The United Automobile Workers (UAW) union and General Motors (GM) have reached a tentative agreement to end a month-long strike after weeks of contentious bargaining.
The UAW said it has reached a tentative agreement with GM that will go in front of the UAW GM National Council for a vote tomorrow. The council will have the opportunity to decide whether the strike will continue until the ratification of the deal or to end the strike immediately if the council votes to approve the labor agreement.
The strike that began on 16 September and brought 48,000 UAW union members to the picket lines has impacted much of GM's North American production in Canada, Mexico and the US, rippling across the steel and aluminum industries.
An [Argus analysis](https://www.argusmedia.com/metals-platform/newsandanalysis/article/1986919-GM-strike-adds-to-steel--aluminum-headwinds) of GM and Ducker Worldwide data showed that the automaker consumes around 8,600 st/day of steel and 1,600 st/day of aluminum based on second quarter vehicle sales and the average amount of each material in North American vehicles.
Argus has confirmed that two large secondary aluminum producers have been directly impacted by the GM strike and that several others, with less exposure to automotive, have felt more minor downticks in business as a result.
"We are still buying in small quantities [of scrap] which is fine, but the GM strike is killing us," a secondary alloy producer told Argus this week.
Secondary aluminum alloy A380.1, the most widely produced chemistry in the US, is used primarily in engine and powertrain castings.
Steelmakers and consumers have been concerned that steel destined for the automaker's suppliers would flood the spot market, depressing already low prices that fell below $500/st this week.
The Argus weekly domestic US HRC index dropped to $493/st ex-works Midwest yesterday.
