Heidtman Steel recently celebrated 50 years in the steel industry. Started up in 1954 by F. William “Fred” Heidtman, the company has grown to become a leading supplier of flat-rolled carbon steel products from 11 processing facilities.

Heidtman’s son, F. William “Bill” Heidtman Jr. joined him in the business a few years after the company was started. In 1962 the company became incorporated, and in 1963, Bill Heidtman hired a young man named John Bates to help run the company’s daily operations. A major challenge was presented when the small steel operation was destroyed by a tornado in 1965, but through John and Bill’s determination, and the kindness of a competitor who lent them a facility, the company survived.

John and Bill moved the company to Toledo’s Fort Industry Industrial Park in 1967, a facility that is still in operation today. The growth of Heidtman Steel became significant when the company upgraded its slitting equipment in 1971. The pioneering continued with the development and marketing of high-strength steels in the early 1970s. At the time of the oil embargo, Heidtman was established as the only service center able to market the high strength steel used prolifically by the automotive industry to reduce weight. Heidtman completed the decade with the construction of its first continuous hydrochloric pickling facility in Erie, Mich.

In 1983, Heidtman entered a joint venture to begin a hot dip galvanizing line with National Materials. From transportation and service networks in the early 1980s, to the first service center with its own continuous galvanizing line in 1984, the decade saw the company dramatically expand the size and scope of its operations from St. Louis to Baltimore.

The 1990s brought about expansion in Crawfordsville and Butler, Ind. The Butler facility began as an outgrowth of Heidtman’s investment in the Steel Dynamics (SDI) thin slab mill, making Heidtman a new classification of supplier to the automotive industry.

Today, John Bates continues to run the company and is the majority shareholder of the privately owned company. Heidtman Steel Products Inc. is a recognized force in the industry with 11 processing centers, including seven pickling facilities and annual sales exceeding $500 million.

Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Heidtman Steel is a world leader in marketing flat-rolled carbon steel products sold through its 11 state-of-the-art processing facilities. Noted for their expertise in high-strength steels, Heidtman processes nearly five million tons of steel annually through its Heidtman facilities or through joint ventures.