thumb|National Steel Corporation furnaces and stockpiles, [[Detroit, Michigan, 1942]]
The National Steel Corporation (1929–2003) was a major American steel producer. It was founded on October 1, 1929 through a merger arranged by Weirton Steel with the new Great Lakes Steel Corporation, which was then in the process of construction of its Ecorse steel works, certain subsidiaries of M. A. Hanna Company, namely the four blast furnaces in Buffalo and two on Zug Island, the company's iron mining division and its fleet of ore carriers; and the Michigan Steel Corp, predecessor to Great Lakes Steel, which joined the group in 1931 before the adjoining plant of the Great Lakes Steel Corp was formally commissioned.
National Steel was headquartered in Pittsburgh. Despite a difficult market in Depression-setting 1930, the company reported USD 8.4 million in profits. Again, in 1931 the company was profitable unlike many other competitors. The company could attribute its success primarily to sales to the automobile industry. Large steel producing operations were located near Detroit, providing the company with low shipping costs. Throughout the Great Depression, National Steel obtained profitability every year.
The company was part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1935 until 1959.
National Steel Company (1899)
The National Steel Company of 1899 (a U.S. Steel predecessor) had no relationship with the National Steel Corporation of 1929 other than the name.
Incorporated in New Jersey on February 27, 1899, had a capital stock of $27 million par $100 7% preferred ($26 million outstanding) and $32 million par $100 common (all outstanding). The remaining $1,000,000 of preferred stock were issued on April 28, 1899 to the Oliver & Snyder Steel Co. in exchange for the entire $100,000 stock of the Rosena Furnace Co. and associated properties.
All of the companies acquired produced basic Bessemer steel with the exception of the Buhl Steel Co. who produced basic open hearth steel, but also had to buy ingots on the market to cover their own needs. || BF || Iron tpd which was producing at capacity (500tpd) in January 1893.
Bought the adjoining Neshannock blast furnace of the Crawford Iron & Steel Co. on April 8, 1893, for $250,000 and on that occasion increased its capital stock by $200,000 to $450,000. The 78x17ft furnace had 4 Whitwell stoves and a 165ft draft stack and a capacity of 67,000tpa (184tpd) of pig iron. The original furnace was first blown in on December 1, 1872. Crawford Iron & Steel had bought it from the Kimberly Iron Co in 1883. It had once produced 109,790 tons of pig iron in 90 weeks (174tpd).
The company bought the furnace of the Raney & Berger Iron Co, also in April 1893 and also for $250,000 and on the occasion increased its capital stock to upward of $1,000,000. The furnace was switched from producing mostly foundry iron to Bessemer iron. In December 1899 National Steel decided to dismantle the furnace and replace it with a larger one.
In January 1898 the capital of the Shenango Valley Steel Co. was increased from 10,000 to 15,000 shares of $100 par.
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| Rosena Furnace Company || New Castle, Pa || $250,000 || December 1, 1912 || || 1 || 367
|-
| colspan=7 |
The Rosena Furnace Company was incorporated on December 1, 1892, headquartered in Pittsburgh, with a capital stock of $100,000, to carry out operations of the furnace owned by the Oliver Iron & Steel Co. of Pittsburgh. A sum of $100,000 was expected to be spent on improvements, namely new stoves and blowing engines. The furnace originally had a capacity of 60tpd and in the first 43 months of operation produced 75,000 tons. The original furnace was built in 1872 (blown in June 1873), rebuilt in 1893, torn down and rebuilt in 1897 to a height of 100 feet and a capacity of 150,000tpa.
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| Ætna Standard Iron & Steel Co || Bridgeport, Oh || $600,000 || January 1, 1908 || 1,000-1,100 || 3 || 433
|-
| colspan=7 |
The sheet and bar mill of the Aetna Iron & Steel Co at Bridgeport was built in 1873. The Standard Iron Company built a sheet and bar mill in 1883. Both companies merged in 1893 with a capital of $2,300,000.
Two 60 feet high furnaces were built at Mingo Junction: the Sidney furnace in 1871 and the Estella furnace in 1872 (blown in May 1873). The combined capacity was 62,000tpa. Both furnaces were rebuilt in 1886 to a height of 75 feet and a capacity of 80,000tpa (each). The cut-nail works of the Junction Iron Co. were built in 1882. The slab and billet mill of the Laughlin & Junction Iron Co were built in 1886. The two companies merged in 1894.
On July 1, 1897 The new combine had 2 blast furnaces, a Bessemer steel plant and a sheet and tin plate bar mill at Mingo. At Bridgeport it had a sheet, a bar, a structural mill and a tin plate works.
1900
1901
! !! Year !! !! Jan !! Feb !! Mar !! Apr !! May !! Jun !! Jul !! Aug !! Sep !! Oct !! Nov !! Dec
|- style="border-top: 2px solid"
| rowspan=2 | 1899 || 63 || High || rowspan=2 colspan=2 | || || 63 || 62 || || || || || || || 49
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| || Low || 50 || 44 || 45 || || 49 || || || || ||
|- style="border-top: 2px solid"
| rowspan=2 | 1900 || || High || || || || || 34 || || 27 || 28 || || 31 || || 43
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| 20 || Low || 40 || || 41 || 33 || || 20 || 23 || || || 24 || || 33
|- style="border-top: 2px solid"
| rowspan=2 | 1901 || || High || || 50 || 57 ||
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| 37 || Low || 37 || || || 57
|}
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pfd 1899 . . . . 93 95 89 95 85 92-18 88 93 89-34 94 94 99-38 95 98-78 93-34 96 93-14 95-38 86-12 95
pfd 1900 92 94 94 97 93-34 97 88-34 95-58 85 89-58 79-34 87-12 83-18 85-14 83-38 86 82-34 86 82 88-12 87-12 93-12 91-12 96-34
pfd 1901 90 93-12 91-12 102-12 99-12 118-12 117 120
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{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
! !! Year !! !! Jan !! Feb !! Mar !! Apr !! May !! Jun !! Jul !! Aug !! Sep !! Oct !! Nov !! Dec
|- style="border-top: 2px solid"
| rowspan=2 | 1899 || || High || rowspan=2 colspan=2 | || 95 || 95 || || 93 || 94 || || || 96 || || 95
|-
| 85 || Low || 93 || 89 || 85 || 88 || || 94 || 95 || || ||
|- style="border-top: 2px solid"
| rowspan=2 | 1900 || 97 || High || 94 || 97 || 97 || || || || || 86 || 86 || || ||
|-
| || Low || 92 || 94 || || || 85 || || || || || 82 || ||
|- style="border-top: 2px solid"
| rowspan=2 | 1901 || 120 || High || || || || 120
|-
| 90 || Low || 90 || || || 117
|}
The United States Steel Corporation was incorporated on February 25, 1901. It offered a premium of $125 of its new 7% preferred stock for each $100 par value of National Steel preferred stock and a similar $125 premium for each $100 par of National common stock.
{| class="wikitable defaultright"
|+ Companies acquired by U.S. Steel
! rowspan=2 | Company !! colspan=3 | Preferred !! colspan=4 | Common
|-
! Old !! New (USS pref) !! Premium !! Old !! New (USS com) !! Premium !! +USS pref
|-
| Federal Steel Co || $53,260,900 || $60,446,362 || $110 || $46,484,300 || $49,970,627 || $ || $4
|-
| American Steel & Wire Co || 40,000,000 || 47,600,000 || || 50,000,000 || 51,250,000 ||
|-
| National Tube Co || 40,000,000 || 53,520,000 || 125 || 40,000,000 || 50,000,000 || 125 ||
|-
| National Steel Co || 27,000,000 || 33,750,000 || 125 || 32,000,000 || 40,000,000 || 125
|-
| American Tin Plate Co || 18,325,000 || 26,506,250 || 125 || 28,000,000 || 35,000,000 || 125 || 20
|-
| American Steel Hoop Co || colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 14,000,000 || 100 || colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 19,000,000 || 100
|-
| American Sheet Steel Co || colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 24,500,000 || 100 || colspan=2 style="text-align: center" | 24,500,000 || 100
|-
| American Bridge Co || 30,527,800 || 33,580,580 || 110 || 30,527,800 || 32,054,190 || 105
|-
| Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines || || 38,774,700 || || 28,722,000 || 38,744,700 || 135 || 135
|-
| Totals || $247,613,700 || $334,077,892 || || $299,234,100 || $340,548,817
|}
Detroit Iron & Steel Company
The Detroit Iron & Steel Company was a predecessor to Great Lakes Steel Corporation and in 1902 built a greenfield blast furnace plant on Zug Island, the first modern blast furnace plant in the state of Michigan.
The company was incorporated in Michigan on April 24, 1902, and issued 75,000 par $10 7% preferred and 75,000 par $10 common shares (split 2-for-1 on July 16, 1917). Issued $400,000 5% 10-year bonds dated May 2, 1904, due $40,000 annually from 1907 to 1916. Retired those bonds only three years later and broke even on cumulative preferred dividends in 1907. Issued $600,000 15-year 5% bonds dated July 1, 1909 (at construction of second blast furnace), due annually $40,000 till July 1, 1925. Paid 4% per year dividend on common stock until 1917, then 2.5% quarterly (10% annual - 20% when considering the stock split!) and also paid a few extra dividends.
- President: Daniel Rhodes Hanna, since 1918 Howard Melville Hanna Jr.
The joint venture included:
- M. A. Hanna & Co
- Solvay Process Company (owned 30 adjoining byproduct coke ovens)
- Detroit capitalists
The furnace had a capacity of 300 tons of foundry iron per day, 30 additional coke ovens were built concurrently and there were plans to eventually have 180 ovens. This was the first modern coke-filled blast furnace built in the state of Michigan. There were 120 coke ovens in 1905. The furnace was blown in on February 15, 1904 and in 1911 rebuild as a modern thin-lined, water cooled furnace. The B furnace (80x18.5ft; 300tpd, Arthur G. McKee type), directly adjoining to the east of A, was begun in early 1909 and blown in on July 21, 1910. The plant was located on the north east corner of the island.