Les logiques d’adaptation des techniques de métallurgie ameréricains en Europe (années 1930-1960)

The American continuous wide strip rolling mill halved the cost, improved the quality and increased the size of steel sheets after 1926. These mills diffused rapidly in the USA to supply a growing market for autobodies, canstock and consumer goods. European steelmakers adopted this radical, large scale technology during the 1930’s. Pre-war adopters in Europe briefly interpreted strip mill technology to meet political priorities, market circumstances and local technical preferences. The UK steel industry bought standard mill designs directly from two US suppliers. Soviet and German adoption was shaped by political regimes of the time. The Soviet mill formed part of an ambitious industrialisation programme using foreign technology. Their continuous wide strip mill was large in scale, but also conservative in some design features. The German mill was the product of local innovation and international espionage. In France, Renault developed small scale technology. Marshall Aid made post-war adopters conform to US technological norms, with the Cold War influencing the location, design and management practices of strip mills in Europe after 1948.