RHI AG

Coordinates: 48°12′31.5″N 16°22′21.3″E / 48.208750°N 16.372583°E / 48.208750; 16.372583

RHI AG (German: Radex-Heraklith Industriebeteiligungs AG) is a Vienna-based Austrian company specialising in producing heat-resistant refractory products for the steel, cement, glass, lime and non-ferrous metals industries. The company has an annual producing capacity of 2 million tonnes of refractory products, making it the largest company in the world in this field of activity. The company employs around 7,700 people in 32 locations in 14 countries, with an annual turnover of approximately EUR 1.6 billion.

History

The company was founded in 1834 by the brickyard and lime kiln owner Friedrich Ferdinand Didier (1801–1867) as the Chamottefabrik F. Didier, at Podejuch, Pomerania (today part of Szczecin, Poland) in what was then Prussia. The company was one of the first in Europe to produce refractory bricks (chamotte) using quartz materials. By 1888 the Didier-Werke, as it was later known, opened its own research and development division with the task of developing new heat-resistant materials. In 1932 the company officially adopted the Didier-Werke AG name and became a major producer of German refractory products.