HISTORY
The E-MAX story is one of entrepreneurship: creating and making the most of opportunities. This is how we have grown to become a reliable partner in the development of sustainable, low carbon aluminium solutions.
It all began in 1996. Three entrepreneurs made their dream come true. They started their own company, specializing in aluminium extrusion; E-MAX Sustainable Aluminium.
Production was started in 1997, with ten employees and a 2500-tonne extrusion press supplying two customers. As the customer base grew, a 3500-tonne press could be added in 2000.
In 2001, the acquisition of E-MAX by entrepreneur Jos Vaessen provided additional growth opportunities. The machinery could be expanded, and the workforce grew to 40 employees. E-MAX now serves some 200 customers in Belgium and the Netherlands.
From 2002 onwards, professional cooperation with subcontractors extended the sales area to Germany, Austria, and France.
In 2005, we opened a completely new logistics centre. The machinery was expanded to include an automatic packaging unit. At that point, E-MAX was achieving an annual turnover of approx. €80 million.
2007: E-MAX undergoes an important evolution. We took over an aluminium foundry from Alcoa in Kerkrade (NL). This enabled us to guarantee a constant supply of raw materials. Straight away, the first steps were taken to achieve synergy between the two companies.
In 2008 E-MAX took a further step in the international market. We began supplying aluminium solutions to Russia.
2009: The company’s growth led to a need for additional equipment. E-MAX expanded its machinery further to include new packaging units, sewing machines, and an automatic die storage system. The necessary investments were also made in the foundry in Kerkrade.
2010: Synergistic collaboration between the extrusion department in Dilsen and the foundry was finally achieved. E-MAX began presenting itself as a fully-fledged aluminium group. As a pioneer in the field of sustainable aluminium, we launched the X-ECO alloys that were developed through three years of research conducted in partnership with renowned research institutes.
In 2011, we continued to grow through the complete take-over of Alex, an aluminium extrusion company in Gullegem (B). Alex was a young company with very modern infrastructure and impressive architecture. The location close to the French border and access to the French market presented great opportunities and was in every sense complementary to the activities of E-MAX.
2017: Aluminium extrusion company BOAL in Wevelgem (B) was acquired and integrated into the activities of the E-MAX Group. As a result, both machine capacity and workforce grew further to 60,000 tonnes per year and 400 employees. The acquisition gave the company an even stronger foothold in France. Over the past few years, there has also been considerable investment in the foundry and production of renewable energy. This makes us the Benelux’s only supplier that exclusively delivers fully low carbon aluminium profiles.
In July 2023, Constellium SE signed a binding agreement with E-MAX for the sale of 3 of its extrusion facilities located in Landau, Crailsheim and Burg in Germany. The final transaction was finalized on Sept. 30, 2023. E-MAX hereby takes a nice step in its growth strategy and increases to 800 employees with an annual turnover of 500 million euros. With a total extrusion capacity of 100,000 tons per year, E-MAX can fully process its own X-ECO casting capacity of 80,000 tons in-house.