Sharon Steel Corporation

Sharon Steel Corporation

Industry	Steel manufacturing
Predecessor	Sharon Steel Hoop
Founded	1936
Founder	Frank Buhl[1]
Fate	Bankrupt

Sharon Steel Corporation was an American steel company. Chairmen included Henry A. Roemer and later, Victor Posner. After it went bankrupt in the late 1980s, in late 1992, Sharon Steel Corp. was purchased by Caparo Steel. After a second banktrupcy in 1994, in 2007, Sharon Coating LLC (formerly Sharon Steel Corp.) in Farrell, Pennsylvania was acquired in a joint venture by Russia’s Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) and Switzerland’s Duferco.

History

Sharon Steel Hoop

Frank H. Buhl and associates broke ground for the Sharon Steel Co. plant in 1900 in the City of Farrell, Pennsylvania. Sharon Steel Hoop, American Sheet and Tin Plate and the American Steel and Wire companies opened plants nearby, leading to population growth in the Shenango Valley. During the late 1920s, the four plants of U.S. Steel and Sharon Steel Hoop employed around 10,000 workers.^[2]

Sharon Steel Corporation

A steel mill replica called the Carnegie Steel Company at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. The display is based on the original Sharon Steel Mill in Farrell, Pennsylvania.

Its predecessor company was the Sharon Steel Hoop Company. In March 1936, $6 million of issues was used to finance Sharon Steel by a banking group headed by Speyer Co. and Hemphill, Noyes Co.^[3] In 1953, Henry A. Roemer was chairman of Sharon Steel Corporation.^[4]

In the late 1960s, the Farrell mill had around 10,000 employees, operating melt shops, blast furnaces, and open hearths.^[5] At the mill, which was originally named the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corp., Sharon Steel for 60 years operated an integrated steel mill in the location, creating steel used in Army helmets during World War II.^[6] According to the Sharon Herald, as " foreign competition mounted, Sharon Steel found itself the victim of low steel prices and ownership that didn’t modernize the plant [in Farrell]."^[6]

Sharon Steel Corporation closed a plant that employed 1,100 workers in Lowellville, Ohio in 1960, with all workers fired. In 1977 the 500 acres were owned by Gennaro Paving, while the mill itself had been dismantled for scrap.^[7] In 1964, Sharon Steel was utilizing the basic oxygen steelmaking process in its manufacturing, including at its mill in Sharon, Pennsylvania.^[8]

Under chairman Victor Posner, in January 1981, Sharon Steel Corporation held 5.1 percent of the GAF Corporation common stock.^[9] That May, Sharon Steel sold its holdings in Foremost-McKesson for a substantial profit.^[10] In 1983, Posner was serving as both CEO and chairman of Sharon Steel.^[11] After going in debt $145 million in 1984 during a downturn in the steel industry, in 1985, Sharon Steel lost $64 million, at which point it had a negative net worth of $197 million. In 1986, it was reported that Sharon Steel was in default on bond interest payments and that it was considering seeking protection from creditors. At the time, it was 86% owned by the company NVF, which in turn was largely owned by Posner and Posner's family.^[12] In 1987, it was the 12th largest steel producer in the United States.^[13] Posner was "ousted" as chairman in 1988, according to Reuters.^[14]

Bankruptcies

It first filed for bankruptcy in April 1987.^[6] When the company emerged from bankruptcy protection in November 1990, it was owned by the Castle Harlan Group.^[14] In May 1992, Sharon Steel was based in Farrell, Pennsylvania and employed around 2,700 people.^[14] Financial losses forced the company to close in November 1992, and later that month file for bankruptcy a second time.^[6] In November 1992, the company laid off its last 500 unionized employees. Around 100 employees remained.^[14] In response to filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, it closed its large mill in Farrell in November 1992, as well as two steel finishing operations in Howard, Ohio. On July 20, 1993, the company announced that its main mill and two smaller operations would be permanently closed. The United Steelworkers of America had pushed for the designation of permanent closure to allow pension payments to 720 fired Sharon Steel workers. The workers who had been employed by Sharon Steel for at least 20 years were to receive pensions, while another 900 fired workers were without, according to the union.^[15] Under state law Act 47, Farrell was declared distressed after Sharon Steel, then its largest employer, filed for bankruptcy. As the first town in Pennsylvania to be given that classification, the town was afforded a loan of $650,000 from the state of Pennsylvania.^[16]

New ownership

After shutting its operations, Sharon Steel was unable to convince the bankruptcy court to resume production, and was sold in December 1994 to Caparo Group in the United Kingdom. The Farrell plant was renamed Caparo Steel Co. and steel production resumed using an electric furnace, while the blast furnace was demolished as scrap.^[6]

After Sharon Steel Corp. was purchased by Caparo Steel,^[2] In 1998, after more financial trouble, much of the steel equipment in the Farrell mill was sold to Duferco Group, and it was renamed Duferco Farrell Corp..^[6] When Duferco, based in Switzerland, bought the former Sharon Steel in 1999, it continued to employ several hundred employees in Farrell.^[16]

In 2006, it was reported that demolition workers had failed to bring down an abandoned building at the old Sharon Steel mill; the electric arc melt furnace building withstood two major demolition attempts in several weeks. It was being cleared for redevelopment.^[17] The electric furnaces had been run by Caparo, until it sold much of its steel equpiment to Duferco Group in 1998 and ceased production. The sale did not include the electric furnaces.^[17]

In 2007, Sharon Coating LLC (formerly Sharon Steel Corp.) in Farrell was acquired in a joint venture by Russia’s Novolipetsk Steel, or NLMK, and Switzerland’s Duferco.^[18] NLMK purchased the Farrell mill in 2014.^[5]

In 2023, after being previously owned by Caparo Steel Corp. and then Duferco Steel Corp., Sharon Steel was owned by NLMK Pennsylvania,^[5] a division of NLMK Group in Russia.^[5]

In 2024, the Farrell mill purchased slabs and rolled them into steel coils, but did not use either a blast or electric furnace. Caparo Group owns the land next to Duferco, and demolished a number of antiquated Sharon Steel buildings around 2024.^[6]

In 2024, NLMK revealed a new walking beam furnace at the plant in Farrell, which had 750 employees. The furnace was manufactured by Tenova. lants to install the furnace dated back to 2006 when Duferco Corp. operated the plant, but it was never given final approval. It was revisited when NLMK purchased the mill in 2014.^[5]

Mills and facilities

Midvale, Utah

Concerning funding the cleanup of the Sharon Steel tailings site in Midvale, Utah, in 1990, the largest Superfund cleanup settlement ever made with a company in bankruptcy court was announced. The settlement was between Sharon Steel, the EPA, and the state of Utah.^[19] The Sharon Steel Corp. Superfund site in Midvale was on a list by the EPA to potentially be reopened to the public in 2018, under EPA head Scott Pruitt.^[20]

Fairmont coke works

Sharon Steel operated a large works site in Fairmont, West Virginia, dubbed the Sharon Steel / Fairmont Coke works site.^[21] It had been built in 1918 by the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, and in 1948, purchased by Sharon Steel. It closed in May 1979.^[21] Sharon had been facing $300 million in federal fines for pollution, although, in 1982, the EPA agreed to drop the fines if Sharon handled the hazardous waste cleanup itself. In June 1983, Fairmont officials passed an ordinance targeted at Sharon, which banned the permanent disposal of hazardous waste in the city limits. Sharon contested the law to higher courts, arguing it preempted state and federal regulations. In 1985, a judge gave the company an order to control its pollution in Fairmont.^[22] It was placed on the Superfund list in 1996.^[21] In 2016, the EPA was in talks over addressing contaminated land at the works site.^[21] In 2022, the Fairmont City Council was considering developing the land.^[23]

See also

• The Wendy's Company
• Baldwin S-8
• 1952 steel strike
• List of Superfund sites in West Virginia

References

1. Schneck, Marcus (May 29, 2019), Castles you can visit in Pennsylvania, PennLive, retrieved 3 November 2024
2. Saternow, Lynn (1 July 2001), City is celebrating a century, Sharon Herald, retrieved 7 June 2024
3. "$6,000,000 Issues for Sharon Steel", The New York Times, March 16, 1936, retrieved 2 June 2024
4. H.J. Garvey wants to help in the expansion of Sharon's Shenango Inn- Record-Argus, Feb. 25, 1953, Greenville, Pennsylvania: The Record-Argus, February 25, 1953, p. 1, retrieved 2 June 2024
5. O'Brien, Dan (April 13, 2023), NLMK Unveils New $95M Walking Beam Furnace, retrieved 3 November 2024
6. Roknick, Michael (April 30, 2006), Worker, exec recall old mill, Sharon Herald, retrieved 3 November 2024
7. "2 Steel Shutdowns in 17 Years Hurt Town", New York Times, 1977, retrieved 7 June 2024
8. "Nation's Steel Producers Rush to Embrace the Latest Technological Advances; New Processes and Automation Speeding Production of Steel", The New York Times, p. 1, January 5, 1964, retrieved 2 June 2024
9. Lohr, Steve (January 11, 1981), "Slimming Down: The GAF Case", The New York Times, retrieved 2 June 2024
10. "Company News; Victor Posner Sells Stake in Coachmen", The New York Times, May 6, 1981, retrieved 2 June 2024
11. "Battle Takes Toll at Burnup & Sims", The New York Times, January 3, 1983, retrieved 2 June 2024
12. "Tax Trial Only One of Posner Problems", The New York Times, June 23, 1986, retrieved 3 June 2024
13. "Sharon Steel Files Bankruptcy Petition", The Washington Post, April 18, 1987, retrieved 7 June 2024
14. Company News; Sharon Steel Said to Cut Last Union Workers, Reuters, 12 November 1992, retrieved 7 June 2024
15. Sharon Steel to Keep Main Mill Shut to Free Pensions, The Associated Press, July 21, 1993, retrieved 3 June 2024
16. Pittsburgh just the latest to join 'distressed' list, Pocono Record, February 5, 2004, retrieved 3 November 2024
17. Old Sharon Steel mill refuses to fall, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 15, 2006, retrieved 3 November 2024
18. Weak dollar has Russians snapping up steel mills, Beaver County Times, September 7, 2007, retrieved 3 November 2024
19. Bauman, Joseph (21 August 1990), Sharon Steel, EPA, Utah Reach Cleanup Settlement, Deseret News, retrieved 7 June 2024
20. Hand, Natalie (January 25, 2018), Toxic Superfund Sites To Re-Open, Lakota Times, retrieved 3 November 2024
21. EPA announces plans to address contamination at Fairmont Coke Works site: MAP, Times West Virginian, 15 July 2016, retrieved 7 June 2024
22. Steel firm agrees to control pollution, Somerset, Pennsylvania: The Daily American, 7 February 1985, retrieved 7 June 2024
23. Shriver, Savanna (March 24, 2022), Fairmont City Council hears plan to develop autonomous vehicle testing facility, Times West Virginian, retrieved 2 June 2024

External links

• "Tube Mill Operator" and "Hot Strip Mill Operator", paintings by Norman Rockwell to serve as Sharon Steel Corporation advertisements in 1968
• Picture of the Sharon Steel Corporation Farrell Works c. 1946, Flickr