By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — During the heyday of the coal industry, U.S. Steel Corporation was a giant in the region.
From the historic Alpheus preparation plant in Gary to smaller mines in Jenkinjones and McComas, the company played an instrumental role in the legacy of the region’s coal mining history.
On Tuesday, word of the pending sale of U.S. Steel to the Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation had spread across the region and state.
Reaction to the news was mixed.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., called the pending acquisition a “major blow to the American steel industry.”
“At a time when domestic manufacturing — including in the U.S. steel market — is facing increased competition from unfair trade, we must be doing everything we can to prevent any further deterioration of American ownership,” Manchin said. “Today’s announcement of the sale of one of our oldest building blocks, the 122-year-old U.S. Steel, does the exact opposite. I have always said that when we have a level playing field, American workers will win every time. But we cannot have a level playing field while we are dependent on foreign supply chains. I am committed to doing anything I can to protect what remains of America’s steel industry and prevent any loss of good-paying American jobs.”
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the pending acquisition of U.S. Steel will enhance its manufacturing and technology capabilities and enable it to expand the geographic areas in which Nippon Steel Corporation can better serve all of its stakeholders, while further diversifying Nippon Steel Corporation’s global footprint by significantly expanding its current production in the United States and other countries.
The formation of U.S. Steel dates back to more than a century ago, according to Bill Archer, a local historian, former journalist and current county commissioner.
