Stelco Holdings Inc. (known as U.S. Steel Canada from 2007 to 2016) is a Canadian
steel company based in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...
. Stelco was founded in 1910 from the amalgamation of several smaller firms. It continued on for almost 100 years, until it filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and was bought by
U.S. Steel. In 2016, the company was sold to Bedrock Industries of the United States, which took the company public.
The company made its debut on the
Toronto Stock Exchange
The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; french: Bourse de Toronto) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in the ...
on Nov. 3, 2017.
The Hamilton plant has not produced steel since 2011, but its coke ovens and cold rolling finishing works remain in operation. The company employs about 750 people in the Hamilton plant and 1,400 in
Nanticoke, Ontario Nanticoke is an unincorporated community and former city located on the western border of Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. Nanticoke is located directly across Lake Erie from the US city of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Summary
Unlike the majority of Hald ...
[CBC News "'Making Stelco great again': A Hamilton steel company changes its name back", by Kelly Bennett, 2 December 2016](_blank)
/ref> at its greenfield facility Stelco Lake Erie Works.
History
The Steel Company of Canada was established in 1910. It was founded after the merging of the Hamilton Steel and Iron Company (1900) with the Canada Screw Company (1866), Montreal Rolling Mills (1868), the Dominion Wire Manufacturing Company (1883) and the Canada Bolt and Nut Company.[
] Charles S. Wilcox, president of the Hamilton Steel and Iron Company at the time of the consolidation, was appointed the first president of Stelco. He held the position until 1916, continuing on with the company as chairman of the board until his death in 1938.
Several union drives at the plant were unsuccessful until the founding strike of Local 1005 of the United Steelworkers of America
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...
in 1946.
In 2004, Stelco had financial difficulties and went under court-ordered protection from its creditors, including the Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
. Stelco exited Companies' Creditors Arrangements Act
The ''Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act'' (CCAA; french: Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies) is a statute of the Parliament of Canada that allows insolvent corporations owing their creditors in excess of $5 million to ...
(CCAA) protection on March 31, 2006. Several non-core operations were divested, including Stelwire, Norambar (formerly Stelco McMaster Works) and Welland Pipe. The CCAA exit has seen the remaining operations restructured into 9 separate operating businesses, held by the corporate entity of Stelco.
On August 27, 2007, U.S. Steel purchased Stelco for $1.9 billion – $1.1 billion in cash and assuming $800 million in debt. The company was renamed Hamilton Works – US Steel Canada. The deal closed on October 31, 2007. The company was renamed U.S. Steel Canada Inc. and its shares were delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange
The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; french: Bourse de Toronto) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in the ...
.
In an effort to streamline operations, U.S. Steel announced on March 3, 2009, that it would be temporarily shutting down its Hamilton plant and most of its Lake Erie plant putting more than 2,000 people out of work. This announcement came four months after U.S. Steel laid off 700 employees at the Hamilton plant when it shut down its blast furnace.
Market conditions and declining customer orders prompted U.S. Steel to shut down the Hamilton Works on October 1, 2010. 100 jobs were restored when the German Max Aicher steel company bought two steel mills from US Steel, and opened them as "Max Aicher North America".[German buyer firing up two shuttered U.S. Steel mills - TheSpec.com](_blank)
/ref> More jobs are expected to be created when the mills are in full production. The Hamilton steel-making and iron-making operations were permanently closed on December 31, 2013.[
]
On September 16, 2014, U.S. Steel Canada announced that it would apply for court protection from its creditors. US Steel then stated that it intended to sell all of its remaining operations in Hamilton in the next two months.
U.S. Steel Canada was severed from U.S. Steel Corporation in 2015 after it entered Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act protection in 2014. In November 2016, a deal was struck to sell U.S. Steel Canada to Bedrock Industries.
On December 2, 2016, the company took the "Stelco" name again. In 2017, 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 ...
raised for the company.
Portions of the Stelco's archives are held at Library and Archives Canada, Brock University
Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bears t ...
, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between rue Fort (Fort Street ...
.
In January 2021 Stelco added pig iron production capability to its Lake Erie blast furnace.
Stelco purchased a minority stake in the Hamilton Tiger-Cats professional football team in January 2022.
Environmental impact
Steelmaking in Canada has long been associated with pollution. For example, in 1989 Stelco and Dofasco
ArcelorMittal Dofasco is a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Dofasco is a standalone subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest integrated steel producer.
History
Clifton and Frank A. Sherman founded Dominion Foundries and S ...
were listed among the "dirty dozen" polluters in Ontario:
Since Stelco ceased steelmaking in 2011, it received less media attention regarding pollution.
Operations
The company operates the main Hilton Works in Hamilton, named after the late company president Hugh Hilton, and the Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke Nanticoke may refer to:
* Nanticoke people in Delaware, United States
* Nanticoke language, an Algonquian language
* Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey
Place names Canada
* Nanticoke, Ontario
** Nanticoke Generating S ...
on Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...
. Until the 2006 restructuring, Stelco's operations also included Stelco McMaster Works in Contrecœur, Quebec, and Stelwire (both acquired by ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second la ...
in 2006). The Nanticoke plant was notable because it is of a relatively newer design, and uses far less water.
Stelco Tower, now known as 100 King Street West
100 King Street West, formerly known as Stelco Tower, is the third tallest building in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The , 25-storey office skyscraper was completed in 1972, and is part of the larger Lloyd D. Jackson Square complex.
History
The tow ...
and associated with Lloyd D. Jackson Square
Lloyd D. Jackson Square, or simply Jackson Square, is an indoor shopping mall, commercial, and entertainment complex located in the downtown core of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, which is named after Lloyd Douglas Jackson, who served as mayor of ...
, is an office building in downtown Hamilton where the company's headquarters had been located since the 1970s, but has been completely vacated by Stelco.
References
External links
Hamilton Steel
Lake Erie Steel
Hamilton Coke
Lake Erie Coke
Hamilton Energy
Lake Erie Energy
Hamilton Land
Lake Erie Land
HLE Mining
{{Hamilton
Steel companies of Canada
Manufacturing companies established in 1910
Companies based in Hamilton, Ontario
Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies
Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada
1910 establishments in Ontario
Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Hamilton Tiger-Cats owners