Inland Steel Company
The Inland Steel Company was an American steel company active from 1893 until its acquisition in 1998 by Ispat International. Originally based in East Chicago, Indiana, it was eventually headquartered in Chicago at the landmark Inland Steel Building.
The company began with the founders' purchase of the land and machinery associated with a failed steel mill in 1893. Inland Steel initially expanded through the efforts of steel industry investors and the family of founder Joseph Block. Inland opened a second steel plant during World War I, and the company continued to grow, making purchases of other companies starting in 1928 to facilitate vertical integration. Demand for consumer products made from steel rose in the 1950s, and the main Inland Steel mill in Indiana Harbor hit its peak employment level in 1969. From then on, the company repeatedly faced reduced demand, economic downturns, and failed business ventures. Over the next few decades, the company shrank and became unprofitable. It was sold to Ispat International, a Dutch firm, in 1998. Starting in 2020, its assets were owned by Cleveland-Cliffs.
Inland Steel was an integrated steel company that reduced iron ore to steel. It specialized in the basic open hearth steelmaking process. This produced a steel that was resistant to extreme temperature, unlike those made from the Bessemer or acid open hearth processes. Its primary mill, built in 1901, was situated on a large landfill protruding out into Lake Michigan next to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal. The steel mill's shoreline location enabled it to take in steelmaking commodities, such as iron ore, coal, and limestone, by lake freighter. Throughout much of its existence, Inland Steel operated its own fleet of bulk carrier vessels.
The company's union, Steel Workers Organizing Committee Local 1010, was established in 1936. Viewed as the most left-leaning of all steelworkers' locals, Local 1010 focused on improving workplace conditions and bargaining for benefits and wage increases for employees. On the occasions that negotiations failed, Local 1010 organized repeated labor strikes.
Firm history
Startup
Inland Steel was founded in 1893 through the purchase of a small failed Chicago Heights steel mill, Chicago Steel Works. After its closing, the machinery was bought by Ross Buckingham. He was able to acquire six acres of land and $20,000 for buildings, but was unable to raise more capital. An acquaintance of Buckingham, George H. Jones, learned of this and became interested. At the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, Jones met Joseph Block of the Block-Pollack Iron Company. Block wanted to be involved in this new business venture, but his business associates did not. Block put up the capital himself and brought in his 22-year-old son, Philip D. Block. After purchasing Buckingham's land and machinery, Inland Steel Company was officially in business on 30 October 1893.Inland Steel was immediately successful, making a small profit in 1894. A slightly larger profit was earned in 1895. A disagreement broke out between the founders on what should be done with these profits. William H. Adams and some other investors wanted a larger return on their investment, while others wanted to reinvest profits back into the company. Reinvestment would allow them to replace the old machinery that was in constant need of repair. It was decided that they would reinvest the profits, causing Adams to leave the company. He sold his shares to L.E. Block, oldest son of Joseph. The Block family led Inland Steel through its early years.
In 1901, the company raised more than $1 million to build an open-hearth mill in East Chicago. This would become the firm's primary location, the Indiana Harbor plant. This expansion allowed the firm to grow more than tenfold in size, from 250 workers in 1897 to 2,600 in 1910. R.J. Beatty of Midland Steel invested and became general manager, bringing the addition of sheet mills. In March 1903, G.H. Jones was named president. Shareholders voted to increase stock from $2,000,000 to $2,500,000. Inland began to secure their own primary materials with the lease of land in Minnesota's Laura Iron Mine from 1906. The following year marked the debut of the Madeline No. 1 furnace. Named after the daughter of Philip D Block, it was the first blast furnace in northern Indiana. On 6 December 1914, founder Joseph Block died.
Growth
In 1917, during World War I, Inland Steel's production broke the 1.0-million ton mark for the first time. A second plant opened that year. The new plant was run completely by electricity. The plan for electrification had been developed by a Westinghouse engineer named Wilfred Sykes, who later joined the company in 1922. Philip D. Block became president in 1919, taking over for Alexis W. Thompson, who had held the position since 1908. He devised a plan for a workday consisting of three 8-hour shifts, but the company decided that the plan could not be used until the other steel firms adopted a similar one. In 1928, Inland purchased White Marble Lime Company, renaming it Inland Lime and Stone Company. Port Inland in Michigan was built around these limestone and dolomite quarries. In 1930, the firm completed a new office headquarters in East Chicago, which still survives.File:Inland Steel Building 2007 05 21.jpg|thumb|The Inland Steel Building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and opened on February 3, 1958.
In 1935, Inland acquired the steel warehouse business of Joseph T Ryerson & Sons, Inc. Edward L Ryerson became vice chairman of the board at Inland. Milcor Steel Company of Milwaukee was purchased in 1936. In that same year, Inland acquired Wilson & Bennett Manufacturing. The latter became Inland Container Company, which brought the addition of pails, barrels, and food containers to their list of products. By World War II, the Chicago-area steelmaker had 14,000 employees and was producing 3.4 million tons per year. Inland received two awards for military production in 1943. The Army/Navy "E" of achievement was given for high production of wartime material. The "M" from the U.S. Maritime Administration was for outstanding achievement in vital wartime contracts. Inland Steel became fully vertically integrated in 1944. Philip D. Block retired his presidency the following year and was replaced by L.E. Block. In 1948, Wilfred Sykes became president.
Starting in the 1950s, there was an increased demand for consumer products made from steel, such as appliances and motor vehicles. Cold rolling processes were used to make the sheets and strips necessary in the manufacture of these goods, and Inland soon specialized in this process. A $360 million project was undertaken to modernize existing facilities, acquire more resources, and erect new buildings. Clarence B. Randall was named president of Inland in 1952. A Canadian subsidiary, Caland Ore Company, was founded in 1953. In 1956–1957, the firm constructed a new corporate headquarters, the Inland Steel Building, in downtown Chicago. Joseph L. Block was named as company president in 1959. The 1960s began profitably for the steel industry. A large project to expand and upgrade facilities began in 1962 and was completed in 1966. The following year, a new research lab was opened in East Chicago and Philip D. Block Jr. took over the leadership of Inland from cousin Joseph L. Block. Employment at the Indiana Harbor mill rose toward its peak of 25,000 in 1969.
Decline and acquisition
In the early 1970s, the steel industry saw a sharp decline in business. Inland began to invest in the housing market through subsidiary Inland Steel Urban Development Corporation. Foreign steel companies were increasing their presence in the world steel market. In 1971, the role of President of Inland Steel passed to Michael Tenenbaum, who further coordinated the technical aspects of the company and wrote extensively on air pollution and energy conservation. The business became profitable again in 1974, but a recession the following year ended the temporary steel boom. The market for domestic steel remained in a downturn until 1978.The 1980s began with another downturn for Inland and other companies in the domestic steel industry. Foreign companies offered lower prices that U.S. companies could not match. Between 1982 and 1985, Inland lost $456 million. During this time, the company began to sell off many of its subsidiaries, including raw materials and transportation services. Inland was no longer fully vertically integrated. Operations at the Indiana Harbor steel mill were reduced to running at 70 percent of steelmaking capacity.
Inland Steel entered into two joint venture partnerships with Nippon Steel to create the I/N Tek cold rolling mill and the I/N Kote steel sheet galvanizing facility. This strategic partnership gave the company access to Japanese automakers based in the U.S., but profitability continued to be difficult to attain. Although Inland was still the largest steel distributor and fourth largest manufacturer in the United States, the company did not have a profitable year in the 1990s until 1994. The following year, the company formed Inland International to sell and distribute products to companies in Mexico, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, and India. To appease major shareholders, the company made the decision to retain steel distributor Ryerson-Tull and sell its steel production facilities.
In July 1998, Ispat International acquired Inland Steel for $1.4 billion. Mittal Steel Company acquired Arcelor to form ArcelorMittal in 2006. In 2020, it sold its U.S. assets, including the former Inland Steel assets, to Cleveland-Cliffs.
Facilities
Open-hearth steel
In 1894, Inland established its first research lab. By 1935, the lab employed 35 researchers. The lab was located in the open hearth department of the plant, allowing steel to be tested as it was being made. It would be tested for impurities, chemical composition, and physical properties. Researchers also worked on the development of new steel types.The company purchased fifty acres of land along Lake Michigan in 1901 for the development of a plant with an open hearth furnace, a type of furnace that has scrap and pig iron thrown in and heated to a very high temperature. In August of the following year, the plant at Indiana Harbor was put into operation. It had four 40-ton open hearth furnaces, a 32' blooming mill, 7 sheet and bar mills, and a 24" universal bar mill. Company headquarters were in the Marquette Building in Chicago.In August 1906, a new 50-acre tract with 4000 feet of water frontage was acquired next to the existing plant. Also acquired was the Laura ore mine on the Mesabi range. The company's fifth open hearth furnace had just been completed, and the daily production capacity of open hearth steel was 500 tons. The "Madeline" blast furnace, with a rated capacity of 350 tons/day, was blown in on 31 August 1907. A blast furnace heats iron ore, limestone, and coke to a temperature of at least 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. Impurities in the molten metal rise to the top and are removed when hot air is blown in.