Bauxit Trust A.-G., Zurich
The 1920 Treaty of Trianon put the Hungarian bauxite industry at a disadvantage. The reason for this was that most of the bauxite mines were annexed from the mother country and became foreign-owned. In order to bring back at least part of the production from the foreign mines to Hungary, which could not have been achieved with Hungarian-owned companies in Hungary, József Hiller (later to become CEO of the company), the banking company Bankhaus Blankart & Die Kommandit A.-G. (Zurich) and the Aluminium Ore Mining and Industry Limited Company jointly founded the company Bauxit Trust A.-G. in Zurich in 1923.
By the end of the 1920s, the company was able to expand, acquiring all the shares of the Aluminium Ore Mining and Industrial Company, part of the shares of S. A. per l'Escavo e l'Industria di Minerali d'Alluminio Trieste, Aluminia, S. A. Miniera Bucuresti and the Béltek Manor Forestry Joint Stock Company of Satu Mare.
The group's economic manager was József Hiller, but the technical affairs were in the hands of the German shareholders. By the 1920s, the company had secured an advantageous contract in Hungary. At the same time as bauxite production in the company's mines in Istria was declining and then ceasing, none of the Hungarian entrepreneurs and explorers had the capital to exploit the vast bauxite assets in Ghent (the closed exploration companies of Jenő Balás and Andor Lázár did not have the capital to carry out exploration and production in the Ghent bauxite mine). Thus, when the company offered the Hungarian state 8 million pence for the right to extract it, the Hungarian state accepted and signed the contract with the company in the summer of 1925. At the same time, two German companies, Vereinigte Aluminium-Werke A.G. and Tavi Minen und Eisenbahn Gesellschaft, joined the group, so that the contract essentially put the right to produce Hungarian bauxite in German hands for 20 years.
After overcoming the difficulties caused by the Great Depression in the 1930s, the company was able to increase its profits significantly. This enabled it to become a monopoly not only in Hungarian bauxite production but also in the production of bauxite in south-eastern Europe, making it one of the world's largest bauxite producers. The group consisted of 6 independent joint stock companies in Hungary and 7 abroad. The company's affairs were managed by Blankart & Cie Bankhaus in Zurich, while in Budapest it was represented by Alumíniumérc Bánya és Ipar Részvénytársaság.
By the time of the Second World War, his profits had exceeded 2.5 million Pengo. In the 1940s, the company and its partly affiliated MÁK carried out extensive research in the Gant experimental laboratory, the Iszkaszentgyörgy laboratory, the Budapest Chemical Factory, the Viktória Chemical Works Joint Stock Company and the Tatabánya laboratory. During these years, the company produced bauxite not only in the Ganta mine but also in the Istria peninsula, in the Croatian-Dalmatian region, in the Bihor mountains and carried out research in Greece and France.
After the Second World War, the company fell apart: under the Potsdam Agreement (July-August 1945), the shares of German companies were transferred to Soviet ownership. Of the Hungarian subsidiaries, the Alumina Ore Mining and Industry Joint Stock Company was transformed into a Soviet-Hungarian joint stock company, while Bauxit Industrial Joint Stock Company operated as an independent company until nationalisation in 1948.
Sources
Antal Andrássy: Where the red road leads... Publishing Company. Veszprém, 1973.
Ferenc Gáspár, Éva Kósa: Bauxit Trust A. G., Aluminium Ore Mining and Industry Ltd. and the companies of the group: a report. Archives Inventories 41. Budapest, 1968. 12.
Álmos Tóth: The early period of the history of Hungarian bauxite material testing (1863-1946) . 2008, 141(6).
István Tóth: The life and work of Dr. József Hiller (1885-1945), founder of Aluérc Ltd. Mining and Metallurgy Journals - Metallurgy. 1997, 130(5-6).
István Tóth:In memory of Jenő Balás (1882-1938), the discoverer of bauxite in Gánt. Metallurgy Journals - Mining. 1998, 131(4).
Founded in 1923
Date of cessation: 1948
Founders: Aluminiumérc Bánya és Ipar Aktientársaság, Bankhaus Blankart & Die Kommandit A.-G. (Zurich)
Securities issued:
| Bauxit Trust A.-G., Zurich |
Decisive leaders:
1929-1931 | dr. Ing. L. c. Moritz von der Parten |
1932-1934 | Karl Schirner |
1935-1937 | Pál Tolzmann |
1938-1944 | Schröder H. G. |
Main activity not set
Main products are not set
Seats:
1932-1938 | Zurich Stadthausquai 7. |
1939-1944 | Budapest V. Kossuth Lajos tér 18. |
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: Róbert Szabó
Founded in 1923
Founders: Aluminiumérc Bánya és Ipar Aktientársaság, Bankhaus Blankart & Die Kommandit A.-G. (Zurich)
Decisive leaders:
1929-1931 | dr. Ing. L. c. Moritz von der Parten |
1932-1934 | Karl Schirner |
1935-1937 | Pál Tolzmann |
1938-1944 | Schröder H. G. |
Main activity not set
Main products are not set
Seats:
1932-1938 | Zurich Stadthausquai 7. |
1939-1944 | Budapest V. Kossuth Lajos tér 18. |
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: Róbert Szabó
Bauxit Trust A.-G., Zurich
The 1920 Treaty of Trianon put the Hungarian bauxite industry at a disadvantage. The reason for this was that most of the bauxite mines were annexed from the mother country and became foreign-owned. In order to bring back at least part of the production from the foreign mines to Hungary, which could not have been achieved with Hungarian-owned companies in Hungary, József Hiller (later to become CEO of the company), the banking company Bankhaus Blankart & Die Kommandit A.-G. (Zurich) and the Aluminium Ore Mining and Industry Limited Company jointly founded the company Bauxit Trust A.-G. in Zurich in 1923.
By the end of the 1920s, the company was able to expand, acquiring all the shares of the Aluminium Ore Mining and Industrial Company, part of the shares of S. A. per l'Escavo e l'Industria di Minerali d'Alluminio Trieste, Aluminia, S. A. Miniera Bucuresti and the Béltek Manor Forestry Joint Stock Company of Satu Mare.
The group's economic manager was József Hiller, but the technical affairs were in the hands of the German shareholders. By the 1920s, the company had secured an advantageous contract in Hungary. At the same time as bauxite production in the company's mines in Istria was declining and then ceasing, none of the Hungarian entrepreneurs and explorers had the capital to exploit the vast bauxite assets in Ghent (the closed exploration companies of Jenő Balás and Andor Lázár did not have the capital to carry out exploration and production in the Ghent bauxite mine). Thus, when the company offered the Hungarian state 8 million pence for the right to extract it, the Hungarian state accepted and signed the contract with the company in the summer of 1925. At the same time, two German companies, Vereinigte Aluminium-Werke A.G. and Tavi Minen und Eisenbahn Gesellschaft, joined the group, so that the contract essentially put the right to produce Hungarian bauxite in German hands for 20 years.
After overcoming the difficulties caused by the Great Depression in the 1930s, the company was able to increase its profits significantly. This enabled it to become a monopoly not only in Hungarian bauxite production but also in the production of bauxite in south-eastern Europe, making it one of the world's largest bauxite producers. The group consisted of 6 independent joint stock companies in Hungary and 7 abroad. The company's affairs were managed by Blankart & Cie Bankhaus in Zurich, while in Budapest it was represented by Alumíniumérc Bánya és Ipar Részvénytársaság.
By the time of the Second World War, his profits had exceeded 2.5 million Pengo. In the 1940s, the company and its partly affiliated MÁK carried out extensive research in the Gant experimental laboratory, the Iszkaszentgyörgy laboratory, the Budapest Chemical Factory, the Viktória Chemical Works Joint Stock Company and the Tatabánya laboratory. During these years, the company produced bauxite not only in the Ganta mine but also in the Istria peninsula, in the Croatian-Dalmatian region, in the Bihor mountains and carried out research in Greece and France.
After the Second World War, the company fell apart: under the Potsdam Agreement (July-August 1945), the shares of German companies were transferred to Soviet ownership. Of the Hungarian subsidiaries, the Alumina Ore Mining and Industry Joint Stock Company was transformed into a Soviet-Hungarian joint stock company, while Bauxit Industrial Joint Stock Company operated as an independent company until nationalisation in 1948.
Sources
Antal Andrássy: Where the red road leads... Publishing Company. Veszprém, 1973.
Ferenc Gáspár, Éva Kósa: Bauxit Trust A. G., Aluminium Ore Mining and Industry Ltd. and the companies of the group: a report. Archives Inventories 41. Budapest, 1968. 12.
Álmos Tóth: The early period of the history of Hungarian bauxite material testing (1863-1946) . 2008, 141(6).
István Tóth: The life and work of Dr. József Hiller (1885-1945), founder of Aluérc Ltd. Mining and Metallurgy Journals - Metallurgy. 1997, 130(5-6).
István Tóth:In memory of Jenő Balás (1882-1938), the discoverer of bauxite in Gánt. Metallurgy Journals - Mining. 1998, 131(4).