Industrial America from the American Steel Industry to the Early 1970's

Industrial America from the American Steel Industry to the Early 1970's

The steel industry has been profoundly important to the development of

USA by its value of output, input to the American manufacturing

industries and in terms of the extent of its employment in the past.

It’s been important because of its political clout of its corporations

and finally it’s been important for strategic reasons.

Background to the American Steel Industry

The industry dates from mid 19th century when it grew out of the iron

industry. There was huge demand for steel following the end of the

Civil War and the building of the great trans-continental railway. The

industry centred in Pittsburgh where the classic locational

determinants of the steel industry were operative in the late 19th

century. Rich deposits of iron-ore, juxtaposed to metallurgical coking

coal, limestone as a flux for smelting, plentiful supply of water,

plentiful migrant and immigrant labour, proximity to the markets of

the American Manufacturing Belt, ease of transport to those markets

and finally entrepreneurial ability and capital for e.g. Carnegie. At

the end of the 19th century, many of the American manufacturing of

steel was produced by small firms of a total output of 10million tons.

The US Steel Industry 1900-1940

Output increased significantly during this time period from 10million

tons to approximately 70million tons. By the early 1920s, the US

produced 3/5 of global output. Production was reduced in the Great

Depression before recovering in the later 1930s. In the early part of

the 20th century, the steel industry experienced some important

changes:-

Raw M...

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...production in areas other than the north and northeast illustrates

something of a locational shift in the industry, but the extent of

this should not be exaggerated.

In 1969 the US Steel Corporation was the largest steel-producing

company in the world and it accounted for a quarter of US steel

production. Second and third in terms of output were the Bethlehem

Steel Corporation and the Republic Steel Corporation respectively.

Conclusion

The 50s and 60s were a period of prosperity and large scale production

in the US steel industry. However, rationalisation had also been

on-going with more than 100 plants closing during these decades.

Incipient problems relating to lack of innovation, poor management and

import penetration were beginning to emerge and would become

particularly serious during the next 2 decades.