Steel Industry - Top Steel Companies - Essay Example

Arcelor S.A. is the top steel company, according to sales achieved in 2004. The company’s main products include flat carbon steel, long carbon steel, and stainless steel, serving the automotive, construction, household appliances, packaging, and general industries. In 2004, Arcelor achieved a turnover of 30 billion euros and shipments of 43.9 million tons of steel (Arcelor Homepage). Arcelor was also the top steel producer in 2003 and 2004 in terms of output in metric tons (International Iron and Steel Institute [IISI]).

POSCO, based in Korea, is a manufacturer and distributor of steel rolled products and plates in the domestic and overseas markets. In 2004, the company produced more than 30.2 million tons of crude steel. Its products include hot-rolled and cold-rolled products, plates, wire rods, silicon steel sheets, and stainless steel products. Other products include lower value-added semi-finished products such as pig iron, billets, blooms, and slabs. The company enjoyed a market share of around 50% of the total steel products sales in Korea in 2004, with 74.2% of its total sales generated primarily from the Korean market. The company’s major export market is Asia, primarily the Chinese and Japanese markets. Other important markets are North America and Europe (POSCO Annual Report). POSCO is the fifth top producer in terms of output from 2003 to 2004 (IISI).

Mittal Steel Company N.V., formerly known as Ispat International N.V., produces finished and semi-finished carbon steel products including hot-rolled sheets, cold-rolled sheets, plates, electro-galvanized and coated steel, bars, wire-rods, wire products, pipes, billets, blooms, slabs, tinplate, structural sections, and rails. The company produces steel according to various specifications such as many difficult and technically sophisticated products for use in several high-end applications. Mittal Steel supplied industries in more than 90 countries in 2004, concentrating mainly in North American and European markets. In 2004, it was one of the largest manufacturers of direct reduced iron, with a total production of 9.7 million tons. Mittal Steel takes advantage of its strategic shipping location in London, which is a key hub of the global shipping business (Mittal Steel Annual Report). Mittal Steel was the second top steel producer in 2003 and 2004 (IISI).

 Source: International Iron and Steel Institute

However, Mittal, which consolidated Ispat International, Ispat Inland, LNM Holdings, and International Steel Group in late 2004 and early 2005, is bound to become the largest steel producer in the world.

Steel producers continuously face difficult challenges. For instance, steel companies are highly dependent on the demands of such industries as the automotive, beverage, and housing that when these industries suffer, they follow suit (“Steel and Iron Industry Profile”). Steel companies exporting their products to North America also have to tackle various issues. In the United States, companies such as POSCO of South Korea and Nippon Steel of Japan have to contend with complaints from US steel makers demanding an end to illegal dumping by offshore steel manufacturers (“Steel and Iron Industry Profile”).

United States Steel Corporation, based in Pittsburgh, PA, is the second largest integrated steelmaker in the United States, and the seventh top steel producer in the world, producing sheet and semi-finished steel, tubular and plate steel, and tin products. The company primarily markets its products to the automotive, construction, petrochemical, and steel service center industries (“US Steel Company Profile”).

As with other steel companies in the United States, steel producers serving the Delaware area face strong competition from foreign steel makers, which offer less expensive steel products. The huge global steel production has driven prices lower, giving an advantage to Asian steel makers, and forcing American steel makers to sell their products at mid-1980s prices. This led some companies, such as Bethlehem Steel of Pennsylvania, to file for bankruptcy (“Steel and Iron Industry Profile”).

There are a number of steel companies serving all industries in the Delaware area. These include structural steel manufacturers service companies and distributors. These companies include Denman & Davis (Clifton, NJ); Wilke Enginuity, Inc. (Hanover, PA); A&H Metals Inc. (Newark, DE); Bruce Industrial Co., Inc. (Wilmington, DE); Pennsylvania Steel Co., Inc. (Bensalem, PA); RJ Florig Industrial Co., Inc. (Conshohocken, PA); Brandywine Valley Fabricators, Inc. (Coatesville, PA); ANS Steel Co. (Philadelphia, PA); Specialty Steel Co., Inc. (Fairless Hills, PA); Block Steel Corp (Skokie, IL); Custom Iron Shop, Inc. (Wilmington, DE); Deaven, Donald F., Inc. (Newport, DE); Murphy Steel, Inc. (Newark, DE); and B & B Industries, Inc. (Wilmington, DE) (“Structural Steel in Delaware”).

There are also a host of structural steel fabrication companies serving the Delaware area and supplying a broad range of steel fabrication, including stainless steel fabrication, and commercial, custom, and structural steel fabrication. All types and all sizes in carbon, stainless, and aluminum are available for distribution. GSM Industrial Inc., for instance, can supply 18 gage-1/2”, light structural and stainless steel.

Wilke Enginuity and Brandywine Valley Fabricators offer structural steel fabrication and erection services. Wilke Enginuity, in particular, can handle metal fabricating and forming of up to 100 tons x 8’ long, with all standard welding processes on mild, stainless steel, and aluminum. Wilke Enginuity also handles post-machining processes such as grinding, sanding, and blasting. Finishing includes vibratory finishing and painting or plating with the final assembly of the product (Wilke Enginuity Homepage). Brandywine specializes in the structural rolling of angles, channels, beams, and bars, forming and rolling of both sheet and plate, and rolling and forming of tubes and pipes (Brandywine Valley Homepage).

Examples of cylinders manufactured by Brandywine Valley