United States Steel Corporation
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United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries across Central Europe.
Though renamed USX Corporation in 1986, the company was renamed United States Steel in 2001 after spinning off its energy business, including Marathon Oil, and other assets from its core steel concern.
History
Formation
J. P. Morgan formed U.S. Steel on March 2, 1901 (incorporated on February 25),[1]Template:Explain by financing the merger of Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company with Elbert H. Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company[2][3] for $492 million ($Template:Inflation billion today). At one time, U.S. Steel was the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world. It was capitalized at $1.4 billion ($Template:Inflation billion today),[4] making it the world's first billion-dollar corporation.[5] The company established its headquarters in the Empire Building at 71 Broadway in New York City; it remained a major tenant in the building for 75 years.[6] Charles M. Schwab, the Carnegie Steel executive who originally suggested the merger to Morgan,[7] ultimately emerged as the new corporation's first President.[8]
In 1907 U.S. Steel bought its largest competitor, the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, which was headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Tennessee Coal was replaced in the Dow Jones Industrial Average by the General Electric Company. The federal government attempted to use federal antitrust laws to break up U.S. Steel in 1911 (the same year Standard Oil was broken up), but that effort ultimately failed. In 1902, its first full year of operation, U.S. Steel made 67 percent of all the steel produced in the United States.[4] About 100 years later, as of 2001 it produced only 8 percent more than it did in 1902 and its shipments accounted for only about 8 percent of domestic consumption.[4]
According to the author Douglas Blackmon in Slavery by Another Name,[9] the growth of U.S. Steel and its subsidiaries in the South was partly dependent on the labor of cheaply paid black workers and exploited convicts. The company could obtain black labor at a fraction of the cost of white labor by taking advantage of the Black Codes and discriminatory laws passed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Southern states after the Reconstruction Era. In addition, U.S. Steel had agreements with more than 20 counties in Alabama to obtain the labor of its prisoners, often paying locals nine dollars a month for workers who would be forced into their mines through a system of convict leasing. This practice continued until at least the late 1920s. While some individuals were guilty of a crime they did not receive payment or recognition for their work; many died from abuse, malnutrition, and dire working and living conditions. This practice of convict leasing was fairly ubiquitous as eight Southern states had similar practices and many companies, as well as farmers, took advantage of this.[10][9]
The Corporation, as it was known on Wall Street,[4] was distinguished by its size, rather than for its efficiency or creativity during its heyday. In 1901, it controlled two-thirds of steel production[4] and, through its Pittsburgh Steamship Company, developed the largest commercial fleet on the Great Lakes.[11] Because of heavy debts taken on at the company's formation—Carnegie insisted on being paid in gold bonds for his stake—and fears of antitrust litigation, U.S. Steel moved cautiously. Competitors often innovated faster, especially Bethlehem Steel, run by Charles Schwab, U.S. Steel's former president. U.S. Steel's share of the expanding market slipped to 50 percent by 1911.[4] James A. Farrell was named president in 1911 and served until 1932.
Mid-century
U.S. Steel ranked 16th among United States corporations in the value of World War II production contracts.[12] Production peaked at more than 35 million tons in 1953. Its employment was greatest in 1943, when it had more than 340,000 employees.[4]
The federal government intervened to try to control U.S. Steel. President Harry S. Truman attempted to take over its steel mills in 1952 to resolve a crisis with its union, the United Steelworkers of America. The Supreme Court blocked the takeover by ruling that the president did not have the Constitutional authority to seize the mills.[13] President John F. Kennedy was more successful in 1962 when he pressured the steel industry into reversing price increases that Kennedy considered dangerously inflationary.[14]
U.S. Steel strongly resisted Kennedy administration efforts to enlist Alabama businesses to support the desegregation of the University of Alabama, which race-baiting Gov. George Wallace had promised to block by standing in the schoolhouse door. Although the firm employed more than 30,000 workers in Birmingham, Ala., company president Roger M. Blough in 1963 "went out of his way to announce that any attempt to use his company position in Birmingham to pressure local whites was 'repugnant to me personally' and 'repugnant to my fellow officers at U.S. Steel.'"[15]
In the postwar years, the steel industry and heavy manufacturing went through a restructuring that caused a decline in U.S. Steel's need for labor, production, and portfolio. Many jobs moved offshore. By 2000, the company employed 52,500 people.[4]
The USX period
In the early days of the Reagan Administration, steel firms won substantial tax breaks in order to compete with imported goods. But instead of modernizing their mills, steel companies shifted capital out of steel and into more profitable areas. In March 1982, U.S. Steel took its concessions and paid $1.4 billion in cash and $4.7 billion in loans for Marathon Oil, saving approximately $500 million in taxes through the merger. The architect of tax concessions to steel firms, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), complained that "we go out on a limb in Congress and we feel they should be putting it in steel."[16] The events are the subject of "The U.S. Steal Song" [17] by folk singer Anne Feeney.
In 1984 the federal government prevented U.S. Steel from acquiring National Steel, and political pressure from the United States Congress, as well as the United Steelworkers (USW), forced the company to abandon plans to import British Steel Corporation slabs.[4] U.S. Steel finally acquired National Steel's assets in 2003 after National Steel went bankrupt. As part of its diversification plan, U.S. Steel had acquired Marathon Oil on January 7, 1982, as well as Texas Oil and Gas several years later. Recognizing its new scope, it reorganized its holdings as USX Corporation in 1986, with U.S. Steel (renamed USS, Inc.) as a major subsidiary.[18]
About 22,000 USX employees stopped work on August 1, 1986, after the United Steelworkers of America and the company could not agree on new employee contract terms. This was characterized by the company as a strike and by the union as a lockout. This resulted in most USX facilities becoming idle until February 1, 1987, seriously degrading the steel division's market share. A compromise was brokered and accepted by the union membership on January 31, 1987.[19] On February 4, 1987, three days after the agreement had been reached to end the work stoppage, USX announced that four USX plants would remain closed permanently, eliminating about 3,500 union jobs.[19] The closure of so many plants created the term "rust belt" for a region of idle and derelict factories.
Corporate raider Carl Icahn launched a hostile takeover of the steel giant in late 1986 in the midst of the work stoppage. He conducted separate negotiations with the union and with management and proceeded to have proxy battles with shareholders and management. But he abandoned all efforts to buy out the company on January 8, 1987, a few weeks before union employees returned to work.[19]
Recent history
At the end of the twentieth century, the corporation was deriving much of its revenue and net income from its energy operations. Led by CEO Thomas Usher, U.S. Steel spun off Marathon and other non-steel assets (except railroad company Transtar) in October 2001. It expanded internationally for the first time by purchasing operations in Slovakia and Serbia.[20]
In the early 2010s, U.S. Steel began investing to upgrade software programs throughout their manufacturing facilities.[21]
In January 2012, U.S. Steel sold its Serbian mills outside Belgrade to the Serbian government, as their operations had been running at an economic loss.[22]
On May 2, 2014, U.S. Steel announced an undisclosed number of layoffs affecting employees worldwide.[23] On July 2, 2014, U.S. Steel was removed from S&P 500 index and placed in the S&P MidCap 400 Index, in light of its declining market capitalization.[24]
Railroad ownership
U.S. Steel once owned the Northampton & Bath Railroad.[25] The N&B was an Template:Convert short-line railroad built in 1904 that served Atlas Cement in Northampton, Pennsylvania, and Keystone Cement in Bath, Pennsylvania.[26] By 1979 cement shipments had dropped off such that the railroad was no longer economically viable, and U.S. Steel abandoned the line. A Template:Convert section of track was retained to serve Atlas Cement. The remainder of the right-of-way was transformed into the Nor-Bath Trail.[27] U.S. Steel also owned the Atlantic City Mine Railroad, whose 76.7-mile line in Wyoming operated from 1962 until 1983 and served an iron ore mine north of Atlantic City, Wyoming.
Through its Transtar subsidiary, U.S. Steel also owned other railroads that served its mines and mills. Those properties included the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway in the iron-mining region of northeast Minnesota; the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern that served its Gary Works in northwest Indiana; the Birmingham Southern Railroad serving the U.S. Steel mill in Birmingham, Alabama; and the Bessemer & Lake Erie and Union railroads in western Pennsylvania that delivered iron ore and provided plant-switching services at its mill complex in Braddock, Pennsylvania and coke works in Clairton, Pennsylvania.
U.S. Steel also owned a large Great Lakes commercial freighter fleet, under the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, that transported its raw materials from the Duluth area to Ashtabula, Gary, and Conneaut, Ohio. The laker fleet, the B&LE, and the DM&IR were acquired by Canadian National after U.S. Steel sold most of Transtar to that company. The ships are leased out to a different, domestic operator because of the United States cabotage law.
Inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (1901–1991)
U.S. Steel is a former Dow Jones Industrial Average component, listed from April 1, 1901, to May 3, 1991. It was removed under its USX Corporation name with Navistar International and Primerica.[28] An original member of the S&P 500 since 1957, U.S. Steel was removed from that index on July 2, 2014, due to declining market capitalization.[24][29]
Dividend history
The Board of Directors considers the declaration of dividends four times each year, with checks for dividends declared on common stock mailed for receipt on 10 March, June, September, and December. In 2008, the dividend was $0.30 per share, the highest in company history, but on April 27, 2009, it was reduced to $0.05 per share.[30] Dividends may be paid by mailed check, direct electronic deposit into a bank account, or be reinvested in additional shares of U.S. Steel common stock.[31]
See History of United States Steel Corporation
Climate Commitments
United States Steel Corporation Announces Goal to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2050(April 21, 2021)
Subsidiaries
The following companies are fully or partially owned/operated under United States Steel Corporation
- Steel plants
References
- ↑ "Hitchcock's Holdup by Sam Tamburro". The Cleveland Memory Project. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ↑ Morris, Charles R. The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan invented the American supereconomy, H. Holt and Co., New York, 2005, pp.255–258. ISBN 0-8050-7599-2.
- ↑ "United States Steel Corporation History". FundingUniverse. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Boselovic, Len (February 25, 2001). "Steel Standing: U.S. Steel celebrates 100 years". PG News – Business & Technology. post-gazette.com – PG Publishing. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
- ↑ "US Steel". case.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ↑ "Empire Building Landmark Report" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission 25 June 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- ↑ Chernow, Ron (2001) [1st pub. 1990]. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance. New York City, NY: Grove Press. pp. 83-84. ISBN 0-8021-3829-2.
- ↑ Chernow, Ron (2001) [1st pub. 1990]. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance. New York City, NY: Grove Press. pp. 85. ISBN 0-8021-3829-2.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Douglas Blackmon (2008). Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War Two. Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-50625-0.
- ↑ "The Untold History of Post-Civil War 'Neoslavery'". NPR.org.
- ↑ Al Miller, Tin Stackers: The History of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company (Great Lakes Books Series), Wayne State University, 1999
- ↑ Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p.619
- ↑ Alan F. Westin, The Anatomy of a Constitutional Law Case: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. V. Sawyer, the Steel Seizure Decision (1990).
- ↑ Grant McConnell, Steel and the Presidency, 1962 (1963)
- ↑ Carter, Dan T. (1995). The politics of rage : George Wallace, the origins of the new conservatism, and the transformation of American politics. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 129. ISBN 0-684-80916-8. OCLC 32739924.
- ↑ John Hinshaw (February 2012). Steel and Steelworkers: Race and Class Struggle in Twentieth-Century Pittsburgh. SUNY Press. p. 238. ISBN 9780791489406.
- ↑ "The U.S. Steal Song". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-11-04. Retrieved 4 February 2021.Template:Cbignore
- ↑ John Leopard. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway. Voyageur Press. p. 105. ISBN 9781610606257.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Template:Cite thesis
- ↑ Business Week (2007). Strategy Power Plays: How the World's Most Strategic Minds Reach the Top of Their Game. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. pp. 111–120. ISBN 978-0-07-147560-0. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ↑ Boselovic, Len (2013-05-17). "Can pricey software streamline U.S. Steel?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
- ↑ APJanuary 31, 2012, 4:00 PM (2012-01-31). "Serbia buys U.S. Steel plant; Price: $1". CBS News. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "U.S. Steel laying off employees worldwide". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 3, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Martin Marietta Materials Set to Join the S&P 500" (PDF). www.spice-indices.com. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
- ↑ Northampton County Bicentennial Commission (1976). Two Hundred Years of Life in Northampton County, Pa: Knight, J. and Hahn, B. Communications and transportation. Northampton County Bicentennial Commission. p. 342. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ↑ Moody's Investors Service (1976). Moody's Transportation Manual. Mergent FIS.
- ↑ Sexton, Thomas P. (2002-02-01). Pennsylvania's Rail-Trails. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Northeast Regional Office. p. 112. ISBN 9780925794178. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ↑ "Dow Additions and Deletion Since 1929". dogsofthedow.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ↑ Krantz, Matt (June 27, 2014). "S&P 500 loses original member, regains another (kind of)". USA Today. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- ↑ "U.S. Steel: Dividend history". ussteel.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ↑ "U. S. Steel". uss.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
External links
Wikipedia also has an article on China Baowu Steel Group (U.S. Steel). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License].
