Businessweek

AK Steel Holding Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AK Steel Corporation, produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless, and electrical steels and tubular products. The company’s operations consist primarily of nine steelmaking and finishing plants and tubular production facilities located in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The company’s operations produce flat-rolled value-added carbon steels, including premium-quality coated, cold-rolled and hot-rolled carbon steel products, and specialty stainless and electrical steels that are sold in sheet and strip form, as well as carbon and stainless steel that is finished into welded steel tubing. In addition, the company’s operations include European trading companies that buy and sell steel and steel products and other materials, AK Coal Resources, Inc., which controls and is developing metallurgical coal reserves in Pennsylvania, and a 49.9% equity interest in Magnetation LLC, a joint venture that produces iron ore concentrate from previously-mined ore reserves. Customers and Markets For carbon and stainless steels, the company principally directs its marketing efforts toward those customers who require the highest quality flat-rolled steel with precise just-in-time delivery and technical support. The company’s flat-rolled carbon steel products are sold primarily to automotive manufacturers and to customers in the infrastructure and manufacturing market. The infrastructure and manufacturing market includes electrical transmission, heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, and appliances. The company also sells coated, cold-rolled, and hot-rolled carbon steel products to distributors, service centers and converters who may further process these products prior to reselling them. The company sells its stainless steel products to manufacturers and their suppliers in the automotive industry, to manufacturers of food handling, chemical processing, pollution control, medical and health equipment, and to distributors and service centers. The company sells its electrical steel products in the infrastructure and manufacturing market. These products are sold primarily to manufacturers of power transmission and distribution transformers, both for new and replacement installation. The company also sells electrical steel products for use in the manufacture of electrical motors and generators. The company sells its carbon products principally to customers in the United States. The company’s electrical and stainless steel products are sold in the United States and internationally. Significant Events The company is a party to supply contracts with Middletown Coke Company, LLC, an affiliate of SunCoke Energy, Inc. (SunCoke), to provide it with approximately 550,000 tons of metallurgical-grade lump coke and approximately 45 megawatts of electrical power annually. The company is also a party to a long-term supply agreement with Haverhill North Coke Company, another affiliate of SunCoke, to provide it with approximately 550,000 tons of metallurgical-grade coke annually and electricity co-generated from a facility in southern Ohio. Research and Development The company conducts a range of research and development activities aimed at improving existing products and manufacturing processes and developing new products and processes. Research and development costs incurred in 2012, included $12.5. History AK Steel Holding Corporation was founded under the laws of Delaware in 1993.