Ford Motor Company (F), General Motors Company (GM): The (Re)birth of a Legend

The birth of big steel
The massive Edgar Thomson steel plant roared to life on Aug. 22, 1875 in Pittsburgh, Penn. It was the cornerstone of industrialist Andrew Carnegie’s steel empire, and on its first day the million-dollar plant (its costs would be equal to roughly $25.5 million today) churned out enough liquid steel to produce 2,000 rails for the Pennsylvania Railroad. That year, U.S. steelmakers combined to produce 380,000 tons of steel.

In its first year of operation, the E.T. mill, as it’s popularly known, had produced more than 32,000 tons of steel rail, and it soon increased its capabilities to 225 tons of rail per day, which would equal more than 82,000 tons of steel if the mill operated every day of the year. Carnegie’s early adoption of the Bessemer process helped him dominate the American steel industry, and the E.T. mill was the source of much of his strength.

The E.T. mill still cranks out steel to this day as part of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), which was formed in 1901 by a billion-dollar consortium that had purchased many of the larger steelmaking interests in the U.S. (US Steel became a Dow component almost immediately after its formation, on account of its sheer size.) The mill remains integral to United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X)’s production, despite its advanced age: E.T.’s two active blast furnaces produced 2.8 million tons of steel at the turn of the century, comprising roughly a quarter of the company’s total production. The E.T. plant and its associated steelmaking complex still account for about 15% of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X)’s annual production in North America, which is pretty impressive when you consider that the plant will soon celebrate its 140th birthday.

The article How Ford’s Failure Became GM’s Prestige originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford.

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