BETHLEHEM, Dec 5: Four major US steel companies are considering a major consolidation to boost production and competitiveness, Bethlehem Steel Corp. said in a statement.

Besides Bethlehem, which recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the companies, including sector leader USX-US Steel Group, are seeking the support of the government and the United Steelworkers of America in their possible merger bid.

Our vision is to develop a growth-oriented, world-competitive steel company with a global reach, Thomas Usher, chairman of US Steel parent company USX Corp, said in a prepared statement.

The consolidation plan must include a competitive labor agreement, a government resolution to worldwide excess steel capacity, and bold initiatives by domestic steel companies to create a strong and highly competitive global steel company, Bethlehem chairman Robert Miller said Tuesday.

He said the steel crisis that began in 1998 has forced steel companies to consider solutions that until now would have been unlikely.

The operating assets of our country’s major steel companies have been put at great risk by excessive levels of steel imports that have seriously injured the industry as a whole and have resulted in some 25 steel companies filing for Chapter 11, Miller said.

Bethlehem began negotiations about the industry consolidation with the United Steelworkers of America on October 29.

Significant progress has been made toward the framework of an agreement that could become the labor piece required for the consolidation of the industry, Miller said.

The Bethlehem official also noted that he is pleased with the meetings held in Washington in the past weeks with administration and congressional leaders. —AFP