburg employees of kloeckner.i GmbH also moved into the new building. The formal relocation of Klöckner & Co SE's registered office to Düsseldorf was officially approved at the Annual General Meeting in May 2025.