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The Steel Company of Canada (Stelco) was founded in 1910. In 2007, the company — based in Hamilton, Ontario — was bought by the United States Steel Corporation, and its name changed to U.S. Steel Canada. Six years later, at the end of 2013 and over 100 years since its inception, Stelco stopped producing steel at its Hamilton Works location, once considered the heart of the industry. While steel production stopped, coke making and steel finishing continue at the Hamilton factory. The company has an additional Canadian plant in Nanticoke and joint venture operations in Hamilton and Stoney Creek, Ont. In its heyday, Stelco was Canada’s largest steel producer.
History
When Stelco incorporated as The Steel Company of Canada in 1910, it consolidated existing companies engaged in the production of iron, steel and related products: Montreal Rolling Mills Co., Hamilton Steel and Iron Co., Canada Screw Co., Canada Bolt and Nut Co., and Dominion Wire Manufacturing Company. Stelco produced a wide range of flat-rolled and coated steels, bars, rods, wire and wire products as well as pipe and tubing, fasteners, and forgings.
In the 1920s, Stelco became the largest producer of steel in Canada, though the US remained the country’s largest steel supplier. However, in the 1930s, increased duties on American steel imports allowed Stelco to increase its share of the domestic market. This expansion helped carry Stelco through the Great Depression.
The company grew steadily through acquisitions, and in the 1960s amalgamated with Page-Hersey Tubes Ltd., Premier Steel Mills Ltd., and Canadian Drawn Steel Co. Ltd. The name Stelco was officially adopted in 1980.
Unlike the 1930s, the recession of the early 1980s hit the company hard, and job losses and drops in the share price persisted into the 1990s. In 2004, the company entered bankruptcy protection, and in 2007 was bought by the United States Steel Corporation, changing its name to U.S. Steel Canada. Three years later, in 2010, steelmaking operations at the Hamilton site were idled, a precursor to 2013 and the end of steel production at that plant.
See also Hamilton
