Workers at US Steel will receive ballots and a summary of the tentative three-year contract this week. Over the next two weeks steelworkers will cast their votes on whether to ratify or reject the new contract. The USW said it expects to count ballots on February 1. The USW has urged the membership to ratify […]
Steelworkers in Lorain, Ohio are having a dismal start to 2016. In addition to this week’s announcement by Republic Steel that it would idle operations at its rolling mill, US Steel confirmed layoffs are coming to Lorain Tubular. A union official reports 261 workers at US Steel’s Lorain Tubular Operations will be laid off beginning […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are slowly beginning to feel better about their company’s prospects both now and into the future, according to the results of the Steel Market Update (SMU) flat rolled steel market analysis just completed earlier today. SMU is reporting current market sentiment as being up +1 point to +44. […]
USW and ArcelorMittal resumed contract talks this week in Pittsburgh. The negotiating committees first met in June 2015 and USW members have been working under a contract extension since Sept 1. Mark Glyptis, president of the United Steelworkers Local 2911 in Weirton said he is hopeful that a settlement will be reached soon. “This has […]
The flat rolled steel price roller coaster did not do the steel mills or companies holding inventory any favors this past year. We saw hot rolled prices drop from just below $650 per net ton (average) at the beginning of the year to the low point of $360 per ton achieved the week of December […]
Last year was a major year for labor contracts that affected the steel industry. After months of slowdowns and contentious negotiations on the West Coast in 2014, the PMA/ILWU finally ratified a contract in May of 2015. The labor dispute caused delay of steel shipments and other products, congestion on the docks, and shifted some […]
USW and Allegheny Technologies Inc. resumed talks on Dec. 30 with a federal mediator in Pittsburgh. The meeting follows an announcement that the National Labor Relations Board would file unfair labor practice charges against ATI. USW officials said the parties discussed the NLRB decision, the US Steel tentative settlement, idling of operations, and the four-month […]
USW and Allegheny Technologies Inc. resumed talks on Dec. 30 with a federal mediator in Pittsburgh. The meeting follows an announcement that the National Labor Relations Board would file unfair labor practice charges against ATI. USW officials said the parties discussed the NLRB decision, the US Steel tentative settlement, idling of operations, and the four-month […]
The negotiating committee at US Steel reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract on Saturday, Dec. 19. Although terms of the contract will not be officially released until after ratification, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained a copy and revealed some of the content. The new contract references slowdowns for the company including those at […]
US Steel Canada is doing better than expected despite still losing money. According to the 18th Monitor’s report for the CCAA protected company, November’s operation loss was $5.8 million, about half the forecast of $11 million. Operational loss year to date (as of November 30) was $109.4 million. Net loss for the eleven months was […]
US Steel Corp announced it will postpone construction of the electric arc furnace at its Fairfield Works operation in Alabama due to “continued challenging market conditions in both the oil and gas and steel industries.” The $230 million EAF was scheduled for completion next year, giving US Steel the flexibility of its first EAF. The […]
The USW and US Steel reached a tentative agreement late Saturday on a new contract for the more than 18,000 workers at US Steel’s flat-rolled, tubular and iron ore mining facilities in the United States. “This tentative agreement represents a major step forward from the position we found ourselves in earlier this summer when we […]
On Friday, SMU was speaking with the CEO of a Midwest-based service center who was advising us that, in his opinion, based on the conversations he was having with his mill suppliers, we should expect more flat rolled steel price increases to come. The mills were already asking his company for more and the mills’ […]
SMU anticipates that with US Steel and the USW coming to a tentative agreement that it is only a matter of time before the ArcelorMittal negotiations will also come to a resolution, most likely very similar to the one negotiated at USS. The union has not yet voted on the USS package and, if there […]
According to the latest data released from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of October 2015 was 8,868,427 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. October supply […]
The United Steelworkers Bargaining Committee will return to Pittsburgh to review a new comprehensive contract proposal received from US Steel. Discussions during the past six months have bogged down over health care concessions that the company says are necessary to stay competitive under challenging market conditions. The Bargaining Committee plans to resume discussions next week […]
Layoffs at US Steel Granite City Works are expected to begin December 27, according to reports by USW leaders in the Dec. 10 Bellville News-Democrat. US Steel announced in October that it was considering idling the steel plant in Granite City and issued WARN notices to over 2000 workers. Shortly before Thanksgiving the company confirmed […]
I expect the other domestic mills to go along with price increases of their own – whether they choose to announce the move may depend on what they feel is in their best interest. I would anticipate that Nucor will come out with their own announcement. US Steel and ArcelorMittal are in the process of […]
The following article was written by Mario Briccetti of Briccetti & Associates, a Supply Chain consulting firm, and is also one of our instructors for Steel 101 as well as our Sales Training Workshop. Recently, in my series of articles, I have written about the coating cost of galvanized and Galvalume on flat rolled steel. […]
USW workers received a letter from ArcelorMittal over the Thanksgiving holiday indicating that retiree premium contributions may be increased early next year. The overall purpose of the letter was to announce the open enrollment period for 2016, but the letter’s language was troubling to members. The USW sent an update reassuring workers that protections and […]
US Steel announced that Vice President – Service Center Solutions Geoff Turk will pursue other opportunities following the transition of the commercial entities during the realignment of its flat-rolled operations. Turk will lead the integration of the Industrial and Service Center Solutions teams and leave US Steel following completion of that project in first quarter […]
Tonight I thought I would present a question posed to me within the past couple of days and ask for your input in answering the question. How would you respond to this? Has the steel industry in the US stopped following laws of economics or are we living the great delusion of “ok” demand? Consider […]
The frustration is beginning to build in the voices of some of the steel buyers as they deal with continuing depreciating flat rolled steel inventories. Prices have been falling since the middle of May 2015 when prices hit a cycle peak of $685 per ton ($34.25/cwt). With our latest adjustment to our hot rolled coil […]
US Steel Corp is realigning its flat-rolled operations and management as part of its Carnegie Way transformation. The flat-rolled facilities will report through three consolidated commercial entities: Automotive Solutions, Consumer Solutions, and Industrial, Service Center and Mining Solutions. “The commercial entities have worked to position our company to be best-in-class in innovation, customer service and […]
All eyes are looking ahead to after the Thanksgiving Holidays. As lead times approach the New Year (for hot rolled coil, most coated products are already well into 1st Quarter 2016) and customers think of restocking/preparing for 2016 business levels, this tends to be prime time for the domestic mills to announce price increases. To […]
Recently, US Steel CEO Mario Longhi was quoted as saying that a Section 201 investigation may be needed to save the domestic steel industry. We want our readers to learn more about what a Section 201 means so we enlisted the help of trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz who was actively involved in the last Section […]
US Steel announced on Monday that it will follow through on its plans to temporarily idle the Granite City Works steelmaking and finishing operations located in Granite City, Ill. In a press release today, the company said the idling is “part of an on-going adjustment of steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demand.” […]
On Monday of this week, Steel Market Update conducted an interview with Michael McQuade, CEO for US Steel Canada. The purpose of our interview was to see if USSC will be a viable supplier for 2016 automotive contracts. Many times articles begin by our customers asking what might be construed as a simple question that […]
The USW and ArcelorMittal will take a break from contract talks over the Thanksgiving holiday and resume on November 29. The USW reminded the membership that the terms and conditions of the previous agreement remain in effect as negotiations continue. Said the USW in a membership update, “As we have reported in previous updates and […]
The HARDI wholesalers held their monthly galvanized steel conference call earlier today. During the call the wholesalers provided insights into business conditions affecting the companies and discussed the status of the flat rolled steel markets. HARDI wholesalers supply galvanized sheet and coil steels to the mechanical contractors associated with residential and commercial construction in North […]