Posted on 28 Mar 2025
The United Steelworkers (USW) says an activist investor wants to sell United States Steel Corp’s (US Steel) state-of-the-art mills to fund sweeping upgrades of union-run facilities that date back to the days of Andrew Carnegie.
US Steel, meanwhile, ratcheted up its criticism of the investor, Ancora Holdings Group, as the American steelmaker pursues completing its US$14.1bil deal with Nippon Steel Corp before the agreement expires in mid-June.
USW president Dave McCall and District 7 director Mike Millsap wrote in a letter to members that it is scrutinising Ancora’s plans, and reiterated its opposition to the US Steel-Nippon Steel combination.
Ancora, which holds just 1% of US Steel’s shares, has pushed its case to replace the company’s board and install a new chief executive officer to lead a turnaround.
The letter, which was seen by Bloomberg News, highlighted to members that Ancora would sell the company’s Big River assets in Arkansas if its plan succeeds, and invest money from the sale in blast furnaces in Mon Valley in Pennsylvania, Gary in Indiana and Granite City in Illinois.
A regulatory filing from the activist investor from earlier this month said “rescuing and investing” in the restoration of US Steel’s legacy assets would include up to US$1.5bil at Mon Valley Works, US$500mil at Gary Works and US$300mil at Granite City.
The USW letter didn’t mention how much money Ancora might expect from sales of the Big River assets.
Nippon Steel last year submitted an offer for the Arkansas assets and some mining operations for an enterprise value of US$9.2bil.
The Big River assets produce automotive-grade material in so-called electric arc furnaces, and are viewed as more efficient and lower cost than the company’s legacy integrated plants.
The integrated mills, which are union-run plants, require more energy use and a larger work force than the assets in Arkansas.
“Ancora publicly indicated that it intends to sell the Big River facilities, which are and have been a threat to our facilities from day one,” McCall and Millsap wrote.
“Our union’s first and only concern has been the long-term viability of our facilities, and with it, ensuring a strong domestic steel industry well into the future.”
McCall said through a spokeswoman that the union recognised from the beginning that Big River Steel poses a threat to its members and to US national security.
That echoes comments by former USW president Tom Conway in 2022 that US Steel’s purchase of Big River could mark the beginning of the end for union-run mills.
The USW letter comes amid a flurry of public statements from leadership of US Steel and Nippon Steel.
The American company, in a letter on Monday to company shareholders, slammed Ancora, claiming some of its board nominees and chief executive officer replacement have financially benefitted from ties with competitor Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
It said the activist has no actionable path forward for investors.
It’s unclear what sway the union holds in determining US Steel’s future at this stage, even though it was deeply influential in former President Joe Biden’s decision to block the deal with Nippon Steel.
President Donald Trump last month made clear he didn’t want the Japanese company to hold a majority stake in the US firm, but White House officials in recent weeks have met with high-ranking figures from US Steel, Nippon Steel and Ancora.
Source:Bloomberg
