Analysts have found new interest in the steel industry since the early in the decade when 49 U.S. steel companies filed bankruptcy.

The industry's consolidation and its profitability has reversed direction and captured the attention of financial institutions, analysts and investors. Thus, the ongoing negotiations between the United Steelworkers and the world's largest steelmaker are being closely watched by Wall Street as the current contract expires Sept. 1.

The integrated industry's last labor agreement was signed in 2005 when Mittal Steel Co. bought International Steel Group. -- the merged collection of the bankrupt assets of LTV Corp., Bethlehem Steel Corp., Acme Steel Co. and Weirton Steel Corp.

Mittal then was merged with East Chicago's Ispat Inland Inc, and just a year later, Luxembourgh-based Mittal bought Arcelor to become the global steel goliath.

ArcelorMittal has more than 320,000 employees in more than 60 countries. About 14,000 of them are at domestic facilities covered by the United Steelworkers' labor agreement.

The company is listed under the legal entity Mittal Steel NV on the stock exchanges of New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia.

It's U.S. shares hovered at about $30 a share in July 2006 when Mittal and Arcelor merged. The value is now about $79 per share after peaking at $104 per share in June.

ArcelorMittal had $5.8 billion in profits from $6.62 billion in operating income for the second quarter 2008. Although it doesn't provide a breakdown of profits by division, profit sharing for its USW-represented workers is based on adjusted profits from U.S. operations.

The company reported unaudited adjusted EBITDA -- earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- of $274.95 million for the second quarter.