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The order of King Frederick II - 1753

1753

The history of iron metallurgy in the lands located on the Mała Panew river begins in the 16th century. The favorable conditions: forests, water and rich deposits of low-percentage bog iron ore meant that a large part of the smithys and smelting plants were located in the part of the basin covering the area of the present districts: Strzelce and Opole.
On March 1, 1753, the Prussian king Frederick II signed an order in Potsdam, according to which, on the left bank of the Mała Panew river, between Krasiejów and Schodnia, on the site of the water mill of the miller Ozimek, an iron smelter was to be built. The construction was entrusted to the forest inspector Rhedantz. The construction plan included two high furnaces and one fake furnace. In August 1754, the first tall stove was lit, and in October the second. From that moment on, the ironworks was fully operational. Its average productivity was 125 hundredweight of iron per week.
With time Huta was called "Royal Malapane Huta in Ozimek"Hutte Malapane in Malapane).

The first batch of ore and coke – 1789

1789

The Malapane smelter in Ozimek became famous for the fact that it started using coke in blast furnace melts. Here, for the first time on the European continent, in 1789, ore and coke were charged instead of charcoal. Other innovations were introduced almost simultaneously with the use of coke. From 1791, foundries for clay molds were replaced by sand molding, which allowed for casting parts for steam engines, cylinders, wheels, chains, bridges, pillars, grates, tombstones. Castings and constructions of Huta surpassed all others with the boldness of execution. Bridges were built in Huta in Ozimek as early as 1790. In 1796, an iron bridge over the Strzegomska Water was cast, the individual parts of which, after being assembled, weighed 900 centners. Two years later, a similar bridge was built for Berlin. The bridge over Mała Panew was also thought about. It was designed by the machine inspector Schottelius. At that time, it was an innovative design and a kind of masterpiece of technology. The first person to cross the bridge was Johann Fredrich Julian Reil, the manager of the steelworks, and on September 12, 1827, he put it into use. The bridge is 30 m long and 6 m wide. Total weight - 14,190 kg of wrought iron and 53,305 kg of castings. Currently, it is the oldest iron suspension bridge in Europe. At the agricultural exhibition in Opole in 1850, the products of Huta Małapanew were awarded a silver medal, and a year later, at the World Exhibition in London, the mill rolls were awarded a bronze medal.

The great armory

1905

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were: 1 steel foundry, 1 iron foundry with a treatment plant and a pattern shop, 1 roller turning shop and mechanical workshops. There was an open hearth furnace with a capacity of 5 tons in the steel foundry. In November 1905, a second open hearth furnace with a capacity of 6 tons was put into operation. After the war broke out in 1914, the steelworks had to switch to war production. At that time, a third open hearth furnace was set up. After the steelworks had been connected to the Upper Silesian headquarters network, the "Heroült" electric furnace was put into operation. The steelworks switched entirely to the production of tool and construction steel. During World War II, the plant became a great armory. The greatest development of the steelworks took place after the Second World War. A new pattern shop was built, steel plants, foundries, molding plants and sewage treatment plants were expanded. In addition to the other furnaces, in 1951 the largest 18-tonne arc furnace "Birlec", built by the English, was put into operation. In 1980, the "Künkel-Wagner" automatic forming line was put into operation. Simultaneously with the expansion of the steelworks, employment increased: in 1950, 4,297 people were employed, 1955 - 5,776, 1965 - 6,011, and in 1975, the highest number of 7,052 employees.

The great transformations – 1960

1960

In the past, the steel plant developed its potential and production infrastructure, as well as social and municipal infrastructure, which was to attract workers seeking employment and encourage them to settle in Ozimek. In the 1960s and 1970s, Huta was a forge of staff for the Polish foundry industry. It had its own research facility. She closely cooperated with AGH in Krakow and other universities in the field of research and development. As part of student internships and employment of graduates, she trained many outstanding foundries, who later successfully continued their professional careers in other castings.

The modern marketing – 1993

1993

The introduction of market mechanisms in the economy and the change in the level and structure of demand created a new economic situation. In order to cope with domestic and foreign competition, the steelworks made profound changes in the organization of management, assets, production, marketing and financing methods. In the first stage of restructuring (1993-1995), auxiliary activities were separated, creating limited liability companies on their basis. with a minority share of the steelworks. The non-productive assets were also gradually reduced. The second stage of restructuring covered the years 2000-2001 and consisted in establishing one-person steelworks companies on the basis of production departments. On January 1, 2000, the following companies commenced operations: "Małapanew Maszyny i Konstrukcje”, "Małapanew Armatura” and "Małapanew Modelarnia”, and on July 1, 2001 – „Małapanew - Zakłady Odlewnicze”.

The entry to the „Gwarant” group – 2004

2004

On September 22, 2004, as a result of further organizational and ownership restructuring, the companies spun off from Huta became part of the "GWARANT" Capital Group, and MAŁAPANEW Zakłady Odlewnicze Sp z o.o. returned to the historical name of HUTA MAŁAPANEW Spółka z o.o. continuing over 250 years of steel and foundry traditions in Ozimek.