Steel Markets
Breaking News: UAW AND FCA Reach a Tentative Agreement
Written by Sandy Williams
September 15, 2015
UAW President Dennis Williams and FCA US LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne held a news conference Tuesday evening at the UAW-Chrysler NTC Building in Detroit to announce that they have reached a tentative agreement.
No details of the agreement were given but Williams and Marchionne alluded to doing away with the two-tier system over time and inclusion of the co-op health care proposal by the UAW. Williams said all three companies were interested in the idea of a co-op to contain health costs.
Williams said, “I believe that the TA is balanced and keeps us in a competitive place.”
Williams said that it is a contract than can be patterned but said “It does not have to be identical.” He noted that automakers have different financial health and have different ways of operating.
The 4-year tentative agreement will be reviewed tomorrow by the UAW executive board. Local union leaders will then present it for discussion and to the membership for ratification. The process will take at least into next week. In the meantime, negotiations are continuing with Ford and GM.
“I look forward to the next four years of great production,” said Marchionne.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets
GrafTech’s Q2 loss widens in ‘challenging’ business environment
GrafTech cited a “challenging” part of the business cycle as its net loss widened in the second quarter.
CRU: Poor steel margins continue to push down raw material prices
Both iron ore and coking coal prices fell this week because of resistance from buyers. Iron ore prices have continued to fall throughout the past week, following sharp declines in steel prices in China, given no new policy announcement from the ‘Third Plenum’ meeting.
Op-Ed: The myth of the Mexican steel surge
We have heard ominous warnings about a flood of Mexican steel threatening the US market. It's the kind of rhetoric that gets thrown around often with little regard for the facts. The reality is that the Mexican steel surge is simply not happening, and the US steel industry has consistently maintained a significant trade surplus in finished products with Mexico. In 2023 alone, this surplus exceeded $3 billion.
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]
Influx of coated products fuels recent import surge
Steel imports fell back in May from April’s recent high but remained elevated compared to the levels seen over the past year. A deeper dive into the data confirms what SMU has been hearing from sources: Coated sheet is driving the recent rise in overall import levels.