In the 1950s, Finland's Outokumpu started nickel production with a view to making stainless steel; open-pit chromite mining began at Kemi in 1966 and ferrochrome production in 1967 at nearby Tornio, which is located at the far northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia. Stainless steel production at Tornio commenced in 1976.
In January 2001, Outokumpu and Corus merged their Outokumpu Steel and Avesta Sheffield stainless units to create AvestaPolarit, and in March 2003 Outokumpu took full ownership. Today Outokumpu Stainless does the steelmaking and Outokumpu Chrome Oy operates the Kemi mine with 132 people, and the Tornio ferrochrome plant which employs 175. Although Outokumpu has sold its base metal mines, Kemi remains an integral part of the expanded stainless steel production chain centred on Tornio.