| BLAST FURNACE PRODUCTS | STEEL INGOTS | FINISHED STEEL | |
| Tons | Tons | Tons | |
| Capacity April 1, 1901 | 7,440,000 | 9,425,000 | 7,719,000 |
| Purchase of Union and Sharon Cos. | 1,228,000 | 1,258,000 | 1,103,000 |
| Tennessee purchase | 1,000,000 | 500,000 | 400,000 |
| Additions made by different Cos. after acquisition | 5,322,000 | 5,887,000 | 3,678,000 |
| Capacity January 1, 1909 | 14,990,000 | 17,070,000 | 12,900,000 |
This report also states that although the total steel capacity of the Corporation had been increased by 2,306,000 tons during 1908 its capacity for the making of Bessemer steel had decreased 746,000 tons, open-hearth capacity increasing 3,052,000 tons. These figures illustrate sufficiently the change then occurring in the steel trade from the old Bessemer to the new open-hearth process.
An even more striking illustration of the manner in which open-hearth steel has been displacing the older Bessemer process in recent years is afforded by the figures of the American Iron & Steel Institute. In 1880 open-hearth production was only 100,851 tons against 1,064,262 tons of Bessemer. A decade after Bessemer production was 3,688,871 tons compared with 513,232 tons of open-hearth, and in 1900, 6,684,770 tons of Bessemer were turned out by the steel mills of this country for 3,398,135 tons of open-hearth. By 1907 the two processes of steel making were running a close race for popularity with consumers, open-hearth production being 11,549,736 tons in that year, and Bessemer 11,667,549 tons. In every subsequent year open-hearth production has been the larger, as shown by the following figures of the country’s production:
| YEAR | BESSEMER | OPEN-HEARTH |
| 1908 | 6,166,755 | 7,836,729 |
| 1909 | 9,330,783 | 14,493,936 |
| 1910 | 9,412,772 | 16,504,509 |
| 1911 | 7,947,854 | 15,598,650 |
| 1912 | 10,327,901 | 20,780,723 |
| 1913 | 9,545,706 | 21,599,931 |
| 1914 | 6,220,846 | 17,174,684 |
| 1915 | 23,679,102 | 8,287,213 |
| 1916 | 31,415,427 | 11,059,039 |
| 1917 | 34,148,893 | 10,479,960 |
| 1918 | 34,459,391 | 9,376,236 |
| 1919 | 26,948,694 | 7,271,562 |
Business conditions gradually bettered throughout 1909, although the so-called open market that existed in the steel trade resulted in an average of prices during the year somewhat lower than in 1908. Nevertheless, increased production caused a marked and gradual gain in the earnings of the big Corporation, which from $22,921,268.75 in the first quarter grew to $29,340,491.62 in the second quarter, $38,246,907.43 in the third, and $40,982,746.14 in the closing three months.
Total earnings in 1909 were $131,491,413.94, and after all fixed charges had been met, dividends paid, and a special appropriation of $18,200,000 set aside for new construction, etc., a surplus of $15,321,918.04 was carried to profit and loss. The bonded debt of the Corporation in 1909 was increased by $12,718,639.43 to a total of $607,584,173.72, there having been issued by the subsidiary companies bonds to a total of $21,976,500, and bonds totalling $9,257,860.57 having been redeemed.
The year’s operations resulted in a production of 13,355,189 tons of steel ingots and 9,859,660 tons of finished steel products. The total volume of business was reported at $646,382,251.29.
On the steel plant and city of Gary $11,081,367.80 was spent, making the total expended on the project to December 31, 1909, $53,878,597.37. Gary was now a steel-producing centre. Early in the year steel rails were turned out there and shortly after the close of 1908 and later in 1909 several of the steel furnaces and other finishing mills had been placed in operation. About this time it was decided that two of the other constituent companies of the corporation, the Sheet Tin Plate and Bridge companies, should erect plants at Gary, which plants are now in operation and have been for some time.
About the middle of 1910 the wave of improvement that had brought better business and profits to the steel companies began to slacken. The effect was not very immediate and the year, as a whole, was one of the best experienced by the Corporation prior to the war boom. Earnings reached a total of $141,054,754.51, but a fall in quarterly profits from $40,170,960.83 in the quarter ending June 30th, to $25,901,729.87 was sufficient to show the downward tendency in conditions affecting the trade.
Gross business aggregated $703,961,424.41, and production reached its high-water mark, 14,179,369 tons of ingots and 10,733,995 tons of finished steel being turned out by the plants controlled by the Steel Corporation.