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    November 13, 2026

    Join SMU on Tuesday for a Community Chat with SMA President Philip K. Bell

    Written by Michael Cowden

    Philip K. Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), will join SMU for a Community Chat on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

    The live webinar is free for anyone to attend. You can register here. The recording and slide decks will be available only to SMU subscribers.

    Bell is plugged into steel and plugged into DC politics, which makes this chat a must-see, especially as we prepare for a new, Democratic-controlled Congress to convene in January.

    Below are just a few of the subjects we’ll discuss:

    Section 232

    Could we see changes to it under a new Congress? Or will President Trump, whose executive branch has authority over tariffs, keep one of his signature policies firmly in place? Whatever happens, Section 232 has been in place for nearly a decade. What is its legacy?

    New capacity

    Nucor will be ramping up a new EAF sheet mill in West Virginia next year, the last of a wave of new capacity announced in recent years. But since then, another wave of new capacity is forming. Mesabi Metallics, part of India’s Essar Group, plans to build a new mill in Iowa. South Korean steelmaker Hyundai plans to build a new EAF sheet mill in Louisiana. And that’s not to mention new players, like I-One Steel, which plans to build a new EAF sheet mill in Texas.

    Will all these projects come online? And if they do, what does it mean for existing mills?

    New leadership

    We’ve seen a wave of new leadership across the steel industry. It used to be that operators typically rose to be presidents and CEOs. Is that still the case?

    It looks like the next wave of CEOs at leading steel mills will have backgrounds not in operations but in finance. Case in point: Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) Chief Financial Officer Theresa Wagler will be the CEO of the company starting on Jan. 1. And Peter Matt, the CEO of Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), served as CFO of Constellium, an aluminum company, before joining the steelmaker.

    We’ll take your questions too!

    So make sure to bring some good ones to the Q&A on Tuesday at 11 am ET.

    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.

    Read more from Michael Cowden

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