Hempel Special Metals

About us

Hempel Special Metals is an international owner-managed group of companies with many years of experience in the distribution and processing of high-performance metallic materials, especially semi-finished products in stainless steels, nickel alloys and titanium. Around 80 employees serve our customers at five locations from our own service centres.

Our Mission Statement

We value

our INDEPENDENCE

We are fiercely proud of our independence, we strive to provide the best industry partners to give our customers the best choice of quality product to fit their needs, we are not restricted in our selection and therefore bring commercial and technical benefits to our customers.

our HISTORY and our HISTORY IN THE MAKING

With our historical connections to Firth Brown of Sheffield, the birth place of stainless steel, we are used to being at the cutting edge of metal alloy innovation, always seeking the next generation of metal development with the aim to pass on new ideas to our customers.

our EXPERIENCED TEAM

Our employees have a wealth of experience in all products forms, we employ experts in all areas of special metals and across a wide spectrum of industries. Investing in our Team is key to our development, we continually train, offer help and guidance and respect the individuals that come together to make a stronger unit.

our RELATIONSHIPS

We value our close working relationships with our customers and suppliers alike, we behave professionally and communicate with our partners in the most open and efficient manner with a common goal of bringing success to all parties.

our ENVIRONMENT

We value the environment we are working in. We respect and comply with ethical guidelines. We take corporative and social responsibility. We are ecology minded and protect our environment to assure the quality of life for all generations.

The corporate history

Corporate history of Hempel Special Metals Ltd, Dübendorf, the parent company of the Hempel Special Metals Group:

1919 Foundation of the Swiss representative office of Firth Brown, Sheffield (GB), the first British producer of stainless steels (patent application 1913) in Lausanne

1924 Move to Höschgasse, Zurich and entry in the Zurich Commercial Register under the name of Firth-Stahl-Verkaufs AG

1947 A small warehouse was installed on Überlandstrasse in Dübendorf

1954 "Staybrite" was entered as a brand name in the Swiss Register of Trademarks

1957 Relocation to offices in Zweierstrasse, Zurich

1968 Warehouse I and offices were built on Zürichstrasse, Dübendorf

1976 Extensions warehouses II and III, offices added

1979 Firth Stahl was acquired by F.W. Hempel & Co. of Düsseldorf

2001 The company´s name was changed to Firth AG Special and Stainless Metals and integrated into the Hempel Special Metals Group

2003 A new office building was erected

2006 A European patent was registered for stainless steel alloys for the Swiss watchmaking industry(1.4435NCu, 1.4521N)

2007 All companies of the F.W. Hempel Group active in semi-product distribution changed their name to Hempel Special Metals and were integrated into Hempel Special Metals Holding GmbH, Düsseldorf. The subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Poland were established

2009 A sales office was opened in Shanghai

2014 Start of the ECONOXX metal trading platform

2016 Firmus Metals Ltd in Dewsbury was bought by the British sister company and was integrated into the Group as Hempel Firmus Metals Ltd

2017 With the acquisition of the Hempel Special Metals companies in Germany, Poland and England, Switzerland becomes the headquarters of the group

Takeover of TK-Fittings GmbH and integration into Hempel Special Metals GmbH, Oberhausen

André Hempel takes over 100% of the shares of Hempel Special Metals AG, Dübendorf, which becomes a Swiss bassed corporate group

2020 The group parent company changes the name to Hempel Holding AG and spins-off of the operational business to a newly created subsidiary which takes the name Hempel Special Metals AG. Administrative functions for the group, the investments and the real estate remain with the Holding.

2023 Foundation of Hempel Special Metals SAS, Lyon