[3] The plan received support from the large industrial concerns and capitalists of the Netherlands, including Stork, Royal Dutch Shell, Steenkolen Handels-Vereeniging (SHV), Philips; Hendrikus Colijn, Frits Fentener van Vlissingen, and J. Muysken.

[8] Both blast furnaces were constructed to a design by American company Freyn, Brassert &Co..[9] The coking plant continued to be expanded throughout the 1920s and 30s, and after World War II.

[10][note 2] A brickworks (NV Phoenix Maatschappij voor Vervaardiging van Hoogovensteen), was built to use slag from the blast furnace to make building products, but the enterprise ceased in 1927.

[12] In 1928 the KNHS and Royal Dutch Shell set up a joint venture Mekog which was to manufacturer fertiliser using chemicals derived from coke oven gas.

During the World War II occupation the mill was confiscated and shipped to Watenstedt (Salzgitter), Germany where it was installed in the Reichswerke Hermann Göring steel plant.

The mill was built to supply the Van Leer company's own steel needs, and not as an independent commercial concern.

In 1941, under the Nazi occupation during World War II, Van Leer's Jewish owner Bernard van Leer was forced to flee the country, and the mill was acquired by KNHS, and integrated into the rest of the IJmuiden site: it became known as Walserij Oost, remaining in use until 1953,[19][18][20] and being replaced by the mills of Breedband NV.

[22] The mouth of the North Sea canal at IJmuiden was used as a base for the Kriegsmarine, and the steelworks itself was a strategic target for attack, and bombings and lack of raw materials brought production to a halt.

[23][24] After the end of World War II reconstruction of the Netherlands began, and as part of this process investments were made in the steelworks.

The project introduced hot and cold rolling mills for thin plate, of 60 and 75 thousand tonnes per year capacity respectively, and a galvanising line.

[6][25] During the same period architect Willem Marinus Dudok was commissioned to design a head office for the company in Velsen, which was completed 1953.

[30] Also in the post-war period an automated casting machine was installed in 1948, two new blast furnaces activated in 1958 and 1961, and a mill for steel rod and wire production was commissioned in 1964.

The steel crisis of the 1970s prevented any positive expansion and the company was disbanded in 1982 when funding arrangements for the loss-making Dortmund plant could not be agreed.

The Chinese contractor was fined for breaches of safety practice, and made to improve working conditions, as well as retrospectively paying its workers 15,000 guilders.

[54][49] In 2000 a hot dip galvanising line Galtec 2, with a capacity of 400,000 tonnes per year of zinc coated coil began operation; it was the second to be produced as part of a joint venture with Sidmar.

[55] A joint venture (42.5%) Galstar LP with Weirton Steel for another galvanising line built in the late 1990s in Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA entered bankruptcy in 2001 having been closed due to poor demand after only 4 months in production.

[56][note 5] Plans for the construction of an (€223 million) additional hot dip galvanising line and cold rolling mill were made in 2005, for an expected completion in 2008.

In the 2014/2015 financial year the IJmuiden site made a profit of c. €340million, resulting a 9.19% bonus to the workforce, then numbering c. 8000 to 9000 persons.

In 1964 a joint venture with Hoogovens as major (50%) partner established an aluminium company Aldel in the north east of the Netherlands; the enterprised was backed by the state which guaranteed a long term supply of energy a low price: a large natural gas discovery had been made in the region.

[66][67] Divisions in the board of Corus arose in 2002 when the company announced it was to sell its profitable aluminium business to Pechiney for over £500 million; Corus's British division was making a loss at this time and the sale was seen by Dutch interests as being used to prop up the loss-making British interests with no backward investment in the European mainland side of the business.

[70] In 2009 smelters in Delfzijl (Netherlands) and Voerde (Germany) were sold to Briand Investments B.V., an associate of Klesch, a large commodity trader.

[75] In 2011 a €3million investment was made into the factory improving facilities for manufacturing tube steel for car chassis construction.

[76] In 1983 the company, Sidmar and Phenix Works reached agreement on a joint venture SEGAL (Société Européenne de Galvanisation) at Ivoz-Ramet, Liège, Belgium which would produce hot dip galvanized steel for the car industry.

[83][84] Governmental financing for rescue investment in UGB La Louvière could not be agreed and the plant was sold to Duferco in 1999.