SFSA Casteel Reporter – July 2026

Cast in Steel 2027 Competition

Be sure to save the date for the 9th Annual Cast in Steel Competition, taking place April 22–24, 2027, in Cleveland, Ohio. The competition will once again be held in conjunction with the AFS Metalcasting Congress, happening April 20–22, 2027.

We’ll be announcing the next competition challenge to students next week, so be sure to watch your email for all the exciting details. We can’t wait to unveil the new challenge and kick off another incredible season of ingenuity, engineering, and competition!

Research Review

SFSA held its annual Research Review on July 7-9 as an in-person event. There were 80 attendees, including 24 industry members supporting the Carbon & Low Alloy Research Committee and the High Alloy Research Committee. This year’s review covered select research under the AMC and STAR programs. Like last year, this year’s review included a Design Day. Slides are available for members on the wiki. 

This year was another successful year, with good discussion and feedback across the research portfolio. Automation continues to be a key interest, but encounters limitations due to the high mix-low volume product portfolio common in steel foundries and the capital costs of the equipment. Trials continue at foundries to identify improvements and move towards production-ready systems. Members requested that AI applications and limitations in foundries be investigated, noting recent advancements in models like Claude. Improving NDT techniques need to gather more data to improve their processes. An urgent request is for material to move forward the PAUT project. Specifically looking for material with internal quality details and the corresponding NDT results. Please contact Caelan (ckennedy@sfsa.org) if you have material you’d like to provide to support this project. Design projects have developed lower bound models and models characterizing the effects of quality details. Focus is moving towards component level evaluation and the performance of heavy section castings. Arizona’s presentation comparing fabricated and cast joints in steel structures was particularly noteworthy, demonstrating the potential for castings to reduce system weight while simultaneously improving structure performance. 

Scholarships

Just a friendly reminder! The deadline to submit your paper and PowerPoint is quickly approaching. August 14, 2026, will be here before you know it.

Be sure to encourage your interns to apply!

About the Scholarships
The steel casting industry is focused on building the next generation of leaders. As part of this effort, the Steel Founders’ Society of America (SFSA) Foundation encourages companies to hire student interns and recognizes the important work they do. The Foundation offers $2,000 scholarships to student interns who worked at an SFSA member foundry in 2026. These scholarships reward students for their contributions and support their future in the industry.

Scholarship Opportunities

• Schumo Scholarship
  Created in memory of Robert M. Schumo, a former SFSA president. His contributions helped establish the Foundation.
• Peaslee Scholarship
  Created in honor of Dr. Kent Peaslee, a leader in steelmaking education.
  Note: Projects for this scholarship must focus on melting or refining.
• Cooke Scholarship
  Created in honor of Jim and Betsy Cooke, a foundry leader and his wife, an inspiration to the Society.
  Note: Projects for this scholarship must focus on management or other non-technical or production.
• Stevens Scholarship
  Created in honor of Sandy Stevens, wife of Tom Stevens, who edited our Handbook and other Society publications.
  Note: Projects for this scholarship must focus on high alloys (corrosion, heat and wear resistant SFSA-supported grades). The High Alloy scholarship offers the opportunity for an additional $3000 scholarship (contact SFSA for additional details).

Who Can Apply
To be eligible, interns must:

• Have worked at an SFSA member foundry during 2026
• Have been responsible for a specific project (not just assisting others)
• Submit a written paper and a PowerPoint presentation about their project

All submissions are reviewed by a committee of experienced industry professionals.

Recognition
Winners will be recognized at the SFSA Technical & Operating Conference in Chicago on December 11, 2026.

Each winner will be expected to present their project at the conference.

How to Apply
To apply, interns must:

1. Complete the registration form
2. Prepare a paper and PowerPoint about their project
3. Get approval from their supervisor
4. Email the paper and PowerPoint to Renee Mueller at rmueller@sfsa.org by August 14, 2026

Section IX Seminar

Final reminder for SFSA’s Section IX Welding seminar on August 18-20 in Seattle, WA.  Many foundries produce pressure containing castings, and ones used for Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) are welded to Section IX.  Leading industry expert, Walt Sperko, will present this seminar for SFSA members to improve understanding of the code and tricks to compliance.  Production welding of steel castings is a common practice, and the principles of Section IX apply to other welding specifications such as ASTM A488.  Member registration is here.

Upcoming Future Leaders Meeting

The next meeting of the Future Leaders group will be held September 9^th-10^th in Winona, Minnesota. The meeting will have a focus on operational topics, and will include presentations from industry experts, a roundtable discussion, and a tour of Midwest Metal Products. Details will be sent to the Future Leaders’ email list in the coming weeks.

Europe Steel Casting Classes

This training course is intended for employees who already have some experience with the casting process. A basic understanding of general science is beneficial. Engineers and supervisors, who have started to gain experience in the foundry will gain a better appreciation of how the various processes influence each other as well as the variables that should be controlled to achieve the highest quality.  Tom Stevens will teach Steel Casting Technology Book 1, covering key topics including casting processes, metallurgy, casting engineering, patterns, molding, melting, pouring, solidification, finishing, heat treatment, welding, and process control.

• Week 1 – Belgium 15-16 September and Magotteaux tour 17 September
• Week 2 – France September 22–23 and Ferry Capitain tour 24 September
• Week 3 – Italy September 29–30 and FAI-FTC tour 1 October

Member registration here.

Market News

Manufacturing & Industrial Markets Outlook
Source: ITR Economics

The U.S. economy continues to expand, with leading indicators pointing to sustained growth through late 2026. The outlook for durable goods wholesale trade has improved, supported by stronger pricing and continued investment in technology, although much of the recent economic strength reflects higher prices rather than significant gains in production volumes.

Performance remains uneven across industries. Technology, defense, and other capital investment markets continue to lead growth, while housing-related, consumer discretionary, and some traditional manufacturing sectors face ongoing headwinds. Rising material, energy, and transportation costs are also increasing pressure on manufacturer margins, making productivity and operational efficiency more important than ever.

Manufacturing activity remains resilient, with approximately half of industrial markets in Phase B – Accelerating Growth and several others continuing to recover. Defense capital goods continue to represent one of the strongest growth opportunities, driven by increased government spending and geopolitical priorities, while computer and electronics markets benefit from sustained AI and digital infrastructure investment. Construction machinery growth is expected to moderate after a strong 2026.

Looking ahead, growth is expected to continue through late 2026 before flattening in 2027 as margin pressures and softer demand affect some sectors. Despite this anticipated pause, the longer-term outlook remains favorable, with broader economic and manufacturing conditions projected to improve again in 2028.

SFSA Business Trends

To benchmark your facility with other steel foundry members, SFSA encourages you to participate in the monthly SFSA business trends survey – only participants have access to the results. Please complete the business trends survey for June 2026: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SFSA_BTB_Jun26.  Survey results are provided to participants the following month.

Fall Leadership Meeting

Mark your calendars to attend the 2026 Fall Leadership Meeting on September 18-21, 2026 at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Business sessions will include:

• Trade and Tariff Update, Dan Pickard, BIPC
• The 2026 Midterms: What Manufacturers Should Expect, Ken Wetzel, SMI

• Leading Through Uncertainty: Economic, Policy and Technology Trends Shaping the Steel Foundry Industry, Gene Marks, The Marks Group
  
  
• Steel Outlook, John Anton, S&P Global
  
  
• Using Spatial XR Technology for steel casting NDT, Bhaskar Banerjee, GridRaster
  
  
• Lessons In Leadership, Forrest Large, L2 Learning & Development
  
  
• SFSA Market Forecast

Registration is now open. A reduced rate has been established for first time attendees, spouses, and SFSA Alumni.

80th Technical & Operating Conference

The T&O Committee is in the process of setting up this year’s conference at the Loews Hotel in Chicago December 9-12.  This year will feature a special workshop on sand control Wednesday morning.  If you would like to recommend a topic and presenter, please contact Dave.

GIFA Foundry Tours

Are you interested in doing steel foundry tours the week before GIFA (14-18 June 2027)?  Tours have been a long-time staple of SFSA meetings as they provide an excellent way to benchmark practices to know what is feasible, identify new ideas to improve practices and promote collaborative discussions to advance our industry.  SFSA is working with AIST on a joint tour of German foundries and mills.  If interest from members is high, we could consider an event for members.  If you or others from your foundry are interested in tours or you have suggestions for the tours, please contact Dave.

SFSA Business Report

Casteel Commentary

Some say the three D’s of the foundry industry are dark, dirty and dangerous.  The three D’s of steel foundries, for those that have gotten to know the industry, are better said as dynamic, devoted and dazzling.  Dynamic in many ways but especially in that there are opportunities to improve how things are made or what is made; it is not a repetitive cookie cutter industry.  Devoted well characterizes the workforce of the industry and the pride taken in the hard work that comes together in producing quality cast parts.  Dazzling is easy to understand if you’ve ever seen a furnace tapped and molds poured, creating complex geometry from liquid steel for a wide range of demanding environments and applications.

Mike Rowe had a show called “Dirty Jobs”.  The show took the viewer through what would be considered a difficult and demanding, and quite often undervalued job. Through years of doing the show, Mike saw the value and pride plus the value to society that these jobs provided.  He also saw that society looked down on these jobs and for that we’ve seen diminishing interest in supporting these essential careers.   At a recent event, Mike commented that he’s not opposed to a traditional four-year college education, but it shouldn’t be considered the only pathway to future success.  Culturally, we’ve gone through generations where the college was largely for the elite or highly specialized careers, to it being broader but still many families not having access, to it becoming expected.  Mike articulated that this has to change and it is not just about the kid deciding to go to college but also the parents promoting this as a sole path.  One point that really stuck was on needing more welders.  Mike expressed that we could use more people pursuing welding over philosophy, but we could also use welders that knew something about philosophy, which is true.  Mike now has a foundation called WORKS and a work ethic scholarship program to enable anyone interested in pursuing a career in the skilled trades the funding to do so.  He’s taken what he believes in the value of skilled trades for the person and is doing something about it.

In the 2025 film Caught Stealing, the lead character puts on a Belmont Metals jacket.  Did the foundry pay for ad placement in the movie?  No, the director just liked the visual appeal of their long-time logo and wanted to include it.  For those who have been bitten by the foundry bug, seeing a jacket like that in the movie or seeing castings used for a range of applications as we go about our lives, stand out.  Oftentimes, this is then followed by us then trying to share our passion for casting with others by pointing out the casting relationship.

What is the image of our industry that should be portrayed?  Most of the Society’s marketing is on the value of the product form and how to leverage it.  Members of course focus on marketing their abilities.  So, we largely lack information on who we are.  Why should someone want to consider working in the foundry industry?  We have a range of careers from metallurgist to molder.  How do we express the passion we’ve acquired by being in the industry, or how do we communicate the value our facilities provide to society?  If someone gets intrigued after watching the Cast In Steel tv show and wants to learn more about the industry, what do we want to tell them?

We have a couple of webinars on how castings are made and what are steel castings, but these are not flashy videos nor do they truly showcase what our industry does, the impact that we have, technical tools we use, meaningful manufacturing (the skilled trades to mold, melt, finish, weld), etc.  We are a venerable industry not a new technology or company, but we are also not your grandfather’s steel foundry.

Consider the computationally intensive casting simulation software that has replaced the time consuming and expensive physical trials, or the use of additive for tooling or molds, which has resolved the Achille’s heel of cost and lead-time for making low volume parts that oftentimes limited a customer pursing casting after proving out a first article hog-out or fabrication.  We are boutique steel producers in that we can tailor alloys for a specific need or customer, not needing to schedule and make heats of hundreds of tons.  We are on the cusp of robots and operational technology that make our industry advanced manufacturing.  The product we make is custom engineered complex shape in alloys that can meet the most demanding applications.  Consider everything from rocket engines to valves for producing fluorine – our products enable some incredible applications!  Finally, we oftentimes fail to convey how green we are – we reuse or find beneficial uses for mold materials and we don’t take ore out of the ground but instead recycle metal.

What else should be said?  I want your input on how we should showcase our steel casting industry.

David Poweleit