Contributor: Michael Cowden

Sheet prices fell again this week, this time not on fears of a United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike but on the actual thing.

Sheet prices slipped again this week on news of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and continued caution among some consumers.

U.S. Steel said on Monday it plans to temporarily idle blast furnace ‘B’ at its Granite City Works near St. Louis. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it made the move in response to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike against “Big Three” automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. “Following the announcement of UAW strike actions, […]

The United Auto Workers (UAW) launched its “stand up” strike just after midnight on Friday, according to posts on the union’s Facebook page. “We are the union! The mighty, mighty union,” UAW members with “On Strike” signs chanted in a video posted to the site. The move came after union president Shawn Fain suggested that […]

SMU Managing Editor Michael Cowden shares his Final Thoughts for the week on what happens to steel if the United Auto Workers (UAW) launch a series of “stand up” strikes at midnight tonight against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis?

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union will strike specific plants across all “Big Three” automakers if new labor contracts are not reached by midnight on Thursday.

Sheet prices fell across the board ahead of what many market participants predict will be a strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) later this week.

Sheet prices have fallen to their lowest point of the year - just below $700 per ton ($35 per cwt) when it comes to hot-rolled coil (HRC).

Kenwal Steel has hired Dean Kreuzer to the newly created position of vice president of strategy and business development.

The more of you I talk to, the more the question seems to be not whether the United Auto Workers (UAW) will strike later this week but instead for how long. You’re also asking whether the UAW will target one union-represented automaker or whether it might take the unprecedented step of walking out at Ford, […]

We’re just a week away from a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against one, or potentially all three, union-represented automakers. The latest turn of the screw: UAW President Shawn Fain said an offer from Detroit-based General Motors was “insulting.”

The spot market remains quiet on fears of a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike late next week.

Sheet prices declined again this week amid persistent concerns about a potential strike at union-represented automakers.

I headed back to the Atlanta airport after Steel Summit in 2022 hoping to catch up with a few colleagues and contacts only to learn that Cleveland-Cliffs had just announced a price hike. So, I set everything aside, opened up my laptop, and filed a short article about the $75-per-ton ($3.75-per-cwt) price increase from a […]

I learned a lot at Steel Summit this year. More than I can do justice to in one column. Below are four things that have stayed with me after the conference closed on Wednesday afternoon. Another, as I highlighted earlier this week, was electricity – who gets it, and which energy sources we use. 1. […]

Sheet prices were mixed this week after trending lower for most of July and earlier in August. SMU’s average hold-rolled coil (HRC) price slipped to $750 per ton.

At every Steel Summit, a few themes seem to emerge that I didn’t anticipate. In 2021, I remember the theme being that scrap would be the next precious metal. (And also that Cleveland-Cliffs planned to expand in to the scrap market.) This year, I expected that there would be a lot of discussion about decarbonization. What I didn’t entirely expect was that we’d be talking so much about electricity and power generation.

I’m excited to see pretty much the entire steel industry this week in Atlanta. I’m looking forward to the networking and to learning from our great lineup of speakers. I also what not draw your attention to some highlights from our latest steel market survey. (Full results are here.) Some of these topics will be discussed along the sidelines as well as up on the stage.

I am happy to announce that there are officially now more than 1,400 people attending SMU Steel Summit next week in Atlanta. That’s a new record for us, and I thank all of you for making it possible. I am also happy to say that Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, will be joining us for the first fireside chat of Steel Summit on Monday, Aug. 21, at 3:40 pm ET.

I wrote on Sunday about U.S. Steel being for sale and Cleveland-Cliffs announcing that it was the among bidders for the iconic Pittsburgh-based steelmaker. I have heard some interesting theories on who the other bidders might be. Foreign mills, domestic mills, private equity - even Elon Musk, which I think is when things started to really jump the shark.

Sheet prices slipped again, continuing a trend of lower week-over-week tags that began in mid-July.

The spat between U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs over a proposed sale of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker continued into Sunday evening. U.S. Steel confirmed that it had received an unsolicited offer from its Cleveland-based competitor. It alleged that Cliffs had “refused to engage” in the customary processes for assessing valuation in a press release received by SMU at 7:01 pm ET on Aug. 13.

I planned to write this column about some of the big themes we’ll be discussing at Steel Summit. That plan changed when U.S. Steel announced on Sunday afternoon that it was conducting a formal review of a sale of all or part of the company after receiving multiple unsolicited offers. It changed yet again when Cleveland-Cliffs said its offer for U.S. Steel had been rejected.

U.S. Steel dropped a bombshell on Sunday, announcing that it started a formal process to review multiple unsolicited offers for the company. Cleveland-Cliffs followed with an explosive announcement of its own just hours later: that it had offered to buy U.S. Steel and that the board of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker had rejected its offer as "unreasonable."

First, I want to say a big “thank you” to everyone who is attending Steel Summit this year. Earlier this week, we officially broke the attendance record we set last year. Numbers continue to rise. More than 1,300 will be there when the event kicks off on Monday, Aug. 21, at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta.

SMU’s hot-rolled coil price slipped a little below $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) this week for the first time in more than six months. You’d think that might have caused more of a fuss than it appears to have. Instead, many of the conversations I’ve had with folks in the market today have been […]

Sheet prices were mixed this week with hot-rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized base prices slipping again even as cold-rolled tags inched up.

This is a tough time to be in the forecasting business, especially when it comes to steel. You might have a battle-tested model based on the latest macroeconomic data, prices, inventories, and lead times. The catch: Whatever a forecast might showing now could be overshadowed by events next month. Namely, labor negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and automakers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis.

It feels like the market is in a bit of a holding pattern. Lead times are roughly sideways, according to our latest check of the market. Will they begin to extend now that most mills are into September not only for cold-rolled and coated products but also for hot band?

An article published on July 30 said that U.S. Steel appeared to be getting out of the tinplate business. That was incorrect. U.S. Steel remains in the tinplate business. It continues to process orders from existing customers and to accept orders from new customers.