CoverIndex

Steel and Aluminum

Algoma

3 pictures · 1978

Founded
1901 (Algoma Iron, Nickel and Steel Company)
Head office then
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Francis Clergue started the Algoma plant at Sault Ste. Marie in 1901; first steel was cast in 1902. It was an integrated mill using Wawa iron ore, with blast furnaces, a basic oxygen shop, casters, a plate mill and a strip mill. Principal products were plate and sheet.

The mill has been the main industrial employer in Sault Ste. Marie. Early on it rolled rails; later it supplied Canadian industry, including a mid-century arrangement with General Motors.

Why it mattered

Algoma supplied rails in its early years (including an Intercolonial Railway order) and later flat-rolled steel to Canadian industry, including a mid-century supply arrangement with General Motors. The mill has been the main industrial employer in Sault Ste. Marie.

Now

Essar bought Algoma in 2007. After another creditor filing in 2015, the lenders took the assets out in 2018 as Algoma Steel Inc. It still runs at the Sault and is converting to electric-arc furnaces.

Changed hands (2007) · Now: Algoma Steel Inc.

Still open

  • Canadian Encyclopedia says 2018 'new owners' bought assets from Essar; court/legal write-ups identify the buyer as a lender-sponsored Algoma Steel Inc. rather than a named strategic steel company.
  • Exact close date of the June 2007 Essar share purchase was not pulled from a contemporaneous circular; company history and TCE both say June 2007.
A steelworker under the ladle pour, sparks filling the mill.

Algoma · 1978

A steelworker under the ladle pour, sparks filling the mill.

the picture

A worker at the glowing open-hearth.

Algoma · 1978

A worker at the glowing open-hearth.

the picture

A white-hot slab racing down the mill rollers.

Algoma · 1978

A white-hot slab racing down the mill rollers.

the picture

Sources

The pictures

References

All companies