War reparations and export activity
The Soviet Union demanded as a condition for peace with Finland the payment of heavy war reparations. Between 1945 and 1952 KONE sent 108 elevators (mostly huge service elevators), 202 industrial cranes and 265 electric hoists to the Soviet Union, all paid for by Finland’s government. Despite having lost many workers during the war, the company had to increase its skills and capacity to meet Soviet demands for larger and more demanding equipment than it had ever produced. After the war reparations program ended, KONE was well placed to continue exporting its products to Soviet customers.
Finland’s construction industry took a long time to recover after the war, keeping domestic elevator demand at depressingly low levels. Cranes and hoists, on the other hand, were needed as industry struggled to rebuild. With Finnish ports growing and modernizing to handle increasing traffic, KONE began producing harbor cranes in 1950.
Housing complexes, shopping centers, hospitals and office buildings finally started springing up in the 1950s as Finland began making up for lagging development during the Great Depression and war years. Taller and larger buildings called for KONE to develop sophisticated group controls and automatic doors for its elevators.
Export sales accounted for an increasingly important share of KONE’s business. In 1957 KONE founded a sales company in Sweden, Konehissar, to try to win a share of that country’s lucrative elevator market.