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AK Steel Holdings Corporation was a
steelmaking Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and carbon/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and alloy ...
company headquartered in
West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio West Chester Township is one of the thirteen townships of Butler County, Ohio, United States, located in the southeastern corner of the county. It is situated between Sharonville and Liberty Township, about north of Cincinnati, and is include ...
. The company, whose name was derived from the initials of Armco, its predecessor company, and
Kawasaki Steel Corporation Kawasaki Steel Corporation (Kawasaki Seitetsu) was a Japanese steel manufacturing company. History Originally forming the Steel Making Department of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the Kawasaki Steel Corporation was incorporated in August 1950 follow ...
, was acquired by
Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest f ...
in 2020. AK Steel operated eight steel plants and two tube manufacturing plants in
Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...
;
Butler, Pennsylvania Butler is a city and the county seat of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located north of Pittsburgh and is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 13,502. History Butler was n ...
;
Coshocton, Ohio Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States approximately 63 mi (102 km) ENE of Columbus. The population was 11,216 at the 2010 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in ...
; Dearborn, Michigan;
Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Ohio, United States. Located midway between Columbus and Cleveland via Interstate 71, it is part of Northeast Ohio region in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau. The ci ...
;
Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metrop ...
; Rockport, Indiana; and
Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...
. The company had manufacturing operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and facilities in Western Europe. AK Steel produced flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, primarily for the automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, including electrical power, and distributors and converters markets. The company also provided carbon and stainless steel tubing products, die design and tooling, and hot- and cold-stamped components. Of AK Steel's 2018 sales, 63% went to the automotive industry, 15% to infrastructure and manufacturing industry and 22% to distributors and converters. The company was criticized for its record regarding
pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
and worker safety. In 2019, AK Steel was named GM Supplier of the Year for Non Fabricated Steel by General Motors for the second consecutive year. AK Steel was also presented with a Smart Pillar Award from Ford, as a top-performing global supplier at the 21st annual Ford World Excellence Awards.


History

The company was founded in 1899 as The American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO) in Middletown, Ohio, where it operated a production facility.
George Matthew Verity George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...
(1865–1942) was a founder and its first president. In 1922, it opened a second production facility, Ashland Works in Ashland, Kentucky. In 1971, Armco Steel purchased Kansas City-based engineering firm
Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is an American architecture and engineering company based in Kansas City, Missouri, and is owned 100% by its employees. It was established in 1898 by Clinton S. Burns and Robert E. McDonnell, two engineers. In October 2021, it ...
; however, in 1985, employees of Burns & McDonnell secured a loan to buy the company from Armco. In 1978, Armco Steel was renamed Armco, Inc. It moved its headquarters to New Jersey in 1985. In 1982, a recession threatened the U.S. steel industry. Several of the nation’s steel companies reported losses for the first half of the year, while other companies, like Armco, were barely breaking even. In 1989, it entered into a limited partnership with
Kawasaki Steel Corporation Kawasaki Steel Corporation (Kawasaki Seitetsu) was a Japanese steel manufacturing company. History Originally forming the Steel Making Department of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the Kawasaki Steel Corporation was incorporated in August 1950 follow ...
, which contributed several of its production facilities to the company. While the company achieved over $1 billion in annual sales in the early 1990s, it was not profitable. The company then hired the 65 year old Tom Graham and Richard M. Wardrop, Jr. to improve its finances. These executives divested unprofitable operations and replaced most of the company's executives and managers. In 1993, the company moved its headquarters to
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and renamed itself AK Steel Holdings reflecting its Armco roots and sizable investment by Kawasaki. The same year, the company sold the
Kansas City Bolt and Nut Company plant Kansas City Bolt and Nut Company was a diverse steel parts manufacturing plant in Kansas City, Missouri that through its successors at its peak in the 1950s employed more than 4,500 people. The plant started in 1888. In 1925 it was acquired by She ...
to
Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...
to avoid its shutdown. In March 1994, the company became a
public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...
via an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
, using the proceeds to pay down its unmanageable debt load. In 1995, the company moved its headquarters back to Middletown. In 1996, Graham made the decision to spend $1.1 billion to construct a new steel production facility in Rockport, Indiana. Rifts with its unions and its safety record, including 10 fatalities at its plants in 4 years, resulted in fines and scrutiny from the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...
(OSHA) ih 1996 as well. In 1999, the company acquired Armco Inc., its former parent company, for $1.3 billion. There was a
lock-out A lockout is a work stoppage or denial of employment initiated by the management of a company during a labour dispute. In contrast to a strike, in which employees refuse to work, a lockout is initiated by employers or industry owners. Lockouts ...
at the Mansfield, Ohio plant after a disagreement on a three-year labor contract with 620 USWA employees. In 2003, the bitter labor dispute in Mansfield ended, the union workers returning to work alongside those who'd replaced them. In 2006, there was another lockout of 2,700 workers in Middletown, Ohio about another contract renewal. In 2007, the company moved its headquarters to
West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio West Chester Township is one of the thirteen townships of Butler County, Ohio, United States, located in the southeastern corner of the county. It is situated between Sharonville and Liberty Township, about north of Cincinnati, and is include ...
. In 2014, the company acquired steel-making assets, including a coke-making facility and interests in 3 joint ventures that process flat-rolled steel products in Dearborn, Michigan, from
Severstal Severstal (russian: Северсталь, , Northern Steel) is a Russian company mainly operating in the steel and mining industry, headquartered in Cherepovets. Severstal is listed on the Moscow Exchange and LSE and is the largest steel compan ...
for $700 million. In August 2017, the company acquired Precision Partners Holding Company for $360 million. On March 13, 2020, the company was acquired by
Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest f ...
for $1.1 billion.


Inclusion in the S&P 500 (2008–2011)

In 2008, the company was added to the
S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of ...
. In 2011, it was removed from the S&P 500 and added to the
S&P 600 The S&P SmallCap 600 Index (S&P 600) is a stock market index established by Standard & Poor's. It covers roughly the small-cap range of American stocks, using a capitalization-weighted index. To be included in the index, a stock must have a total ...
.


In popular culture

The 2016 bestselling book, ''
Hillbilly Elegy ''Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis'' is a bestselling 2016 memoir by future Ohio Senator J. D. Vance about the Appalachian values of his Kentucky family and the social and socioeconomic problems of his hometown of Mi ...
'', focuses on life in
Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metrop ...
and makes many references to the town's dependence on AK Steel's Middletown Works facility.


Legal record


Environmental record

On June 27, 2000, the
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...
(EPA) issued an Emergency Order pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act to AK Steel's Butler Works in Butler, Pennsylvania concerning the nitrate/nitrite compounds being released into the
Connoquenessing Creek Connoquenessing Creek is a tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 50 mi (80 km) long, in Western Pennsylvania in the United States. Course Connoquenessing Creek rises in eastern Butler County and flows southwest, through the L ...
, an occasional water source for the Borough of Zelienople, alleging that AK Steel had failed to properly dispose of
hexavalent chromium Hexavalent chromium (chromium(VI), Cr(VI), chromium 6) is chromium in any chemical compound that contains the element in the +6 oxidation state (thus hexavalent). Virtually all chromium ore is processed via hexavalent chromium, specifically the ...
. The issue was settled in 2004, with AK Steel agreeing to pay a total of $1.2 million. In 2006, AK Steel reached a settlement to compensate for
polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...
(PCB) contamination in
Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metrop ...
. The settlement included cleanup work estimated to cost $12–13 million. AK Steel was listed #1 on the Mother Jones Top 20 polluters of 2010; dumping over 12,000 tons of toxic chemicals into Ohio waterways. Based on 2014 data, the
Political Economy Research Institute The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) is an independent research unit at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. According to its mission statement, it "...promotes human and ecological well-being through our original research". PERI was ...
ranked AK Steel 53rd among corporations emitting airborne pollutants in the United States. The ranking is based on the quantity (343,000 pounds) and toxicity of the emissions. At the same time, it scored well in terms of environmental justice, affecting smaller percentages of the poor and minorities than their respective percentages of the total population. In early 2015, the EPA listed the Ohio River as the most contaminated body of water in the U.S. According to the EPA's Annual Toxics Release Inventory, of the 23 million pounds of chemicals discharged into the river in 2013, more than 70 percent came from AK Steel. In 2018, AK Steel had an air and water compliance rate of over 99.99%.


Middletown Works lockout

Armco and the Armco Employees Independent Federation (AEIF; a labor union) had a collective bargaining agreement in place in 2004 that required AK Steel to employ 3,114 workers, a "minimum base force guarantee". The agreement also authorized AK Steel to suspend the minimum number. On January 13, 2004, AK Steel informed the AEIF that it was suspending the minimum. The union then filed a grievance contesting the suspension. An arbitrator upheld the decision by AK Steel on July 1, 2004, subject to certain limitations, through at least May 10, 2005. The union sought and was granted a new hearing, and on July 1, 2005 the arbitrator issued a comprise total workforce. As part of the agreement the arbitrator allowed AK Steel to set aside financial payments to a fund, in lieu of hiring to the minimum, the amount of which was set by the arbitrator on October 7, 2005. On September 29, 2005, the AEIF filed a lawsuit against AK Steel in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (in case citations, S.D. Ohio) is one of two United States district courts in Ohio and includes forty-eight of the state's eighty-eight counties–everything from the Columbus are ...
(''AEIF v. AK Steel Corp.''; Case No. 1:05-CV-639), in which the AEIF sought to vacate that portion of the July 1, 2005 Award. AK Steel answered the complaint and filed counterclaims (''AK Steel Corp. v. AEIF'', Case No. 1:05-CV-531) on November 2, 2005."Settlement Agreement"
. - International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
On March 1, 2006, AK Steel began a lockout of about 2,700 workers at the Middletown Works plant in
Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metrop ...
. By the next day, the mill was operated by 1,800 salaried and temporary replacement workers. On July 27, 2006, the AEIF affiliated with the
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Or ...
. In late October, AK offered a so-called final contract, which was rejected by the union by a vote of 2 to 1. One year after the lockout started, on February 28, 2007, AK Steel reached an agreement with the labor union. The union members ratified the proposed contract on March 14, 2007. As part of the agreement, the AEIF and AK Steel reached a joint settlement of their 5 counter lawsuits, with AK Steel paying $7,702,301. A third of the amount was for profit sharing, a third for an assistance fund for employee benefits of employees not recalled to work, and a third an escrow account to settle employee disputes and claims as a result of the lockout. The Employment Security Plan and the Trade and Craft Quota and Service/Support Group Quota (the "minimum base force guarantees") were completely terminated. This lockout was the longest labor stalemate in the 105-year history of the Middletown Works. The previous longest stalemate had been a six-day company lockout in 1986. Prior to that lockout, Armco's Middletown works never lost one minute of production due to a labor issue.


Pittsburgh Logistics Systems Lawsuit

In late 2016, AK Steel notified Pittsburgh Logistics Systems, Inc. (D/b/a
PLS Logistics PLS Logistics Service (PLS), founded in 1991, is an American third-party logistics provider in the metal, lumber, and building industries. Headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PLS Logistics Services provides f ...
), a company which had been managing all of AK's truck dispatch and rail operations since 1995, that it was being replaced by
Ryder Ryder System, Inc., commonly known as Ryder, is an American transportation and logistics company. It is especially known for its fleet of commercial rental trucks. Ryder specializes in fleet management, supply chain management, and transp ...
as of January 18, 2017. At the time, AK Steel constituted 32% of the PLS' revenue base, according to court filings. PLS battled both Ryder and AK Steel in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (in case citations, S.D. Ohio) is one of two United States district courts in Ohio and includes forty-eight of the state's eighty-eight counties–everything from the Columbus are ...
, arguing that Ryder should not be able to use the list of trucking companies that PLS had used while servicing AK. However, U.S. District Court Judge Michael R. Barrett rejected PLS's contention and cleared Ryder and AK to proceed with the use of these carriers.


Historical Films



''The Romance of Iron and Steel'' (1938) is a 21-minute, black and white film sponsored by the American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO). The title of the film comes from a theme of the steel exhibit at the Great Lakes Exposition held in Cleveland, Ohio in 1936-37. The film opens with an overview of the ARMCO Research Lab followed by a series of tracking shots taken from overhead cranes in an ARMCO plant that offer a unique perspective into the process of making rolled steel. George M. Verity, ARMCO founder, ends the film with a message about “ARMCO men” and the company culture. *''Making Steel'' is a 47-minute film made in the mid-1990s. Introduced by CEO Richard M. Wardrop, Jr., who introduces himself as "Dick" Wardrop, it tells the story of the manufacture of steel in the AK Steel plants. https://youtube.com/9AMbKpeJRoU


See also

*
List of steel producers This is a list of the largest steel-producing companies in the world mostly based on the list by the World Steel Association. This list ranks steelmakers by volume of steel production in millions of tonnes and includes all steelmakers with product ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ak Steel Holding Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange American companies established in 1899 Manufacturing companies established in 1899 Manufacturing companies based in Ohio Buildings and structures in Butler County, Ohio Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Superfund sites in Ohio Itochu 1899 establishments in Ohio 1994 initial public offerings 2020 mergers and acquisitions American corporate subsidiaries