United States Steel: A Corporation with a SoulCotter, Arundel
History
United States Steel: A Corporation with a Soul
Cotter, Arundel
United States Steel Corporation
From the date of its incorporation in 1901, to December, 1919, the
big company expended for new construction, increasing its capacity
and modernizing its plants, $888,301,355, or the equivalent of $159
on every share of its common stock, and $19,717,755 more than its
entire stock capitalization, common and preferred. Nor did this include
approximately $108,000,000 spent for plants for producing war materials
and written off as operating expenses.
Construction expenditures in 1920 were, approximately, $102,000,000,
making a total on this account since incorporation of a billion dollars
in round figures.
Appropriations for depreciation, sinking funds, and repairs to plants
have been enormous, aggregating in nineteen years $1,424,415,590, or
almost as great a sum as that at which the property account is now
carried, $1,573,661,547.
The Corporation has expended, for ordinary repairs alone, $835,900,568,
or about the actual investment value of the properties acquired at
incorporation.
As a result of these enormous expenditures, it has:
Increased its pig-iron manufacturing capacity from 7,440,000 tons in
April, 1901, to 18,400,000 tons in December, 1919, a gain of 147 per
cent.;
Increased its steel ingot capacity in the same time from 9,425,000 tons
to 22,350,000 tons, or 137 per cent.;
Increased its finished steel capacity from 7,719,000 tons to 16,200,000
tons, or 110 per cent.;
Increased its cement capacity from 500,000 to 13,500,000 barrels, or
2,600 per cent.;
Created from zero a by-product coke capacity of about 45,000,000
gallons of benzol, toluol, and other light oils, as well as built
up enormous capacity for other coke by-products including ammonia
sulphate, tar, fertilizers, etc.;
Increased the railroad mileage it owns and operates from 2,007 to 3,775
miles or 88 per cent.; the number of cars owned from 27,481 to 62,258,
and of locomotives from 593 to 1,445.
Increased the number of steamers, barges, and other marine units owned
from 112 to 371.
Increased its working capital from $138,110,545 to $569,988,259, or 313
per cent.;
Its iron-ore holdings, estimated at 700,000,000 tons in 1901, are now
placed at 1,600,000,000 tons.
A better grasp of the Corporation’s expansion between 1901 and the
beginning of 1920 is obtained by comparing capacity at the date of
incorporation with what has been added since:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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