Steel Companies

Five years ago, there would have been few takers for the steel plants in Sparrows Point and Weirton, W.Va. Bethlehem Steel Corp., which owned Sparrows Point at the time and was once the largest steelmaker in the world, was in its death throes, joining the list of Rust Belt companies that buckled under the weight of high costs and fierce competition. But if either plant goes up for sale early next year, there could be multiple bids for each. And there's a good chance the buyer won't be American.

Executives from the nation's largest steel manufacturers, including Sparrows Point owner Mittal Steel Co. NV, will face off with automakers today over tariffs on foreign-made corrosion-resistant steel. DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Toyota want the U.S. International Trade Commission to drop the duties on imports from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea, a request fiercely resisted by steelmakers.

Carl F. Bessent, a retired Bethlehem Steel executive, died of pneumonia complications Aug. 27 at Edenwald Retirement Community in Towson. He was 86 and had lived in Guilford. Born in Conway, S.C., he was a 1937 Sparrows Point High School graduate who earned a degree at Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering College in 1942. He then joined the Army and served in Europe and the Pacific. He retired in 1946 as an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel. Mr. Bessent, who began work at Bethlehem Steel Corp.

William G. Duling, a retired steel company inspector and sports fan, died Monday of stroke complications at Future Care Chesapeake in Arnold. He was 89. Mr. Duling was born and raised in Gormania, W.Va., and earned a bachelor's degree in 1938 from what is now Fairmont State University in Fairmont, W.Va. He taught in a one-room West Virginia schoolhouse for several years before coming to Baltimore to work for Westinghouse Electric Corp. He was an inspector at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point plant for 30 years before retiring in 1977.

Clinton S. Blackwell Sr., a retired steel company foreman who was active in his church, died of cancer Wednesday at his West Baltimore home. He was 84. Mr. Blackwell was born In Northumberland County, Va., and as a youngster moved with his family to Baltimore. He attended city public schools and later earned his General Educational Development certificate. After serving in the Army during World War II, Mr. Blackwell went to work at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point plant. He retired as a foreman in the early 1980s.

Arthur J. Noon Jr., founder of a steel fabrication company and World War II veteran, died of heart failure Sunday at Bonnie Blink, the Maryland Masonic Home in Hunt Valley. He was 86. Mr. Noon was born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1937, he was a clerical worker for several years at the old Glenn L. Martin Co. aircraft plant in Middle River. During World War II, he served as a cryptographer with the Army Signal Corps in the Pacific.

Shares of International Steel Group Inc., the new owner of the Sparrows Point steel complex, shot up 26 percent in their trading debut on Wall Street yesterday following the first initial public offering by a major integrated steelmaker in nearly a decade. ISG, assembled from the wreckage of bankrupt steel companies including Bethlehem Steel Corp., sold 16.5 million shares at $28 a share late Thursday, raising $462 million. The stock opened at $33.50 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange and then traded mostly higher to close at $35.20, or $7.20 above the IPO price.

A bill introduced yesterday in the House of Representatives to provide health care under certain circumstances to retired steelworkers received a less than enthusiastic welcome from union officials and other steel allies. The legislation by Rep. Phil English, a Pennsylvania Republican, would provide health care benefits for the retirees of steel companies in the event that a firm was acquired by another domestic steelmaker, or if production capacity were reduced at the acquiring company's operations, or if a U.S. steelmaker closes.

Despite the meltdown in the U.S. steel industry that has bankrupted 32 producers, a handful of steelmakers managed to post surprising profits last year and are poised to reap the gains when markets bounce back. A number of business factors are working in these companies' favor -- along with less tangible dynamics such as corporate culture that experts say also play a significant role. Nucor Corp., the country's second-largest producer, is by far the most profitable steelmaker in the country, earning more than $100 million last year while others lost several times that amount.