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The Steelton plant was founded in 1867 by
the Pennsylvania Steel Corp.. It was the first mill in the U.S. built
exclusivly for the production of steel.
Main product were steel rails already.
Three blast furnaces and a Bessemer mill
were erected along the
Susquehanna river in the
late 19th century.
In 1917 the mill was taken over by Charles Schwab's
Bethlehem Steel Corp.
The blast furnaces were closed for good in 1960.Steel was
produced now by remelting scrap in open hearth furnaces only.
The open hearth furnaces were replaced by electric arc
furnaces in 1968.A continuous caster was installed in 1983.
In 2001 the Bethlehem Steel Corporation went bankrupt and
was taken over by ISG which later became part of ArcelorMittal.
Today ArcelorMittal operates a 150 ton electric arc furnace,
a continuous bloom caster, a 44”
blooming mill, a 20” bar mill, and the 38-25” rail mill at Steelton. Large
scale ingot teeming is still done also.
Steelton is one of only two remaining
rail producers in U.S. today.
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