Our history
Metso was created through the merger of Valmet and Rauma in 1999. Valmet was a paper and board machine supplier, while Rauma’s operations were focused on fiber technology, rock crushing and flow control solutions. The merger produced an equipment supplier serving the global process industry.
Roots in the 18th century
The history of Metso Corporation goes all the way back to the 1750’s. It was then that a small shipyard was established in the Viapori fortress on the islands outside Helsinki. In the early 20th century it ended up in the ownership of the Finnish state and became part of Valmet. Ships have also been built in the town of Rauma, on Finland’s west coast, since at least the 16th century, with the shipyard owned by Rauma-Raahe Oy starting in Rauma in 1945.
At least four of the companies forming part of the present Metso Corporation date back to the 19th century. The Karlstad foundry in Sweden began in 1865, while Sunds Bruk, the predecessor of Sunds Defibrator Industries Ab, was established in Sweden in 1868, and the Nordberg Manufacturing Company started in the United States in 1886. The founder of Nordberg was Bruno V. Nordberg, a Finnish-born immigrant. 1895 saw the establishment in France of Ateliers Bergeaud, which came into Rauma-Repola’s ownership in 1987.
Last updated: May 25, 2009
