There are a number of union contracts with steel mills in North America which are set to expire this year - Severstal NA (Warren, Wheeling, Sparrows Point), AK Steel (Ashland), Essar Steel Algoma and U.S. Steel (Hamilton Works) here is what Steel Market Update knows about the negotiations and timing at this point:

Union contracts expiring – we mentioned last week Severstal NA has a contract extension of 120 days for their Warren, Wheeling (including Wheeling Corrugating) and Sparrows Point operations.

AK Steel advised SMU their Ashland union contract will expire on September 1, 2010. They would not comment on the status of negotiations.

Essar Steel Algoma (Canada) – has two unions associated with their mill and both of their contracts are set to expire on July 31, 2010.

U.S. Steel Hamilton Works (Canada) – we were told recently by a union representative their contract expires sometime this summer (we will check the exact date) and they should be in negotiations with the mill sometime this month (May).

SMU will continue to monitor each of these union negotiations to the best of our ability.