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Finland Basic Metals
Domestic ore could not meet industrial demand, but the
efficient metal-processing branch, which had developed
some of
the world's most advanced technologies, provided a firm
foundation for the production of more advanced goods
(see Minerals
, this ch.). State-owned firms (and firms in which
the
state owned a majority interest) led the development of
metals
production. The Rautaruukki works at Raahe in northern
Finland,
for example, was the main producer of iron and steel. The
state
and major engineering firms jointly owned the enterprise,
an
arrangement that ensured that the works responded well to
the
needs of industries using their products. The works
remained
profitable during the late 1970s and the early 1980s, a
period
marked by the decline of the European steel industries.
This
success was due not only to adept management but also to
good
labor relations. Likewise, the state-owned Outokumpu
Group, which
possessed flash-smelting technology that gave it a major
advantage during the mid-1980s, controlled much nonferrous
metals
production. While most of Finland's iron and steel were
used at
home, most of its copper, zinc, and nickel were exported.
Data as of December 1988
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