• Skip to main content

    Market Segment

    May 2, 2020

    Olympic Steel Shows Resiliency

    Written by Sandy Williams

    Olympic Steel said it is weathering the COVID-19 crisis well, managing to earn a profit and supplying metals to essential industries making products for health care, transportation and food service markets.

    “We are sure to face some difficult times ahead, but we have weathered challenges and cyclical downturns throughout our history,” said CEO Rick Marabito during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “This particular challenge requires resiliency, flexibility and decisiveness, and a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity. This is how we’re managing through this situation. Olympic Steel acted quickly and decisively early in the COVID-19 crisis to right-size our inventory and work force, limit our capital spending to business essentials and to preserve liquidity.

    Sandy Williams

    Read more from Sandy Williams

    Latest in Market Segment

    USS, USW to resume labor talks on Friday, union predicts progress

    The United Steelworkers (USW) union will meet with U.S. Steel (USS) on Friday as negotiations around terms of a new labor contract continue. The meeting comes after the USW and Cleveland-Cliffs, one of U.S. Steel’s competitors, agreed to a tentative labor agreement last week. “USS knows how this process works. They agreed to meet with us on Friday. The company knows they need to move, so this meeting should be productive,” the union said in a text to members on Wednesday.

    Steel market chatter: Tight supply, strong demand keep sheet prices climbing

    In this week's Market Chatter, steel buyers point to tight supply and steady demand as reasons sheet prices could keep rising, with many expecting HRC to reach $1,400-1,449 per short ton in two months. Views on when the rally will peak are mixed, with some anticipating further increases while others mention softening demand and political uncertainty. Respondents also disagree on tariffs' impact. They say reshoring is generating activity but has yet to translate consistently into demand.