Producer
Acerinox S.A.
Spanish stainless steel company (BME: ACX, HQ Madrid); operates North American Stainless (NAS) in Ghent, Kentucky — the only fully integrated stainless flat steel producer in the United States (produces hot band, cold-rolled, and finishing on a single campus). NAS Ghent supplies an estimated 60%+ of US flat stainless demand for appliance panels, dishwasher tubs, and refrigerator liners. One Kentucky plant on the Ohio River is effectively the US appliance industry's stainless supply chain. Acerinox also operates Columbus Stainless in Middelburg, South Africa.
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North American Stainless (NAS Ghent, Kentucky)
45%Acerinox Europe (Spain + Other)
35%VDM Metals (High-Performance Nickel Alloys)
20%
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Did you know2023
Acerinox is primarily known as the stainless steel supplier for US household appliances — its NAS Ghent, Kentucky plant provides ~60% of US flat stainless cold-rolled steel for dishwasher tubs, refrigerator liners, and appliance panels. Its 2020 acquisition of VDM Metals (Werdohl, Germany) added a completely separate supply chain: high-performance nickel alloys for aerospace jet engines. VDM produces Alloy 718 (the primary nickel superalloy in jet engine discs and fasteners), Alloy 625 (corrosion-resistant for subsea oil/gas), and nuclear-grade alloys for PWR steam generators. The same Spanish parent company supplies the stainless steel interior of a home dishwasher AND the nickel alloy disc in a commercial jet engine turbine. Acerinox's integrated position across commodity stainless (grades 304, 316) and aerospace superalloys (VDM Alloy 718) means it touches both the supply chain for mass-market consumer appliances and the safety-critical materials market for commercial aviation and nuclear power — two sectors with radically different customer requirements, quality standards, and regulatory environments.
VDM Metals GmbH / Acerinox ↗Origin2023
Acerinox S.A. was founded in 1970 in Spain as a joint venture to bring stainless steel production to Iberia — at the time, all Spanish stainless was imported from Germany, France, and Sweden. The company built its Campo de Gibraltar facility (Los Barrios, near Algeciras) as one of the first greenfield integrated stainless plants in southern Europe. The decisive internationalization step was the 1990 acquisition of the North American Stainless site in Ghent, Kentucky — which Acerinox transformed into the only fully integrated flat stainless production complex in the United States. Ghent sits on the Ohio River, which provides both water cooling and barge access for ferronickel and ferrochromium raw material imports. For three decades NAS Ghent was the structural backbone of US appliance and food service stainless supply. The 2020 acquisition of VDM Metals GmbH from private equity for EUR 521 million expanded Acerinox from commodity stainless into aerospace-grade nickel superalloys — a deliberate move to capture margins from the high-performance materials market where German specialty metallurgy companies (Krupp, Thyssen heritage) had dominated.
Acerinox S.A. ↗