Steel Mills

It's Official, USS-POSCO Industries Now USS-UPI LLC

Written by Michael Cowden

June 20, 2021

USS-POSCO Industries has officially changed its name to USS-UPI, LLC.

The West Coast subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel said the change means its email domain is switching from ussposco.com to ussupi.com.

“This transition period will occur over the next few months,” the company said in a letter to customers on Friday, June 18.

USS-UPI also has a new website: www.ussupi.com.

Based in Pittsburg, Calif., USS-UPI is one of the major flat-rolled steel suppliers on the West Coast. The company converts hot band supplied by U.S. Steel into hot-rolled pickled-and-oiled (P&O), cold-rolled, and hot-dipped-galvanized sheet. It also makes tinplate, which is widely used in the region’s agricultural industry for applications such as canning.

USS-UPI was previously a 50-50 joint venture between U.S. Steel and South Korean steelmaker POSCO, which had in the past provided much of the substrate consumed at USS-UPI.

That arrangement became less tenable following a 2016 trade case that resulted in hefty countervailing duties – 57.04% – on hot-rolled coil from POSCO.

U.S. Steel purchased POSCO’s 50% stake in UPI in a deal that closed on Feb. 29, 2020.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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