Steel Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of the U.S. Steel Industry [Hardcover]

Christopher L. G. Hall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1997

Steel Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of the U.S. Steel Industry is a remarkable story. Christopher Hall recounts the great downfall of "Big Steel" in America and the emergence of a new, reinvented steel industry from the ashes of the old. Beginning with the failures of Big Steel to respond to a changing world, Christopher Hall analyzes the powers and drives behind this "most basic" of industries, revealing how the "Rust Belt" of the 1970s and 1980s was created and how the death of the traditional steel industry devastated cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Youngstown. Hall then examines how pioneering entrepreneurs and engineers rebuilt the industry by recycling large supplies of scrap steel, giving way to a minimill industry that ultimately saved what was left of the old Big Steel mills.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beset by plant closings and layoffs in the early 1980s, the U.S. steel industry became a symbol of the failure of America to compete with Japanese, European or Third World manufacturers. How U.S. steelmakers pulled themselves back from the brink is elucidated in Hall's absorbing chronicle. Pulling no punches, the author, a consultant in the metals and transportation industries, describes how what he calls Big Steel's insular, arrogant, almost xenophobic corporate culture underwent a drastic transformation after an influx of inexpensive imports shook the oligopoly of American steel giants. Hall pinpoints many factors that contributed to the turnaround, including the adoption of scrap-metal recycling; the emergence of independent, electric-furnace "minimills" and specialty steel companies; a decline in unionism accompanied by a increasingly participatory management styles; a new internationalist market orientation; and a steady reduction in steelmaking costs. While Hall's painstaking analysis may bore the general reader interested in the human side of steel's traumatic changes, his survey of trends, companies, processes and new technologies makes this an authoritative resource.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. steel industry was in dire straits; in fact, the landscapes of big steel cities such as Pittsburgh, Youngstown, and Gary were dotted with the bleak carcasses of closed plants and shuttered homes of residents who had moved on to try and find other jobs. Here, Hall outlines how the industry that had enjoyed decades of enormous profits fell into this abyss and, more miraculously, how new technology and streamlined processing of the material has resurrected the industry as the twenty-first century looms. Through meticulously researched charts, the author traces the virtual collapse of the industry and its rebirth through joint ventures between US Steel and British Steel, and between Bethlehem Steel and Kawasaki, among others. Long on specifics and technical terminology, this is also a primer for anyone, student or interested observer, who is curious about this most dramatic business turnaround. Joe Collins

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (January 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312161980
• ISBN-13: 978-0312161989
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,799,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.