On 11 February 2010 Rautaruukki celebrated the 50th anniversary of its foundation. The company was founded by the Finnish State and seven major Finnish metal companies: Fiskars, Lokomo, Otanmäki, Outokumpu, Rauma-Repola, Valmet and Wärtsilä. Rautaruukki began operations in Raahe, Finland where the steel works built in the 1960s was the first in the West to make steel using the new, cost-effective continuous casting method. In the 1970s, operations expanded into steel processing, with the construction of a cold rolling mill and the start-up of tube production in Hämeenlinna. In the 1980s, the company began to seek growth potential in Western Europe by establishing sales offices and making acquisitions. In the early 1990s, Ruukki expanded into the construction business, with the acquisition of Finnish steel roof manufacturer Rannila. In the 1990s, the markets in Eastern Europe opened up to the company, first in the Baltics and Poland, and later in Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Hungary. During the first decade of the 21st century, Ruukki began to focus strongly on the solutions businesses, or solutions for construction and the engineering industry. Today, Ruukki has a strong foothold on the Nordic markets and is seeking growth opportunities in the emerging markets of Russia, Central Eastern Europe and also China.
