Weirton Steel

Weirton Steel was an integrated steel mill in Weirton, West Virginia, founded in 1909 by Ernest T. Weir and later operated by National Steel.

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Weirton Steel was an integrated steel mill in Weirton, West Virginia, founded in 1909 by Ernest T. Weir and later operated by National Steel, employee ownership, ArcelorMittal, and Cleveland-Cliffs, before ending tinplate production in 2024.

History

Ernest T. Weir began his career as an office assistant at U.S. Steel Corporation and later served as general manager of a tinplate mill in Monessen, Pennsylvania. ¹ In 1905, Weir and his partner, James Phillips, purchased the Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Company in Clarksburg. ³

In 1909, the partners relocated and expanded operations to Hollidays Cove at the northern tip of West Virginia, citing abundant water and coal supplies, river and rail transportation, and proximity to major steel markets. ³ By the end of that year, Weir operated ten steel mills, adding ten more in 1910. In 1911, he acquired the 12-mill Pope Tin Plate Company in Steubenville, Ohio. Two additional hot mills were constructed at the central facility in 1915 and 1916. By 1915, Weir controlled 50 hot mills across three locations and operated the world’s second-largest tin plate production facility. ¹

To better coordinate operations, Weir organized the Weirton Steel Company in 1918; ¹ it was formally incorporated in 1925. ³ A pig-iron blast furnace was constructed at Weirton in 1919, followed by an open-hearth shop and blooming mill in 1920. ^{8 9} By that year, more than 15,000 people lived in the surrounding area. ³ Hollidays Cove expanded rapidly, and the communities of Weirton, Weirton Heights, and Marland Heights developed. All were incorporated into the City of Weirton in 1947.

Further Growth

Expansion continued in the 1920s. A coke plant was built in 1923 on Browns Island in the Ohio River, followed by additional blast furnaces, open-hearth facilities, and river docks. ³ A second blast furnace was completed in 1926, ⁸ and in 1929, Weirton Steel merged with Great Lakes Steel Corporation of Detroit and Hanna Iron Ore Company of Cleveland to form National Steel Corporation, creating one of the world’s largest steel producers. ¹ A Bessemer converter was added in 1936. ⁸

In 1938, the Clarksburg plant was idled and turned over to the local chamber of commerce. ³ The facility had become obsolete due to rising freight costs, outdated machinery, and the expansion of operations in Weirton and Steubenville. That same year, a quality-control laboratory was constructed adjacent to the central office. A third blast furnace was completed in 1941. ⁸

During World War II, the War Production Board ordered reductions in tinplate production. ³ The Steubenville plant closed in October 1942. At the Weirton works, production set records, including two world marks for steel ingot output, averaging 5,080 net tons per day. A fourth coke battery was built in 1942, followed by additional batteries in 1947, 1951, 1954, and 1956. ¹⁶ A fourth blast furnace was added in 1952. ⁸

Weirton Steel fully acquired Browns Island in 1957 for future expansion. ¹⁵ A steel research center opened in 1960, and open-hearth smoke controls were implemented in 1963. ³ A Basic Oxygen Plant began operation in 1967, followed by the four-strand continuous slab caster in 1968, which led to the closure of the open-hearth shop and blooming mill. ⁹ Coupled with a vacuum degassing facility, this was described as the “mill of the future” because it brought together three state-of-the-art technologies: basic oxygen steel production, vacuum degassing, and continuous casting, into one automated, high-tonnage operation. ²²

On August 7, 1970, construction began on a new coke plant atop 57,000 tons of slag on Browns Island. ^{15 16} Completed in September 1972, the project required a bridge over the main Ohio River channel and a temporary crossing over the back channel to Ohio. The facility replaced a c. 1944 plant and featured 87 twenty-foot-high ovens, self-sealing doors, a closed pushing system, continuous quenching, and advanced environmental controls. It included facilities for ammonia destruction, hydrogen sulfide removal from coke-oven gas, and the recovery of high-purity liquid sulfur.

Steel Imports and Domestic Troubles

By the 1950s, U.S. steel exports had stagnated, and the nation’s share of world steel trade fell from 53.6% in 1947 to 6.9% in 1960. Imports rose sharply between 1950 and 1965. ³ In response, federal import quotas were imposed in 1969. Weirton also faced declining demand for tin plates as aluminum replaced tin in beverage packaging.

In 1977, National Steel considered a three-week shutdown of the Weirton facility ³ but instead laid off 781 workers. ¹² Between 1978 and 1982, net sales fell from $1.09 billion to $904 million, while operating expenses increased from $79 million to $103 million. Pretax earnings dropped from a $16 million profit in 1978 to a $104 million loss in 1982. Shipments declined from 2.94 million tons to 1.68 million tons during the same period. ³

In 1981, Weirton experienced its first significant layoffs, ³ with more than 3,500 workers losing their jobs by year’s end. ¹² The Steubenville Works closed, followed by the Browns Island coke plant in 1982. ^{3 17} That facility had reached the end of its service life and required substantial emissions upgrades. ¹⁷ In 1982, National Steel announced it would make no further major capital investments in Weirton, ^{1 17} instead using its earnings to diversify, buying interests in savings and loans and investing in aluminum production. ³

Employee Ownership

A Joint Study Committee led by Weirton president Jack Redline and labor representatives explored alternatives, including an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). ³ In April 1983, an agreement was reached for the employee-owned Weirton Steel Corporation to purchase the Weirton division from National Steel for $194.2 million in cash and debt. Workers accepted a 20 percent wage reduction and a six-year wage freeze in exchange for ownership. At the time, it was the largest ESOP in the world.

The company reported $48.3 million in earnings on $845.5 million in sales in the first nine months of 1984. ³ A blast furnace that had been idled was restarted, recalling 60 workers, and Weirton exercised its option to purchase the Steubenville mill plant from National Steel. Sixteen consecutive profitable quarters followed. Profits reached $80 million in 1987, and production increased from 2.8 million to 3.3 million tons. Approximately 8,400 workers received average profit-sharing checks of $4,500. Weirton became the nation’s seventh-largest integrated steel producer. ^{1 3}

In 1989, ¹ employees approved an initial public offering, thereby relinquishing 23% of the company’s stock to finance a five-year, $500 million modernization program. ³ A second offering in 1994 reduced employee ownership to 49%. Improvements included a new continuous caster and reconstruction of the hot mill.

Despite modernization, delays, and mounting debt, losses occurred in the early 1990s. ³ Weirton incurred losses of $75 million in 1991 and $32 million in 1992. ¹² By 1993, long-term debt reached $495 million. ³ Workforce reductions continued, with 500 terminated in 1996, including 200 of its 1,000 management employees. By 1999, employment had fallen to 3,000. ¹³ Losses reached $533 million in 2001. ¹²

On May 19, 2003, Weirton Steel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. ¹² Its assets were auctioned, and International Steel Group (ISG) acquired most of the holdings for $237 million in 2004. ¹¹ ISG formed a new division, ISG Weirton Steel, in May.

Decline and Transition

In 2005, Mittal Steel acquired ISG, and in 2006, the company became ArcelorMittal. ¹¹ In 2008, the hot mill closed, and the remaining obsolete facilities—including the coke plant, idled since 1982, and former open-hearth structures, closed since 1968—were demolished as part of a $30 million cleanup and modernization program. ^{9 10 11} Scrap steel from the teardowns was used to fuel the blast furnaces.

In June, ArcelorMittal announced that it would idle the blast furnaces, ore yards, and the four-strand caster by the end of the year, resulting in the layoff of 750 workers. ¹² On November 29, the company opted to permanently close the blast furnaces and related furnaces, citing high production costs. ¹⁴ ArcelorMittal had to import coke for the furnaces at a high price on the open market and had to have iron ore shipped by rail, which was significantly more expensive than its Cleveland mill, where it was sent in cheaper via freighters on Lake Erie.

Mittal employed just 1,300 workers by the close of the year. ¹³

On February 1, 2017, ArcelorMittal sold approximately 1,100 acres of unused property to the Frontier Group for redevelopment. ⁴

On March 10, Bidell Gas Compression finalized an agreement to occupy 100,000 square feet of the former machine shop by 2018, with plans to employ up to 130 workers. ^{6 7} The company intended to use the facility for the fabrication, sale, lease, and servicing of natural gas compression equipment. ⁷

On April 14, the three ore bridges that had supplied iron ore to the blast furnaces were demolished. ⁵ On March 9, 2019, the Basic Oxygen Plant was imploded. ²²

The 640-acre Weirton Works had been reduced to tin plate and cold-rolled sheet operations employing 876 workers. ² The remaining plant included a tandem mill, batch annealing and continuous annealing lines, temper mills, electro-tin plating lines, and side trimmers. Steel produced in Ohio was reheated at Weirton and coated with tin, zinc, and chrome. ¹²

On September 28, 2020, Cleveland-Cliffs acquired ArcelorMittal’s U.S. assets for $1.4 billion, including Weirton’s tin operations, making it the largest flat-rolled steel and iron ore pellet producer in North America. ²⁰

In January 2023, Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers filed trade petitions regarding imported tin and chromium-coated sheet steel. ¹⁹ Although duties were announced in January 2024, the International Trade Commission rejected them in February. On February 15, Cleveland-Cliffs announced plans to indefinitely halt tinplate production at the Weirton Works, beginning in April, affecting approximately 900 employees, including 300 who were previously laid off in 2023. ¹⁸

In 2024, Cleveland-Cliffs announced plans to convert its Half Moon Warehouse into a facility for producing three-phase distribution transformers used in electric power distribution systems. ²¹ The $150 million project was expected to open in 2026.

In May 2025, the company withdrew from the project after failing to secure anticipated federal grant funding. ²¹ A prospective partner was unwilling to make the necessary commitments to properly scale the plant, and the project required a partner capable of supplying the specialized technology and licensing needed for transformer production. Of the planned $150 million capital investment, $50 million—approximately one-third—had been offered by the State of West Virginia in the form of a forgivable loan to Cleveland-Cliffs.

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Gallery

Browns Island

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Sources

1. “History.” Weirton Steel Corporation. Archive.
2. “Weirton.” ArcelorMittal. Article.
3. International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 26. St. James Press, 1999.
4. Howell, Craig and Casey Junkins. “ArcelorMittal Steel Sells Weirton Property.” Intelligencer [Wheeling], 7 Sept. 2017.
5. Eiler, Sean. “Former Arcelor Mittal bridges demolished.” WTOV9, 14 Apr. 2017.
6. “Revitalizing Old Mill Site in Weirton.”Intelligencer [Wheeling], 15 Mar. 2017.
7. “Bidell Gas Compression Bringing New Jobs to Weirton.” Intelligencer [Wheeling], 10 Mar. 2017.
8. Mácha, Viktor. “Weirton Steel Corporation, West Virginia.” Viktor Mácha, 2017. Article.
9. Brown, Keri. “For nearly 40 years, the open hearth mill at Weirton steel has been idle.” West Virginia Public Broadcasting. 31 Aug. 2007.
10. Brown, Keri. “Historic Weirton Steel building coming down.” West Virginia Public Broadcasting. 31 Aug. 2007.
11. “Steel manufacturer planning to do more work in state.” Charleston Daily Mail. 12 Jan. 2005.
12. “What happens when industry moves on?” News-Journal [Mansfield], 23 Jul. 2006. p. 4A.
13. Boselovic, Len. “Weirton vote ends noble but outdated experiment.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1 Apr. 2007. pp. D1, D7.
14. Smith, Vicki. “Furnace will stay idle at Weirton steel mill.” Courier-Journal [Louisville], 2 Dec. 2005. p. D3.
15. “Browns Island Coke Plant To Be Completed In Sept.” Weirton Daily Times, 6 Apr. 1972, pp. 1-2.
16. “Coke Plant On Island 40 Percent Complete.” Weirton Daily Times, 7 Oct. 1971, pp. 1-2.
17. Brennan, James J. “Weirton Steel Plans To Close Coke Plant.” Pittsburgh Press, 20 Aug. 1982, p. B6.
18. Howell, Craig. “Cleveland-Cliffs to close down Weirton tinplate facility.” Herald-Star, 16 Feb. 2024.
19. “Cleveland-Cliffs to Idle Weirton Tinplate Facility Following Unfavorable ITC Ruling.” Cleveland-Cliffs, 15 Feb. 2024.
20. Harris, Linda. “ArcelorMittal to sell U.S. operations, including Weirton tin mill.” Weirton Daily Times, 29 Sept. 2020.
21. McElhinny, Brad. “Cleveland-Cliffs says Weirton project fell apart over partnership, broader financial pressures.” MetroNews, 8 May 2025.
22. Harris, Linda. “Weirton bids farewell to Basic Oxygen Plant as remnants of facility demolished.” Weirton Daily Times, 19 Mar. 2019.