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United
States Steel Corporation Begins New Year As Independent Company With
a Century of Experience
United
States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X),
the country's largest integrated steel maker, today began trading on
the New York Stock Exchange as an independent company following its
spin-off from USX Corporation at the end of 2001. While the company
is a new legal entity, it has more than a century of experience in
the steel industry. The original United States Steel Corporation was
formed by legendary banker J. P. Morgan in 1901 when he consolidated
the American steel industry around Andrew Carnegie's steel company.
U. S. Steel was capitalized at more than $1 billion and, at the
time, was the world's largest corporation. Employees of the new
United States Steel Corporation were welcomed today with a series of
communications, including a personal letter mailed to their homes,
from Thomas J. Usher, chairman, CEO and president of U. S. Steel. In
his messages, Usher thanked employees for their strong performance
over the past year.
"Our key performance indicators have been
very good, and the close attention you pay to our customers' needs
is reflected in our market performance," he said. "Your
ability to remain focused on the tasks at hand is evident, and I
appreciate your dedication and sense of purpose." Usher
recognized the frustration employees must feel when their hard work
is not immediately reflected in the company's financial results.
Usher also articulated a new Vision for U. S. Steel. "U. S.
Steel will strive to be the best in the world at Making Steel -- our
core competency for 101 years and a vital business in which we are
proud to be engaged," he said. "U. S. Steel must be 100
percent focused on being a World Competitive company capable of
meeting any competitor head-on in the markets we choose to be in.
And, the company's decisions and actions will be driven by our
ongoing commitment to Building Value for all of our stakeholders --
including shareholders, employees, customers, creditors, suppliers,
and the communities in which we operate."
Regarding the future,
Usher said to employees, "I hope you will share my optimism for
the future of U. S. Steel. Today, we have the ability to focus more
keenly on making steel, and we have gained a new agility, which will
enable us to be more responsive and opportunistic during this
dynamic period of change in our industry. Out of that change and
accompanying consolidation will emerge many opportunities, which we
will be well-positioned to capitalize upon. This is an exciting
period in our history, and -- with your help and hard work -- I
fully expect U. S. Steel to emerge as a much stronger company."
In a press release issued in December, U. S. Steel announced its
willingness to participate in consolidating the ailing U.S.
integrated steel industry, a stated goal of the Bush Administration,
and outlined the conditions necessary for a consolidation to take
place. Among those conditions are: the implementation of President
Bush's three-part program to address the excessive imports of steel
that have been depressing U.S. markets, including a strong remedy
under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974; the creation of a
government-sponsored program that would provide relief from the
industry's retiree legacy cost burden; and a progressive new labor
agreement that would provide for meaningful reductions in operating
costs.
"U. S. Steel believes that consolidation of the industry
under the right circumstances will be a positive step toward
restoring the health of this vital part of the American economy. We
are willing to participate in such a process, but only to the extent
that it is beneficial to U. S. Steel's customers, shareholders,
creditors and employees," said Usher. He noted that U. S. Steel
is a strong enterprise with the flexibility and resources to
continue to pursue its business strategy while considering
consolidation opportunities in the integrated steel industry.
Integrated steel companies -- unlike mini-mills which primarily melt
and reprocess scrap steel made by others -- make steel from iron
ore, most of which comes from mines in northern Minnesota. Because
they use pure liquid iron (80 percent pure iron to 20 percent
scrap), integrated steel companies can make the high quality,
value-added steel prized by appliance manufacturers, automakers and
other industries.
United States Steel Corporation is a leader in new
product development and the creation of stronger, lighter and more
formable steels for automobiles and other applications. The company
recently introduced a new line of dual-phase steels that will help
automakers design the next generation of affordable, safe,
lightweight and fuel-efficient automobiles. U. S. Steel has steelmaking
operations in Gary, Ind., Birmingham, Ala., Pittsburgh,
Pa., and Kosice, Slovakia, with a combined annual raw steel
capability of 17.8 million net tons. The company also has taconite
(iron) ore operations in Mountain Iron, Minn.; coal mining
operations in West Virginia and Alabama; coke making operations in
Gary, Pittsburgh and Kosice; and interests in finishing operations
and joint ventures in several other states and countries. U. S.
Steel also engages in real estate and consulting activities. The
company employs about 35,600 people -- 19,400 in the United States
and 16,200 in Slovakia.
The foregoing
contains "forward-looking statements." Readers are
cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking
statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject
to a number of uncertainties and other facts, many of which are
outside United States Steel Corporation's control, that could cause
actual events to differ materially from such statements. For a more
detailed description of the factors that could cause such a
difference, please see USX Corporation's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
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