Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - The iron and steel industry in Sweden
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of centuries had gained for the Swedish iron a reputation of superiority, which has
never been disputed.
A severe blow to our position as the largest iron manufacturer was dealt through
the invention of the puddling process, which made it possible to use bituminous fuel
for the refining of the pig iron, and through the earlierin vention to use coke in
blastfurnaces. Although the product obtained by the puddling process could not compete
with the Swedish iron in quality, it was good enough to use for structural purposes,
certain machinery parts, plates &c. Consequently, the iron industry of such countries
which had large deposits of coal developed speedily. This was especially the case with
England, where also the great Napoleonic wars in the beginning of the 19th century
hastened the development. The position as largest manufacturer of iron was then for
some time held by that country and has finally passed over to America.
Although the Swedish iron industry has rapidly grown through the 19th and 20th
centuries, the lack of coal deposits in the country has caused that Sweden now occupies
but a very modest place, as far as quantity is concerned, amongst the producers of iron
in the world, based as it is chiefly on the use of charcoal for fuel. The consequence of
this development has been, that Sweden has been obliged to manufacture chiefly high
grade iron and steel for such purposes, where high quality is the chief requirement, and
to import iron and steel for ordinary purposes such as rails, structural iron, &c.
After this short exposé of the general development we will proceed to give some
details of the present standpoint of the Swedish iron industry.
IRON ORES.
The iron ore deposits in Sweden may roughly be divided in two groups, one
situated in the far north in the
province of Lappland, chiefly
north of the polar circle, and the
other in the southern part, in the
provinces of Dalecarlia, Värmland,
Nerike, Vestmanland and
Upland. To the first named group
belong the large deposits at
Kiirunavaara and Gellivaara, where
mining is carried on by the
Grängesberg-Oxelösund Co. The ore
consists of magnetite and is
extremely rich. The percentage of
iron runs as an average from
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