Welcome Back, Stelco

[ScreamingViking]

Kestenbaum et al seem to be playing this very smartly, right from the initial investment through the land re-purchase to strategic spends like this one.

Quite the contrast from USS, who clearly bought Stelco to dismantle a competitor. But at least they painted things a bright blue... that was nice.

[ScreamingViking]

Stelco moving ahead with Bayfront land redevelopment plans
Steelmaker receives approval to sever its Hamilton property for future development.

Mark McNeil, The Hamilton Spectator
Oct 11, 2019
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9...lopment-plans/



Stelco has received approval to subdivide its massive Bayfront property into different land categories, a first step in its redevelopment aspirations.

Company officials presented a map and other documentation to the City of Hamilton's committee of adjustment on Thursday, laying the groundwork for the steelmaker's plans to redraft the 310 hectares of property.

Stelco classified the land in three ways: property it is currently using for steel production (representing two parcels totalling 98 hectares); property it plans to develop in the short term (152 hectares); and land it has classified as "deferred" (54 hectares).

...

The approval Stelco received Thursday allows for the land to be severed internally, but nothing more, said city planning director Steve Robichaud. To move forward with redevelopment, a master plan and possibly rezoning would be required, along with additional approvals from the city.

Most interesting about Stelco's "deferred land" category is that it includes waterfront property along the western edge of Stelco property. That land, which is near Randle Reef, is particularly valuable because many believe it can be made part of an intermodal transportation hub for ships, trains and trucks.

Once the multi-year Randle Reef remediation project is completed in 2022, a six-hectare docking facility peninsula will go into operation on top of the reef. Combining that new facility with a port development on waterfront land along Stelco's western boundary would greatly expand the transportation hub potential of the area.

...

Full story here

[realcity]

Once the multi-year Randle Reef remediation project is completed in 2022, a six-hectare docking facility peninsula will go into operation on top of the reef. Combining that new facility with a port development on waterfront land along Stelco's western boundary would greatly expand the transportation hub potential of the area.


I thought the cap on Randle Reef was going to be a park. I'm all for it to go into shipping, Hamilton has Bay Front Park. Although the idea of a park to watch the cargo ships would be interesting.

[thistleclub]

Toronto Star:

Stelco Holdings Inc. (STLC)

The Hamilton, Ont., steelmaker has struggled this year with slumping steel prices and plunge in shipments by as much as half during the summer. The stock’s rebound this week follows a stunning 50 per cent recovery in steel prices, mostly in the third quarter. There’s also an investor recognition that accounting for the drop in shipments is Stelco’s ambitious retrofitting of both its flagship steelworks in Hamilton and its more modern Nanticoke, Ont., facilities, an upgrading project that will reduce costs and increase output. Stelco has been repeatedly gratified that it has been able to sell all the steel it makes, yet frustrated that until the upgrading is completed it can’t make still more.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Toronto Star:

I think the land on the harbourfront is the biggest most liquid asset the "new Stelco" has... despite all the foo-froo about the company's production (and I've been quite positive in my posts) Bedrock's bedrock is all that fill.

[ScreamingViking]

Story in today's Spec about the local steel industry...


The Faceoff: Steel prices are taking off and Stelco is on a tear — but rival Dofasco still dominates the auto market

https://www.thespec.com/ts/business/...to-market.html

By Josh Rubin
The Hamilton Spectator
Sat., March 6, 2021



Stelco takes control of its destiny

Is the Rust Belt finally getting a little bit of polish?

It certainly seems that way, at least for Stelco, and its biggest investor, U.S.-based private equity firm Bedrock Industries, whose official corporate headquarters is in the Netherlands.

With steel prices rising as economies around the world anticipate the COVID-19 pandemic winding down, Stelco has seen its share price rise this year. Bedrock has cashed in, but not in a way observers had feared when it first bought the company.

The company reclaimed its birth name in 2016 after being bought out of bankruptcy as U.S. Steel Canada in 2016. At the time, some observers feared Bedrock, which paid an estimated $500 million for the Hamilton-based steelmaker, was just in it for a quick buck, possibly by stripping assets. Yes, Bedrock has since done all right for itself, selling off chunks of its stake in Stelco in a series of sales totalling about $844 million. The most recent sale came this past week, with a secondary offering worth $183 million that will leave Bedrock holding roughly 38 per cent of Stelco shares once the deal closes later this month.

On Bedrock’s watch, Stelco has invested significantly in new equipment, including North America’s only “smart” blast furnace, a more efficient piece of machinery that allowed the company to boost production and cut operating costs; it also added a pig-iron production facility this year.

Dofasco is a small but vital cog in a big wheel

In a couple of obvious ways, Dofasco has a leg up against its crosstown archrival, Stelco. With roughly 5,000 employees, it’s got more than double the workforce. It also produces roughly five million tons of steel products annually, compared to Stelco’s two million.

Those Dofasco workers are a relatively tiny part of a global steel behemoth, ArcelorMittal, which was formed in April 2006 when India’s Mittal Steel took over Luxembourg-based Arcelor. (Arcelor had won a bidding war for Dofasco just three months earlier over Germany’s Thyssen Krupp). The combined company today has 245,000 employees across 60 countries. Included in that total are 13 plants in the U.S., and another site in Contrecoeur, Que.

Still, says long-time steel industry observer Peter Warrian, the Dofasco operation is a crucial cog for ArcelorMittal. Warrian, an economist at U of T’s Munk School of Public Affairs and former research director for the United Steelworkers, says Hamilton is one of the company’s three most strategically-vital sites around the globe (the others being in Ghent, Belgium and Tabaro, Brazil).

...

full story here

[LikeHamilton]

This is Stelco's BOF (basic oxygen furnace) and Caster, yesterday they started to dismantle it. Closing out steel making at The Steel Company of Canada. Stelco will only produce coke for Lake Erie and be a finishing mill. Photo by Cody Lee

Stelco BOF by R L, on Flickr

Video of the property.

https://vimeo.com/channels/1666784/442482457

[ScreamingViking]

I've wondered for a while now if that was being taken down or modified. The top of the structure has looked different... like pieces were removed.

Where was that quote from?

[craftbeerdad]

Nice find LikeHamilton.

There's quite a few videos of the complex, some short snippets and longer pieces, very nicely done.

Check out these

https://vimeo.com/442481918 (blast furnace)

https://vimeo.com/442476471 (landscapes)


Summary video
https://vimeo.com/442456009 (overview)

[Berklon]

I'm getting nostalgic looking at these Stelco videos.

I worked there back in the day, at the Universal Slab Mill. I was scarfing.
At this point in my life working in IT for almost 30 years, I really miss the days of labor.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by Berklon

I'm getting nostalgic looking at these Stelco videos.

I worked there back in the day, at the Universal Slab Mill. I was scarfing.
At this point in my life working in IT for almost 30 years, I really miss the days of labor.

I've had similar sentiments over the years but I've been 'sorely' disappointed to discover how soft I've become. Nostalgia is a funny thing...

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

I've had similar sentiments over the years but I've been 'sorely' disappointed to discover how soft I've become. Nostalgia is a funny thing...

Yes, I've definitely come to that realisation as well. I can be crippled for a couple days if I bend over to tie my shoes the wrong way.

What I miss most about labour is the little-to-no stress of the job. You have the same basic job every day, and when the day is over - you don't take your work home with you... and you don't think about it while sleeping.

[Innsertnamehere]

Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but Stelco has been demolishing the old blast furnace building (The large blue building by the lake) over the last few months. It's hard to tell, but looking from the Skyway it looks like about half the building is down right now. I wonder if they are clearing it as a part of the land sale..

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but Stelco has been demolishing the old blast furnace building (The large blue building by the lake) over the last few months. It's hard to tell, but looking from the Skyway it looks like about half the building is down right now. I wonder if they are clearing it as a part of the land sale..

Yes! And that's a massive building; it will open up a lot of land for industrial use.

[ScreamingViking]

From today's Spec. Unless someone knows otherwise, wouldn't this make Lukasik's "wondering" a prohibitive proposal? (cost of the technology AND a new building... to my knowledge AM-Dofasco is retrofitting their plant)

I lived in an apartment in Burlington and this was one of the few industrial buildings I could see that wasn't blocked by the Skyway. When it was painted blue it was a big change... now it will be gone at some point.


‘End of an era:’ Stelco demolishes historical steelmaking furnaces on harbourfront

https://www.thespec.com/business/202...-furnaces.html

Matthew Van Dongen
The Hamilton Spectator
Wed., Sept. 29, 2021




Stelco is slowly demolishing a big part of its history in Hamilton — and likely any chance of restarting coal-fired steelmaking on its harbourfront lands.

For several months, the company has been dismantling its basic oxygen steel-casting facility — a massive, multistorey monolith that looms over the Stelco waterfront.

The demolition is “disappointing” — if not unexpected, said local union president Ron Wells, who noted faint hopes were raised as recently as 2018 that a new owner might resurrect steelmaking and the 400 jobs associated with the disappearing facility.

...


Stelco public affairs head Trevor Harris said the latest demolition is part of a plan to “remove buildings that are no longer deemed to have future use.”

The company plans to declare surplus and sever parts of its sprawling 800-acre property with the goal of selling or leasing parcels to other businesses, he said.

Environment Hamilton head Lynda Lukasik said she is relieved to see the “very polluting” coal-fired steelmaking facility is not going to be brought back to life. But she wondered if Stelco might also score government funding to resurrect “green” steelmaking without the use of polluting coal.


full story

[ScreamingViking]

Drove over the Skyway today from Burlington, and there is not much left of the blast furnace building -- basically it looked like it was mainly parts of that yellow framing that were still standing (sorry I have no photos; I was driving)

And coming down on the Hamilton side, the view of downtown is a lot better now... as in, there actually is one. It helped that the air was clear too.

[ScreamingViking]

Spec photo from Gage Ave looking toward what remains of Stelco's furnace complex, published Nov. 16.


https://www.thespec.com/photos/2021/...ill-looms.html

[ScreamingViking]

Anyone know what this structure was for?

It would be interesting to know how much scrap steel is being recycled as all this stuff is taken down.



https://www.thespec.com/photos/2022/...on-a-lift.html

[SteelTown]

I just hope they take it down piece by piece and not knock it over to create a giant dust/coal bowl.

[Innsertnamehere]

That's what they have been doing so far. They've already demolished a good chunk of Stelco.