SSAB’s Hardox – a success story celebrates 40 years

1 July 2014

Hardox, which is owned by SSAB, is a name that has become synonymous with world-class durability and quality in the world of steel. Its world-leading position is stronger than ever before now that Hardox is 40 years old. For SSAB, Hardox is one of the company’s most successful products ever.

SSAB’s aim was to develop a wear plate that was both harder and tougher than other steels on the market when the company produced Hardox 40 years ago. It needed to be hard to be able to withstand severe wear and tear over a long period of time and tough to be able to handle bending and intense use without cracking.

– When the material was launched in 1974 as the “bendable wear plate”, it was the first wear plate in the world to combine both hardness and toughness and also work well as construction steel, says Christer Offerman, a wear plate specialist at SSAB. Success came right from the start, and ever since then we have managed to develop Hardox for more and more demanding requirements. Thanks to this, Hardox is still a leader in the field of wear plate.

It has been important for the development of the products within the Hardox range that they should both be resilient and work well as structural steel.

– The fact that Hardox is an excellent structural steel has been one of the keys to its success, continues Christer Offerman. This is of great importance to our customers. It means that they can produce effective solutions for thin and light dump bodies, containers and buckets, which can also handle high levels of wear and tear.

All around the world manufacturers’ search for lighter structures is intensive. Lighter weight means more payload and better environmental properties.

Good transport economics is always a priority with our customers, but the environmental advantages that Hardox can offer are becoming more and more important. A lighter vehicle uses less fuel and requires fewer runs and so its emissions are lower.

Hardox has always been well received in the market all over the world. The advantages for customers have been clear throughout the years and led to the creation of one of the globe’s strongest brands in the world of steel.

Interest in using the name Hardox in marketing dumper bodies, digger buckets and other finished products made SSAB decide to launch the concept of Hardox In My BodyTM.

Hardox In My BodyTM is a way for SSAB’s customers to show that the products meet certain quality requirements. The number of companies that meet the requirements for Hardox In My BodyTM is growing all the time. It is a good indicator that even after 40 years on the market Hardox is maintaining its lead in the world market. It is a position we intend to keep for many years to come.