Beocsin cement factory union ltd

The Beocsin Cement Factory Unio Rt. was established in 1906 by the merger of several previously existing and operating cement factories by the Hungarian General Credit Bank (MÁH). The first company in cement production in Hungary was the plant in Ftatlan, which was the same time as the Beocsin cement factory was established in 1869. They were followed by the Nyergesújfalu plant in 1870 and the Óbuda-újlak cement factory in 1880. However, it was true of the whole industry that it had difficulty finding a market in the face of strong international competition. Previously, before the Reunification, it had been forbidden to set up a cement factory in Hungary because of a decree issued by Maria Theresa, and after the abolition of the decree, foreign interests - even within the Monarchy - dominated the market. At the same time, however, a technological change helped the Hungarian plants' prospects, as the switch from the former Parker Roman cement to Portland cement, a much more durable and faster-working material, was taking place.

The Beocsin Union was formed by the merger of the Redlich, Spitzer and Ohrenstein cement plants, which were owned by MÁH. The merged company thus had its headquarters in Budapest, while it had a cement factory in Beocsin (also known as Belcsény, near Petrovarad), a millstone factory in Novi Sad and a coal mine in Czerevicze (near Beocsin). The company's share capital was very high for the time, KK 7 600 000; Henrik Ohrenstein was the company's chairman, while the board of directors consisted of Károly Barcza, Zsigmond Kornfeld, Lipót Mandl and Ede Spitzer. The production capacity of the plant at that time was 2 000 000 m/year of Portland cement and 1 000 000 m/year of Roman (formerly known as Romanian) cement. In the same year, permission was granted for the construction of a local railway line between St. Petersburg and Beocsin, which soon successfully integrated the company's products into the economic cycle through transport. Thanks also to this, in the first year they made a record profit of K 1 507 728, which was also due to the fact that the joint-stock company did not have to build new factories but to operate existing ones in a coordinated way.

The company's good performance is clearly reflected in its profits and stock market listing. By the end of 1911 their shares with a par value of K 200 had reached a price of K 963, while profits peaked in 1912 at K 3 334 917. This was helped by the founding of Zsolna Cement and Lime Works Ltd. in 1909, the acquisition of the majority of the shares in Croatia Portland-Cement Works Ltd. in Zagreb in 1910 (bringing the company's share capital to 8 800 000 kroons), the purchase of the Vulkan Cement Works Ltd. in Selyp, which was in liquidation, and the acquisition of all the shares in Lédeczi Portland-Cement Works Ltd.

In 1908, the company's manager, Henrik Ohrenstein, was awarded the Hungarian nobility with the first name of Bečin by King Ferenc József. The noble coat of arms is eloquent, with the lion in the lower field of the French shield standing on a triple pile, where this triple pile also forms a mine and a shaft. Moreover, in a feat that few have achieved, within two years, on 24 November 1910, the head of the family and his legitimate children, Baron George Ohrenstein of Beocsin, were made barons and became members of the company's board of directors in the second quarter of the 20th century.

The World War set back the company's operations, and afterwards in 1920 the newly formed Yugoslavia seized all the company's interests within its borders and attempted to expropriate and nationalise them. This attempt was thwarted, however, by the excellent contacts of the MÁH in Belgrade, and eventually, with the help of these Belgrade banks, the company Beočinska Fabrika cementa A. D. was formed, which took over the Yugoslav interests, but the main shareholder of the company remained the Budapest company, which also restarted the Selyp factory in 1922.

coat of arms of Henrik Ohrenstein of Beocsin

After the post-war inflation, the company was consolidated with a share capital of P 4 500 000, and was able to increase its turnover significantly in the 1920s. In 1925, the profit was P 614 597, then P 1 024 342 in 1927 and P 1 233 709 in 1930.

The Great Depression hit the factory in 1932, and it was forced to reduce its share capital from 8 000 000 Pengl to 1 500 000 Pengl in the spring of that year. The company then suffered a slow decline and, although it managed to keep its balance sheet in positive territory, it was unable to emerge from the crisis. Until 1942, as far as we have records, it operated with a modest profit of around P100 000. The factories and production plants were all nationalised as a result of the post-war communist regime in central Europe.

During the second Yugoslav era, the Beocsin unit of the factory continued to operate and by 1970 it had also undergone a modernisation. Finally, the plant and BFC were bought by the Lafarge Group in 2002 and the plant is now the largest building materials plant in Serbia, Lafarge BFC d.o.o.