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Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel

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Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
IndustryMetals
Founded1920
SuccessorRG Steel
HeadquartersWheeling, West Virginia
Key peopleJames G. Bradley, Chairman and CEO
Productsraw steel
galvanized steel
substrate steel
coils
bridge building
sheet metal
tin
coke
Number of employees3,300
Websitewww.wpsc.com

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel was a steel manufacturer based in Wheeling, West Virginia, which is located at the edge of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. In December 1968, Pittsburgh Steel Company was merged into Wheeling Steel Corporation to form the Wheeling-Pitt.

The company had six major manufacturing centers in Eastern Ohio, the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. Due to the downfall of the American steel industry, Wheeling-Pittsburgh became a shell of its former self. While Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel has kept itself profitable by diversifying and moving the majority of its manufacturing plants to the South or overseas (but keeping headquarters and a few plants in Pittsburgh) except for the multiple plants in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania; Wheeling-Pittsburgh had kept all of its main operations in the former Steel Belt. This had led the company to post losses for many years, including in 2000, when it filed for bankruptcy protection.

While the company operated only a limited number of plants, the corporation was able to turn out a high number of products due to efficiency. Each of Wheeling-Pittsburgh's six plants turnd out a different type of product. Raw steel, which can be manufactured in a variety of thicknesses, and may be rolled or coiled, was created in Steubenville, Ohio. In Yorkville, Ohio, the company produced tin products, specifically coatings. Galvanized steel, marketed under the SofTite name, was produced at a Martins Ferry, Ohio plant. Located near the main headquarters in Wheeling was a plant that specialized in steel for bridge and highway construction. Sheet steel was produced in an Allenport, Pennsylvania plant, while the company gathered the coke that is required for steel production at a Follansbee, West Virginia plant.

Esmark, Inc. engaged in a successful proxy takeover battle for Wheeling-Pitt in 2005 and formally took over the steelmaker in November 2007.

In August 2008, Severstal acquired Esmark's Wheeling-Pitt steel holdings for $1.25 billion. RG Steel, a unit of the Renco Group, acquired Wheeling-Pittsburgh from Severstal in 2011.

On May 31, 2012, RG Steel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and sent notices to all 4000 RG Steel employes that they may be laid off, with layoffs beginning on June 4, 2012.

Notes

  1. ^ "Russian Steelmaker Completes Esmark Acquisition." Associated Press. August 5, 2008.
  2. Severstal selling Wheeling-Pitt mills and other assets Pittsbrgh Post-Gazette March 29, 2012
  3. "RG Steel Files Chapter Eleven." The Intellegencer Wheeling News Register May 31, 2012.
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