Within the XXth century, the decade of the 1950s was witness to two important events in the Spanish metallurgical industry:

• Steel production recovered from the civil war and reached the level achieved during the 1930s.


• The birth of Ensidesa, which caused a revolution in the iron and steel industry existing at the time.

The backbone of the Spanish iron and steel industry was made up at that time of several Asturian companies, such as Altos Hornos de Vizcaya y Valencia, Duro Felguera S.A., Sociedad Industrial Asturiana, Santa Bárbara S.A. and Fábrica de Mieres S.A.

Among many other problems, in an eminently autocratic country as Spain was, the need of raw materials and auxiliary products was outstanding in all kinds of activities and especially in the metallurgical field. Being aware of those needs and having a deep knowledge of the problematic situation, José Suñer Martínez, managing director of Fabrica de Mieres S.A., conceived the idea of setting up in Asturias a factory of rolling cast rolls, which fifty years later constitutes today’s Fundición Nodular S.A.

José Suñer Martínez' initial idea was warmly welcomed by the shareholders of Fabrica de Mieres, and the articles of incorporation were signed in Madrid, before the solicitor Alejandro Bergamo y Llabrés, on the 4th of May, 1956.

This company, after some institutional adjustment, was constituted by two equal groups of investors, known as the Asturian group and the Catalan group. The first group was made up of the Loring, Pidal, Heredia, Cañedo families, most of them direct descendants of the founders of Fabrica de Mieres, S.A. The Catalan group, led by José Suñer Martínez, included prominent manufacturers of the time such as Jose Roca Soler, of de Roca Radiadores, and Agustín Abad, of Abad Rivera.

The idea of Jose Suñer Martínez was made reality and most of the shareholders of Fábrica de Mieres,S.A, previously mentioned, became shareholders of Fundición Nodular S.A.

It should also be pointed out that two other well-known Asturian families joined as shareholders of the company: the Selas and the Figaredos, both pioneers in the mining-industrial development of the region during the last century. Also joining the group was Enrique García Ramal, an outstanding politician linked to the metallurgical industry and, as a pillar of the reliability of the project, the significant participation of the Banco Español de Credito (Banesto).

After fifty years of life, almost all of the families and institutions that initially initiated the project are still nowadays linked to the company.

The ultimate aim of this summary is to remember who, when, how and why Fundicion Nodular S.A. was set up, now that we are celebrating our 50th Anniversary, wishing and hoping that our predecessors could be here to celebrate its first century with us.

Juan José de Abaitua e Ingunza