Originally founded in 1901, US Steel operates today through a global footprint with three primary segments: Flat-Rolled Products (Flat-Rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular). The development of the multi-segmented firm was launched in 2001 when shareholders voted to split the company in to a standalone steel company and the remaining energy subsidiaries in to Marathon Oil and Gas (ussteel.com). Prior to the spinoff of the focused steel producing entity, management of US Steel recognized the need to expand and diversify the company’s geographic footprint. The recognition of this necessity led to the acquisition of a Slovak steelmaking operation, an Dallas, Texas tubular
products developer, and a Canadian flat-rolled steel products firm (Stelco).
US Steel’s company webpage cites the desire to “continually look for opportunities to strengthen the company’s existing presence in the global arena,” (ussteel.com) a conviction which is observable through analysis of the the company’s 10-K and 10-Q (yearly and quarterly SEC filings). Observation of the 10-k yielded the recognition of $386 million committed to the acquisition of plant property and equipment (PP&E) for the coming year. A significant amount of the CapEX US Steel dedicated towards PP&E was to support the growth in their tubular business, primarily the Granite City Works location. The company predicted in the yearly financial statement that 2015 capital expenditures would total $650 million and would focus on the further development of strategic infrastructure.
The company’s quarterly information (10-Q) evidenced US Steel’s continuing effort to expand the North American footprint of the company, with the $25 million acquisition of the Double Eagle Steel Coating Facility in Dearborn Michigan. The quarterly statement also illustrated the effects of US Steel’s capital commitments to the flat-rolled segment (see statement below), with the portion of the business bringing in the significant majority of the companies revenue. 
US Steel’s financial data illustrates the concentrated effort to expand business within North America and outside the country’s borders, through significant capital expenditures and acquisitions of joint-ventures across the Northern United States. In order to rise in the ranks of the Steel producers market, the company will need to continue its efforts to expand its global footprint in the coming years.
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What benefit in international expansion? Can you reap economies of scale and/or scope by locating steel facilities on both sides of the Atlantic? Maybe … but how/why? One starting point: who are the customers for such facilities, and what are their footprints?
If U.S. Steel is to expand, which I’m not sure it should, it should not be acquiring companies specializing outside of flat-rolled and tubular. It only made $40 million from other businesses for the quarter – one percent of total customer sales. Why branch out to other types of steel production when the separate firms they already own are a small sliver of revenues? Stick with the stuff it’s good at.
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