PRODUCTS ABOUT MARKETS Hexagon group home Careers US Site DOWNLOADS CONTACT US EVENTS & NEWS HomeAboutOur History OUR HISTORY Hexagon Ragasco was established in 1998 and delivered its first composite LPG cylinders to the Norwegian company Statoil in 2000. Since then, Hexagon Ragasco has grown steadily and now supplies composite LPG cylinders to leading international retail distributors of propane and butane and some of the largest state-owned oil and gas companies around the world. 2013 Ragasco became Hexagon Ragasco through a corporate branding process aimed at unifying the group and its subsidiaries. 2012 In April 2012, in a joint-venture with the Russian company Autocomponent, Hexagon Ragasco created the company Rugasco to manufacture and sell composite LPG cylinders in Russia and neighbouring countries. 2011 In 2011, Hexagon Ragasco had achieved sales of its composite cylinders to more than 40 countries, becoming the largest supplier in the world. The company continued its focus on obtaining mandatory type approvals in new countries. 2010 In March 2010, Ragasco acquired the Swedish company Composite Scandinavia AB, which was also a composite LPG cylinders manufacturer. With the acquisition, Hexagon Ragasco further solidified its position as the world’s largest supplier of composite LPG cylinders. A new high capacity production line was built in the existing plant located in Raufoss, Norway. 2009 2009 was the year of new records for the now 12-year-old company, with 1.2 million cylinders sold. Additional investments were made to increase production capacity and the company achieved extensive deliveries to France, Venezuela, Iraq and Qatar. In 2009, Ragasco surpassed its record numbers from 2008, making Ragasco’s state-of-the-art production capacity unique compared to other composite LPG cylinder manufacturers worldwide. Throughout 2009, Ragasco delivered its products to two of the largest LPG markets in the world: France, one of the most important LPG-consuming countries in Europe, and Venezuela, becoming the supplier of the first full-scale composite project in South America in partnership with PDVSA. Also that year, Ragasco’s continuous investment in R&D proved successful when the relevant authority in Germany, BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung), granted an extension to the requalification interval for our composite LPG cylinders, making it ten years. This recognizes the outstanding qualities of the composite product with virtually no deterioration over time. 2008 In 2008, Ragasco initiated the manufacture and supply of T4 (full composite) cylinders for CNG-fuelled vehicles. The company made the first deliveries to Mercedes Benz in 2009. The interest in alternative and environmentally-friendly fuel makes this a promising business segment. These activities have now been transferred to Hexagon Raufoss, another subsidiary of Hexagon Composites. This year, sales and distribution from the Raufoss manufacturing facility reached 900,000 units. 2006-2007 To meet the growing LPG composite cylinder demand, Ragasco doubled its production capacity through the implementation of a significant investment and major efficiency improvements in the production line. The result was a state-of-the-art, highly efficient and automated production line, unique in its kind worldwide. In 2007 Ragasco produced the 2 millionth cylinder and achieved its highest yearly production with over 750,000 units. Ragasco also introduced a 33.5L cylinder with immediate market interest. The company's high pressure segment began preparing for serial production of type 4 CNG cylinders. 2004-2005 Ragasco LPG composite cylinders (12.5L, 18.2L and 24.5L) achieved high recognition and interest by customers and end-users on all continents, with Europe as the main market. Ragasco received approval for North America and started selling there. A new milestone also took place - the 1 millionth cylinder rolled off the production line in 2005. Defence and high pressure projects were specifically in focus by the development department while the company experienced industrial and stable ownership within the Hexagon Composites family. 2003 Ragasco’s owner, Hexagon, purchased the CNG systems division from Raufoss United and established it as a separate entity under Hexagon Composites ASA. As a part of this process, the CNG cylinder production of Ragasco was merged into the new entity under the name of Raufoss Alternative Fuel Systems (RAFS). In 2003, Ragasco reached the milestone of 500,000 cylinders produced. 2002 Raufoss Composites AS merged with the subsidiary Ragasco and used this name for the merged companies. Ragasco successfully introduced the new Complet 5 kg products on the market. 2001 Since 2001, Hexagon Ragasco has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Norwegian company group Hexagon Composites. Hexagon Composites purchased 100% of Raufoss' and Statoil's shares in Raufoss Composites AS, including the subsidiary Ragasco. 2000 In April, Statoil increased and moved their investment from Ragasco to Raufoss Composites AS. Statoil ownership became 50% of the shares in Raufoss Composites AS, with Raufoss ASA owning the remaining 50%. In February, the Complet cylinder factory was finished and started production of the new and innovative line of composite LPG cylinders Complet. Ragasco produced 150,000 cylinders during the first year of operation. 1999 The CNG systems department of Raufoss Composites was transferred to Raufoss United (100 % Raufoss ASA), whose strategic focus was the transport industry. The strategic focus of Raufoss Composites AS was the development and production of innovative and axis symmetrical composite products. Raufoss Composites still produced the CNG cylinder as a supplier to Raufoss United. The lightweight CNG concept was introduced to truck applications and delivered to Volvo as the main customer. 1998 Statoil LPG agreed to a long term agreement with Ragasco AS for delivery of the new and innovative Complet cylinder. Statoil I&K invested 33.4% in Raufoss Composites' subsidiary Ragasco, a production unit with sole focus on manufacturing the Complet line of LPG cylinders. The decision to invest in a highly automated and high production volume factory for LPG cylinders was made and the industrialization project started. Deliveries of CNG cylinders continued for both bus and personal car applications. 1997 The Composites Division in Raufoss Technology was "divested" and Raufoss Composites AS was established as a separate wholly owned subsidiary of Raufoss ASA. The lightweight CNG systems concept was introduced for personal cars, with deliveries to Volvo. 1996 Composites were established as a separate division in Raufoss Technology AS. Product development was expanded to include riser/offshore projects as well as the new low pressure LPG cylinder concept. A new lightweight systems concept for CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) for buses, including pressure cylinders, was designed and introduced in the market. Deliveries were made to Volvo as the main customer. 1990 - 1995 The focus of product development was on high-performance pressure vessels and missile structures, specifically targeting the defence and automotive markets. 1980 - 1990 The company focused on the development, qualification and manufacture of high performance pressure vessels - 700 bar working pressure - for defence purposes. The company also focused on the development and manufacture of composite antennas and structures. Back to top CONTACT US Hexagon Ragasco AS Raufoss Industrial Park, B306 P.O. Box 50, 2831 Raufoss NORWAY Phone: +47 61 15 16 00 Contact emails Organisation number: NO878 612 752 SHORT CUTS Our company Composite LPG Cylinders Careers SERVICE Sitemap