Overhead crane and hoist companies – including crane and hoist builders, distributors and crane component makers – will be among the exhibitors at the Association for Iron & Steel Technology’s AISTech 2026 show, which will be held on 4–6 May at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. The show will also feature more than 500 technical presentations pertinent to all aspects of ironmaking and steelmaking, including primary hot metal product, processing, finishing and material handling.
According to Ronald Ashburn, AIST’s executive director, AISTech is the largest annual technical conference and exhibition for the global steel industry, second only to METEC trade fair, which happens once every four years in Europe. Like METEC, he says, AISTech is also international in reach with its attendees, which include operations specialists, technical sales representatives, academics and students, who come from more than 40 countries and six continents. AISTech is central to AIST’s vision to be a global leader in networking, education and sustainability programmes, says Ashburn.
In fact, he calls it a veritable who’s who of steel production, declaring, “If you are looking to learn something new, expand your network or introduce a new solution to a technical problem, this is the place to be.”
“It is a very multifaceted gathering, bringing together all facets of the steel industry,” allowing for one-stop shopping of various exhibits, says Tim Gaydos, a crane specialist with Mazzella Companies (a company whose original roots were in the steel industry as a maker of wire rope slings), making it valuable to many different companies.
Randy Butter, vice president of sales for Cervis, agrees, adding that his company’s business has grown significantly due to its participation in AISTech shows over the past 25 years, helped by the fact that Cervis focuses on the heavy duty equipment that is needed by the steel industry. He added that he believes that the AISTech 2026 show will help his company, and other companies, understand what steps they need to take to meet its customers’ future needs.
Global attendance
It is expected that AISTech 2026 will have approximately 8,500 attendees, attributing that, at least partially, to the fact that this year’s show is historically held in Pittsburgh every three years (also known as ‘Steel City’ given that it remains the US capital of steelmaking technology).
With the major original equipment manufacturers calling it the home of their US and North American operations, and with there being two major research universities just minutes away, Pittsburgh continues to lead in educating the next generation of metallurgical and engineering talent. It is usually in Pittsburgh that AISTech typically sees greater attendance and industry participation. “Indeed, our exhibition hall for AISTech 2026 has sold out,” Ashburn says.
In addition to the 500-plus exhibitions, Ashburn explains that AIST has also scheduled more than 500 technical presentations pertinent to all aspects of ironmaking and steelmaking, including primary hot metal production, processing and finishing, as well as sideline discussions on various subjects, including tariffs and other trade policy issues.
The technical presentations are expected to include robust discussion surrounding decarbonisation, says Ashburn, with a strong focus on energy generation and efficiency, electrification, low and no-carbon fuels and carbon capture, utilisation and storage as well as programming related to digitalisation advances with AI use for such processes being a prominent component of those discussions.
Although the Trump administration has placed a stronger focus on traditional energy sectors, Ashburn noted that the steel industry remains committed to its sustainability goals at the same time as it is seeing competition from data centres, whose energy needs are orders of magnitude higher than that by steelmakers and is resulting in certain challenges that require outside-thebox thinking.
“I also think we’ll hear a lot of discussion around project management,” Ashburn says, as there continues to be significant reinvestment in steel production as well as all the greenfield and brownfield steel mill projects on the books.
Philip Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, says that already about $25bn has been invested in new US steel mills and steel mill upgrades with the potential for additional investment to be announced given expectations for more onshoring or reshoring of manufacturing to the US.
He admits that some of the announced steel mill projects – particularly some that that were announced by certain foreign producers – have not been constructed yet, including a 2.7 million short tonne sheet mill expected to be built in Louisiana by Hyundai Steel.
But, on the other hand, he maintains that virtually all the projects announced by US electric arc furnace steelmakers are going “full steam ahead” and are either under way, near completion or are ramping up.
For example, he notes that both Nucor’s three million tonne a year West Virginia sheet mill and CMC’s 500,000t rebar micro-mill, which is also located in West Virginia) are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
This comes at the same time as several other US steel mills, including Nippon Steel/US Steel’s Big River 2, Hybar’s initial mill, and Nucor Lexington continues to ramp up.
Felix Bello, a senior steel analyst at Fastmarkets, also observes that Steel Dynamics’ three million tonne Sinton, Texas, sheet mill and Nucor’s 1.2 million tonne Brandenburg, Kentucky, plate mill are approaching full capacity.
He also notes that Hybar could potentially build three or four additional steel mills in the Southeast and could even make a decision on a second mill in Osceola, Arkansas, in the first half of 2026.
Also, Cleveland-Cliffs and South Korea’s POSCO have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a yet unspecified strategic partnership, which Bello says could potentially allow POSCO, who owns Hyundai Steel, to support and grow its current US customer base while also meeting US trade and origin requirements. He also adds that Gerdau is reportedly considering reshoring some special bar quality (SBQ) bar capacity from Mexico to the US.
“Overhead crane and hoist companies are interested in what investments steel companies are making, as well other potential changes in the steelmakers’ focuses, including whether they are looking to become more automated,” Ronald Piso, sales manager for GW Becker, declares.
Cervis’s Butter agrees that the steel mills’ investments are also expected to have a big impact upon overhead crane and hoist demand, stating that each of the new US steel mills being built will need as many as 50 to 80 new cranes at the same time as many existing steel facilities are looking to upgrade their cranes.
“New features and technologies are in the forefront of everyone’s mind,” Butter says, noting, “Companies want to see what is new and what can provide them with added performance and safety at a better cost for their desired end result – making and processing steel.”
Ashburn says that on 4 May, AISTech 2026’s technical conference will be kicked off with a presentation by Pinakin C Chaubal, vice president and chief technology officer at ArcelorMittal – the recipient of AIST’s J Keith Brimacombe Memorial Lecture Award. He will be discussing the scaling of new technologies and will share his perspective on ways the steel industry can level up new processes and processes and equipment to operate on a commercial scale.
Leon J Topalian, chairman and chief executive officer of Nucor Corp., will be delivering the Hogan Memorial Lecture on 5 May at the President’s Award Breakfast, during which AIST will be recognising a number of individuals for their technical achievements related to iron and steel production.
Leading discussions leading the way
Another signature AISTech 2026 event is the 6 May Town Hall Forum, during which Kevin Lewis, executive vice president of US Steel; Doug Matthews, president and chief executive officer of Orion Steel; Jack Sullivan, Nucor’s chief financial officer; Kristopher Westbrooks, Metallus’s president and chief operating officer; and Paul Lawrence, CMC’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, will discuss the state of the steel industry, including capital allocation strategies, investments in physical plants and energy strategies.
Ashburn also noted that AIST’s more than two dozen technology committees that address the engineering, equipment and reliability technologies associated with its part of the steel production process – all of which will be meeting at AISTech.
These committees include three focused upon material movement and transportation – a cranes committee, a material handing committee and a transportation and logistics committee.
He said that it could be said that for the cranes committee its AISTech meeting could be considered to be the opening act for AIST’s Crane Symposium – a premier event dedicated to the latest innovations, challenges and best practices in technologies for cranes used by the steel industry.
The 32nd Crane Symposium, to be held 8–10 June, also in Pittsburgh, will have a diverse array of presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities centered around the theme “Revive, Recharge and Rise: Elevate Your Heavy-Duty Cranes into Industry 4.0.”
“I can’t overstate the importance of lifting abilities and capacities within a steel mill. Without overhead cranes there is no steel production. Period,” Ashburn says. “The safety and maintenance of lifting equipment and the ability to detect problems before they arise are immensely important.”
This is why the people and companies whose work it is to address those challenges will be in attendance at AISTech 2026, he continues, sharing insights during the technical conference sessions and showcasing solutions on the exhibit hall floor.
“AISTech is exciting from the crane supplier’s perspective,” GW Becker’s Piso says, explaining, “We can get steel companies to consider new things relating to their crane usage, including how our cranes could help them with their processes, including expediting their production, creating efficiencies and generally making things easier for them to get their products out of the door quicker.”
Piso notes that crane suppliers are having different conversations with steel companies than they were having 10–15 years ago. For example, with the mills opening up new facilities and adding new types of steel processing lines, they need high capacity and highly functioning cranes – and potentially automated cranes.
He states that this comes at a time that, even with the labour issues that they are facing, they are looking to figure out how they can make better products at a reasonable price while also putting in effort into increasing their throughput and production efficiencies.
Piso says that at its AISTech’s exhibition booth, GW Becker will be showcasing some of its mill cranes that are either in process or that it has recently been building – Class B, E and F cranes and their various components, as well some preventative maintenance plans that the company is rolling out as certain recent projects.
“We won’t just be popping pictures of cranes that we built for the steel industry in the past,” he said, but rather the company will be talking about the things it has been incorporating in its crane designs over the past few years.
Jim Warren, Mazzella’s director of service modernisations, notes that mill capacity additions and the general push for higher productivity affect the types of cranes the steelmakers need, given that they generally need to pick up more and heavier loads than they had in the past.
Another factor, Mazzella’s Gaydos pointed out, is the desire for automated cranes, which can keep track of where a steel coil is in the production line and if it needs to be moved to a transfer cart, railcar or truck to be shipped or be sent to another part of the plant. He noted that with this automation the cranes can interact or communicate with other mill equipment, including the transfer cart.
As it has done in the past, Gaydos said that Mazzella will be displaying two of its hoists at AISTech – a monorail host and a top running built-up hoist – as well as some of its electrode handling equipment, while also highlighting why the company builds what it builds (1–300t capacity products) and how its equipment compares with those built by other companies.
Warren notes that Mazzella will also be broadcasting a podcast from its booth covering such safety related topics as collision avoidance, smart features and such modernisations as contact controls and LED lighting – all of which can be used in both existing and new cranes to improve mill safety.
“We will also be looking to build strategic partnerships with either other vendors or steel companies and distributors and to show customers what kind of return on investment they could expect on their purchases.”
Sharing insights, spreading knowledge
Certain companies that supply parts and components for cranes and hoists will also be sharing some insights at AISTech.
For example, David Fitzpatrick, senior vice president for the industrial technologies group of Irwin Car & Equipment, says that his company, which makes wheels, wheel assemblies and rolling stock componentry that keeps cranes on track, as well as a broad array of heavy duty materials handling equipment, has been participating in AISTech shows for 27 years. He says that the company will have some video presentations that show what they do.
According to Norm Davis, Cervis’s sales manager, given that his company makes components for the overhead crane and hoists, it is important for Cervis to directly interface with both steel companies and crane builders.
He said that is especially the case since certain new radio control technologies, such as video feedback, access controls and distance management technologies, are being used to make crane operations safer and more efficient.
Davis said that Cervis plans to demonstrate several of its technologies at the AISTech show. One is live video capabilities, which allows crane operators to get better vantage points while operating cranes.
He said that the company also has security systems that ensure that only authorised individuals have access to the crane’s radio controls, making them more secure and keeping unskilled or untrained workers from operating the cranes.
Cervis is planning to talk about its technologies related to making sure that the operators are at the proper proximity to the crane – neither too far away nor too close – creating a “keep out” zone to keep the operators safe. It is also planning to discuss its technologies that enable operators to control two cranes simultaneously in applications where more than one crane is needed. He explained that this ensures that both cranes come to a safe, controlled stop should any problems occur.
Ashburn said that given that the steel industry wants technology partners and solutions providers and not simply equipment merchants, “AISTech’s myriad of networking opportunities are a great way for overhead crane and hoist companies to demonstrate how they can be a technology partner to the steel mills”.
