Anger, Envy Over Soaring Steel Prices

How is Dana Holding Corp. Dealing with soaring steel price increases?

“Just like everyone else,” CEO Gary Convis says during a panel discussion at the recent Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, MI. “We are going to our customer, getting on our knees and pleading to pass (the costs) on.

Mark Fields, president-The Americas at Ford Motor Co., says the situation is unusual because the economy is in a recession, yet raw-material prices still are increasing.

Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda agrees.

“This is the first time in the industry where steel prices have gone up when capacity has gone down. That's quite amazing,” he says.

“They are reducing capacity by design and raising prices. I wish I could do that — 1.1 million of (vehicle-production capacity) drops and that (steel) industry is doing fine. They remind me of the oil companies.”