The Unión Española de Explosivos (UEE) was a Spanish company that existed between the XIX and XXI century. It had a presence in strategic sectors such as the chemical and armaments industries, at one point being considered one of the most important companies in Spain.
Originally established to manufacture explosives, the company later diversified into other industries, including the production of cartridges and fertilizers. In 1970, it merged with the Compañía Española de Minas de Río Tinto, forming Unión Explosivos Río Tinto. However, this merger was temporary, and some years later UEE would regain its corporate identity and independent existence. After a long process of reorganization and international expansion, in 2006 it was renamed Maxam.
History Founding and early years The company was born in 1896 from the union of the (originally created in 1872) and seven other dynamite manufacturers, giving rise to the birth of the "Unión Española de Explosivos". The new company was formally established in Bilbao on March 16, 1896, with the participation of prominent industrialists. In 1897 the State granted UEE the legal monopoly for the production and distribution of explosives in Spain for a period of twenty years, until 1917. This gave the company a privileged position in the market, and over time it would become one of the leading Spanish companies. Although UEE initially focused on the manufacture of gunpowder and explosives, it later diversified its business and also engaged in the production of fertilizers (potashes, phosphates...). In 1903 UEE created the Sociedad General de Industria y Comercio (GEINCO), a subsidiary based in Bilbao under which to consolidate all of the company's activities related to the manufacture of chemical products and fertilizers at its facilities in Galdakao, Bilbao-Elorrieta, and La Manjoya (Oviedo).
During the course of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) UEE's facilities were divided between the two zones, depending on the success or failure of the coup d'état in each area. The factories were seized by both sides for war production, as occurred, for example, with the factories based in Catalonia, which were seized by the Comisión de Industrias de Guerra. In the case of the factories in Biscay, following the Francoist occupation of the territory, from the second half of 1937 onward UEE's production centers experienced significant growth.
From the postwar period to the developmentalist era
After the end of the conflict, UEE moved its registered office from Bilbao to Madrid, specifically to number 20 Paseo de la Castellana. In 1941 the company acquired the and its facilities, in the province of Huelva, from the Compañía Anónima de Buitrón for 1,124,100 pesetas. During those years there were talks between UEE and the Rio Tinto Company Limited regarding the possibility of the former acquiring the Riotinto mines, although these did not come to fruition. In 1947 it formed a joint subsidiary with the company , Productos Químicos Ibéricos, with the aim of dividing markets and establishing areas of influence between them.
During the early years of the Franco regime, the company underwent a period of consolidation, reorganizing in 1949 into six business divisions: fertilizers, chemical products, industrial explosives, military explosives, mining, and studies. The production and distribution of explosives remained UEE's main activity, with the Galdakao plant being the largest explosives factory in Spain. However, over the years the production of fertilizers and superphosphates gained greater weight, coinciding with a favorable economic climate that fostered the development of both sectors. UEE came to own a network of subsidiaries with a presence in the chemical industry. In 1970 it absorbed the Compañía Española de Minas de Río Tinto, thus giving birth to Unión Explosivos Río Tinto (ERT).
Over the following two decades, the ERT group undertook a business expansion that gave it a dominant position in the armaments and chemical sectors. However, the severe crisis experienced by Spanish industry during the 1980s negatively affected the corporate group and jeopardized its future.
Reorganization When the Ercros holding company was created in 1989 from the merger of ERT and , the "Unión Española de Explosivos" was reconstituted as a subsidiary of the new group, in charge of the military-strategic segment. However, the new conglomerate's financial situation was very fragile due to its heavy debt. After Ercros suspended payments in 1992, it decided to divest a large part of its subsidiaries. In 1993 it sold Unión Española de Explosivos to the Pallas Invest group, a European investment fund. From then on, the former UEE resumed its independent existence. Over the following years the company underwent a process of internal reorganization, which involved a considerable reduction in staff, as well as an international expansion that would give it a presence on all five continents. In 2006 the decision was made to adopt a new name, Maxam, as part of a change in image and structure.
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es:Unión Española de Explosivos