Sheffield Forgemasters

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Sheffield Forgemasters International
(Forgemasters)
Limited company
Industry Engineering
Founded 1805
Headquarters Sheffield, England
Key people
 Graham Honeyman (CEO)
Neil Maskrey (CFO)
Products Steel forgings
Steel castings
Steel ingot and bar
Offshore structures
Services Bespoke heavy engineering
Website www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

Sheffield Forgemasters International (commonly called just Forgemasters or Sheffield Forgemasters) is a heavy engineering firm located in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The company specialises in the production of large bespoke steel castings and forgings, as well as standard rolls, ingots and bar.

History

The forgemasters building is a Victorian relic. The company was established in 1983 from the merger of Firth Brown and British Steel's River Don Works forging operations, as a public company.[1] Their buildings now dominate the Brightside area of East Sheffield. The company can trace its heritage back to the start of the steel industry in Sheffield in the 18th century. The firms of Vickers, Cammell Laird, and Armstrong Whitworth were all nationalised to form British Steel in the 1960s.

The company has had a chequered history due to the cyclical demand for specialist forgings and castings. In 2005 it was the subject of a management buyout.

Capabilities

The company specialises in forged and cast parts for suppliers to the engineering, nuclear, oil, petrochemical, and process industries worldwide.

The company has the American Society of Mechanical Engineers N-stamp accreditation for critical nuclear components, having produced major components for the Astute class submarines and the civil nuclear industry, including Sizewell B, the UK's only pressurised water reactor.[2]

Sheffield Forgemasters currently has the capacity for pouring the largest single casting (570 tonnes) in Europe. The two forging presses in use can exert a pressure of 3,500 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes on a billet of steel. The 3,500 tonne press was installed in 2010 to replace a 1,500 tonne press which dates back to 1897 and was originally steam powered, and after several upgrades became hydraulically operated.

2007 Sheffield floods

The company was severely affected by the 2007 United Kingdom floods, when the nearby River Don flooded the works with several feet of water, but after a cleanup effort Forgemasters was back in action within weeks of the devastation.[3]

2010 expansion

Gate 1 at Forgemasters

Due to increasing demand for their specialist services, in 2010 the firm commissioned a new 4,000 ton forging press, with plans to increase the range of forgings they can supply.[4]

On 17 March 2010, Lord Mandelson announced that the UK Government would loan the company £80 million at a low 3.5% interest rate towards the design and building of a new 15,000 ton forging press (together with other investors).[5][6][7] The press, intended to give Forgemasters the ability to manufacture ultra-large forgings for the nuclear power industry, would allow the UK to use home-manufactured components during the building of proposed new nuclear power plants in the country. According to The Engineer, as of 2010, there was only one other manufacturer in the world, Japan Steel Works, with the adequate presses and certification able to manufacture all the required ultra-large forgings,[8] however the World Nuclear Association stated that very heavy forging capacity was also operating in China and Russia, and was under construction in France and South Korea.[9]

Following the United Kingdom general election, 2010, held on 6 May, the new Government announced a Treasury review of all Government decisions on funding since 1 January,[10] aimed at reducing the country's budget deficit in response to the preceding financial crisis and concerns over sovereign debt, which led to a period of uncertainty about the expansion's future.[11] On 17 June 2010 Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced the cancellation of 12 projects totalling £2 billion agreed to by the previous Labour government,[12][13] including the £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters.[14][15] The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable explained the reason was that the project required very large loans and promised extraordinary rates of return with little risk investment by Sheffield Forgemasters, and given the financial situation the government could not support this.[16] Forgemasters' chief executive stated that the project was not economic using private finance, and was unlikely to go ahead without government loans.[17]

In an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Government may reconsider loaning the company money for expansion.[18] However, in 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the company decided to no longer try to finance a 15,000 ton forging press due to uncertainty about the future of nuclear energy.[19]

On Monday 31 October 2011, the Government announced new lending of up to £36m to the firm, as part of £950m of investment nationwide from the Regional Growth Fund for a variety of equipment in areas like the melt shop, forge and the machine shops.[20][21]

Role in Iraqi supergun scandal

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See also: Arms-to-Iraq

On 11 April 1990, HM Customs & Excise in Middlesbrough seized parts of what were believed to be parts of a massive 'supergun' on a ship bound for Iraq. It was revealed that parts of the gun had been manufactured by Forgemasters who stated that they had been told that the pipes were to be used in a petrochemical project.[22]

References

  1. ↑ Sheffield Forgemasters International History: 20th century Sheffield Forgemasters International
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Forgemasters back with 'never again' warning Sheffield Telegraph
  4. ↑ Sheffield Forgemasters invests £6m as demand soars Sheffield Telegraph
  5. ↑ Forgemasters place UK at forefront of nuclear power manufacturing Sheffield Forgemasters International
  6. ↑ Sheffield Forgemasters gets £80m state loan to make parts for nuclear industry The Daily Telegraph
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Sheffield Forgemasters' nuclear ambition, Jon Excell, The Engineer, 28 April 2010
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ City's anxious wait for where axe falls Sheffield Telegraph
  11. ↑ MP demands swift Government decision over Forgemasters money Sheffield Telegraph
  12. ↑ Coalition government axes £2bn of projects BBC News
  13. ↑ Transport and health projects halted as Government backs down on £10bn commitments The Daily Telegraph
  14. ↑ Sheffield Forgemasters' £80m nuclear parts loan axed BBC News
  15. ↑ Government axes Labour's 'breathtakingly cynical' £80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters Yorkshire Post
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Clegg visits Forgemasters plant The Press Association
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Exports by U.S. Aided Iraq 'Super Gun,' House Banking Chief Says The New York Times

External links

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