The steel workers' union also played an obvious role, because it signed a new labor contract with the troubled and merged steel enterprises, thus improving the relationship between workers and enterprise management.
At the beginning of the year, the International Iron and Steel Group (ISG) announced that it planned to acquire the 99-year-old Bethlehem Iron and Steel Company at the price of $65,438 +0.5 billion. A week later, American steel companies also announced plans to acquire national steel companies. These two plans are considered as important steps in the merger of North American steel companies. At the same time, Newco has also made a number of mergers and acquisitions in the field of short processes. The American steel industry has formed three giants: American steel company, new company and ISG, and the annual steel production capacity of each company has reached160,000 tons.
But the news from the steel industry is not all good news. Influenced by the import tariff imposed by President Bush on imported steel, the price of steel has been on the rise since last April, but it began to decline in summer. And continued until the first half of 2003.
The main reason for the decline in steel prices is the economic downturn in North America and the re-increase in steel production capacity. For example, ISG started some production equipment of the former LTV steel company, and Newco started Trico. Company's plate production equipment, etc.
The impact of falling steel prices is profound. Wilton Steel Company filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-May because of the low price of steel, large import volume and high legal fees. The company tried to avoid bankruptcy protection for three years, but it was not spared in the end. However, Wilton learned a lot in the past year. For example, ISG reduced a lot of legal fees in the process of acquiring bankrupt Bethlehem Steel Company and American Steel Company.
The chairman and general manager of Weldon Iron and Steel Company said that the company was dragged into bankruptcy protection by other companies that got rid of bankruptcy. Because the reorganization through the court can make the company solve the problems of legal fees and overlap, which can not be solved outside the court.
For the American steel industry, there are still many things worth observing in the rest of this year. American steel companies are expanding internationally, acquiring a steel plant in Slovakia and a steel plant in Serbia, and bidding for a steel company in Poland. President ISG is interested in a bankrupt steel company in South Korea.
Many people in the industry (including T.J.Usher, president of American steel company) believe that there is still the possibility of merger of American steel industry. There are still four large-scale traditional steel enterprises in the United States that have not been merged, namely, Weldon Iron and Steel Company, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Iron and Steel Company, Rouge Industrial Company and AK Iron and Steel Company, and their prospects are still unclear.
The president of Weldon Iron and Steel Company realized that this 94-year-old company was at a crossroads, and the transformation of American steel industry was far from over. "Wilton Steel Company faces the same challenges as the whole industry. In the past five years, 36 domestic steel companies filed for bankruptcy protection. As this trend continues, large companies with good assets are creating a new model. Their measures include acquiring assets, merging production capacity, cutting costs and jobs. "
American steel company originally planned to acquire the national steel company for 950 million US dollars, but the actual cost was much higher. Because AK Iron and Steel Company joined the competition, it proposed to buy the national iron and steel company for 1 1 billion dollars, which caused a shock in the industry. Many people think that AK steel company can't come up with so much money to complete the transaction. Finally, the American steel company had to raise its offer to more than $654.38+0 billion, and increased its acquisition of the national steel company Pelletizing Company, which was not within its original offer range.
United steelworkers union (USW) also played a key role in the process of selling the national steel company to the American steel company. AK Steel Company failed to reach a labor contract with the United Steelworkers' Union through negotiation, which made its plan to acquire the national steel company fail. American steel companies reached a new labor contract with trade unions, covering not only employees of national steel companies, but also employees of American steel companies in the United States.
The agreement refers to the model of ISG reaching an agreement with the trade union, which includes reducing job classification and allowing workers to participate more in factory management. In early 2002, ISG acquired LTV equipment and reached such an agreement with the trade union. In mid-2002, it adopted a similar agreement when it acquired Akme Steel Plant.
The head of the United Steelworkers' Union believes that the agreement between American steel companies and trade unions is historic because it led to the merger of two steel groups. The agreement also provides for the reduction of management personnel, while giving workers more say and incentives in improving production efficiency. The trade union also made corresponding concessions, cutting many jobs through early retirement; During the bankruptcy of the steel company, many members' medical insurance and retirement benefits were greatly cut.
American steel company said that the deal with the national steel company marks the beginning of a new era for American steel companies and the American steel industry will open a new chapter.