Metall-Chemie was founded in Hamburg in 1949 as a trading company. It was initially part of the Lubovitch Group in Paris, which started in the 1930s trading ores and metals and had more than 20 subsidiaries world-wide.

Following its tradition, after its founding, Metall-Chemie traded exclusively in ores and metal semi-finished products. The product range was later successively expanded to include chemicals and chemical products.

These trading activities formed the basis for the present-day Metall-Chemie Group, which has been independent since the mid-1990s. Today, production and trading companies working in the business areas of fine chemicals, fastening- as well as conveyor technology, surface finishing, and non-ferrous metals operate under the umbrella of "Metall-Chemie Holding GmbH".