Coated and Cold-Rolled Products:
America rediscovers steel

Steel is being rediscovered throughout America. Bethlehem was the beacon in this new growth with the invention of a long-lasting product called Galvalume� sheet steel and the installation of its first production line at Sparrows Point. The Sparrows Point Division now has an annual production capability of about one million tons of coated sheet products.

Today, from fertile farm country to growing metropolitan areas, Galvalume�, with an aluminum-zinc alloy coating, and galvanized sheet steel products are being used in exciting new applications. On farms, easily erected, durable metal buildings shelter livestock and implements. In homes, steel framing, impervious to rot and insect damage, is rapidly replacing wood. On the sides and rooftops of commercial buildings and homes, long-lived steel panels are now commonplace.

Architects and builders recognize the value of this coated steel for its dependability, versatility, durability and compatibility with close design tolerances. And, our customers constantly find new uses for coated products. Galvalume� roofing panels, for example, made from a spectrum of our pre-painted colors, provide exceptional durability and readily duplicate the look of clay tiles, shingles or copper sheathing.

Sparrows Point's customers also have our coated sheet products hard at work in heating and air conditioning systems, panels for trucks and buses, appliances, vending machines and hundreds of other applications. Hard at work, too, are our engineers who help our customers create new technologies for safer school buses, stronger buildings and competitive production costs.

Dependability. Responsiveness. Experience. That is what our Galvalume� and galvanized sheet customer demand and get from Sparrows Point. Our coated products give customers:

• Consistent Quality
• Coating Integrity
• Mechanical Property Consistency
• Coating Uniformity
• Outstanding Surface Finish

With vast improvements in the hot strip mill, plus the new 260,000-ton-per-year hot-dip line at Sparrows Point and the new Double G Coatings joint venture line near Jackson, Miss., our division has positioned itself to continue as the beacon in the coated sheet market, providing customers with the best service and products available.

Cold-rolled sheet products from Sparrows Point can be found just about anywhere from brilliant fluorescent lighting grids to chrome tubular office furniture.

Customers have come to rely on Sparrows Point as a dependable source for high-quality cold-rolled products to meet their growing market needs. Our mills ship about 500,000 tons of cold-rolled steel to a variety of manufacturers who make tubing and storage drums. Other processors slit, paint and cold roll coils for specialized markets such as residential steel entry doors or appliances, where surface quality is paramount.

By working closely with customers, we are able to anticipate and meet their requirements for success and growth. They draw on our expertise, for example, to help them source and tap new markets. That may mean jointly developing a custom-tailored delivery schedule to fit a just-in-time requirement; or providing a single source and a single invoice for steel that has been prepainted and sized to their specifications.

Customer Gets Our Technical Know-How

When one of the world's largest bus manufacturers wanted to meet bid specifications for an order of 2,000 new school buses, they turned to the technical experts at Sparrows Point.

The bid proposal called for a high degree of paint reflectance, making the buses more visible to motorists. Engineers from the bus company asked our technical support people to help develop a process that would meet the reflectance requirement.

After testing different coating applications, our support team came up with a solution and the bus company came up with the large order.