Skip to main content

Metso’s 150th anniversary

Crushing equipment specialist Metso is now celebrating its 150th anniversary. The firm started in business in 1868 as a local ironworks and the firm has evolved through a series of mergers, acquisitions and divestments. It now has operations in more than 50 countries and a workforce of over 12,000. Metso is a global industrial company providing the world's mining, aggregates, recycling, and process industries with innovative solutions for the sustainable processing and flow of natural resources. During its
September 17, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Crushing equipment specialist 6934 Metso is now celebrating its 150th anniversary. The firm started in business in 1868 as a local ironworks and the firm has evolved through a series of mergers, acquisitions and divestments. It now has operations in more than 50 countries and a workforce of over 12,000. Metso is a global industrial company providing the world's mining, aggregates, recycling, and process industries with innovative solutions for the sustainable processing and flow of natural resources.


During its 150 years, Metso has been in many businesses, ranging from steam engines, locomotives, car manufacturing, forest machines, and pulp and paper machines, to valves, metal and waste recycling equipment, and solutions for rock and mineral crushing and screening.  One of its core areas of expertise today is aggregates and minerals processing: key ingredients for the construction and manufacture of infrastructure.

The first innovations that kicked off mechanical crushing and screening processes in the mines and quarries were introduced in the 1800s. Bruno Nordberg, a Finnish migrant who settled in Michigan in the US, produced some of the first crushing equipment for mines. In 1928, Nordberg acquired the Symons cone crusher technology, an innovation that revolutionised crushing practices in mines and quarries. Bergeaud & Bruno was established in France in 1895 to manufacture crushing equipment, and in Tampere, Finland, Lokomo produced its first jaw crushers at the beginning of the 1920s. These industry pioneers are all key components of our DNA.

The amalgamation of Svedala Industri into Metso in 2001, and the introduction of solutions like primary gyratory crushers, grinding mills and vertical shaft impactors was elemental in the creation of its crushing and screening business.

As part of the celebration the firm is organising an exhibition of photographs showing its history.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Metso unveils crushing game-changer
    March 7, 2017
    Metso has staged at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017 the global premiere of the first of its new “revolutionary”, multi-action cone crushers. The Metso MX series – of which the MX4 is the first model - is based on patented Multi-Action crushing technology, which combines the piston and rotating bowl into a single crusher.
  • Colas buys Metso plant
    September 26, 2013
    Metso is supplying Colas with a complete crushing and screening plant for use at its Centre Ouest facility in France. This is a significant order and includes primary, secondary and tertiary equipment and the package also includes service maintenance contracts for inspection and extended guarantees. The aggregate produced in the quarry will mainly be used for road construction and this state-of-the-art crushing and screening system is said to offer substantial reductions in energy, production, transport
  • New innovations for crushing and screening equipment market
    September 16, 2015
    Mobile crushing and screening solutions have become a key component for the aggregate production sector - Mike Woof writes. The market for mobile crushing and screening solutions has grown enormously in recent years. With the first track-mounted mobile units having appeared in the 1980s and pioneered by a small number of manufacturers, the range and variety of units on the market has grown enormously since.
  • Engine firm Deutz is celebrating 150th anniversary
    April 3, 2014
    Engine manufacturer Deutz is celebrating its 150th anniversary. The company was established on the 31st March 1864 and was the world's first engine factory. Its history is closely linked with the development of the internal combustion engine with the four stroke ‘Otto’ cycle being developed in 1876. Today the Cologne-based company employs around 4,000 people and has a presence in over 130 countries. The atmospheric gas-powered engine, the four-stroke engine and low-voltage magneto ignition are technical inn