Origins

The foundation, in February 1858, of the company Duro y Compañía, promoted by Pedro Duro Benito, marks the beginning of the business trajectory of what is today Duro Felguera. Initially, the company specialised in iron and steel production and coal extraction, becoming the country’s leading iron and steel company at the end of the 19th century.

In 1900, Duro y Compañía became Sociedad Metalúrgica Duro-Felguera, S.A., and in 1905 it was listed on the stock exchange. In 1920 it was the largest coal company in the country, thanks to whose profits important technical transformations were undertaken in the iron and steel business.

During the 1940s and 1950s, mining found a favourable environment, and in the steel industry, Duro, together with Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, dominated the national market until around 1960.

The 1960s marked the beginning of the mining and industrial restructuring process. In 1961, the Unión de Siderúrgicas Asturianas (UNINSA) was created, made up of Duro Felguera, Fábrica de Mieres and the Fábrica de la Sociedad Industrial Asturiana, the seed of what would later become ENSIDESA, to which all the steel assets of Duro Felguera were transferred. With regard to the coal business, in 1967 Duro and other mining companies transferred their assets to the public company Hulleras del Norte, S.A. (HUNOSA).

Since then, DF has been specifically dedicated to the production of capital goods, diversifying its business to meet the different equipment demands of the sectors.