Over the past few weeks I've had many conversations about the steel industry in Canada, more than usual in fact. Most have been about the major challenges facing the industry and how ArcelorMittal Dofasco remains successful in these conditions.

These are good questions given there is excess steelmaking capacity in the world, to the tune of 700 million tons, with China having more than half of that. With its slowing economy China has significantly increased its dumped and subsidized exports to global markets, driving pricing down to unsustainable levels and threatening North American steel companies.

To address this unfair trade, ArcelorMittal Dofasco and its key stakeholders, as well as the Canadian government, are working to ensure that our trade rules and measures are effective, so that we operate in a competitive, undistorted market.

Despite this situation, I think there are four key elements within our control that help sustain and grow ArcelorMittal Dofasco, a made-in-Hamilton enterprise. They are all things within our control: leadership, continuous improvement, innovation, and people. In fact, I think these apply to any business, organization or community.

The region has a complex cluster of businesses of all sizes that form one of the biggest steel supply chains in the country — here, in Hamilton. As one of the biggest players, we have a responsibility to take a leadership role for manufacturing to ensure that our Canadian businesses can compete and win globally. To that end, most recently we announced the appointment of Dr. Greig Mordue as the new Chair in Advanced Manufacturing Policy at McMaster University (The Hamilton Spectator, October 2, 2015). We believe this investment is an important step to building evidence based policy for Canadian manufacturing to address issues attracting investment and unfair trade.

Leadership can also be quiet — it happens by virtue of taking care of business. Every Hamiltonian knows our community's foundation is manufacturing. Advanced manufacturing, the business of making things, is in our DNA. Don't mistake that for being a one-industry town. We've never been that, even when we were happy to call ourselves Steeltown. Our economy has always evolved and diversified, albeit at different speeds, with the constant of manufacturing in the private sector driving its growth.

Steel continues to be our largest private sector industry. ArcelorMittal Dofasco alone injects approximately $3 billion into the economy to make and sell our steel. That supports our direct employees and our partners that supply products, work on site and provide professional services, among others.

Last week I was at City Hall to accept a City of Hamilton Business Appreciation award. I did that on behalf of our more than 5,000 employees. During the presentation, Mayor Eisenberger provided an overview of our company in which he mentioned our history and size. He also described us as a "technology driven advanced manufacturing" company. That's true. We're focused on innovation in both our processes and our products. We know that small incremental improvements add up to significant change and potentially a step-change in the way we do things. That's why we've put our focus on continuous improvement across all aspects of our business, including with our suppliers and customers.

We believe that every organization must constantly and consistently improve everything it does. Nothing stays the same, nor should it. We are constantly evolving and changing to adapt to our customers' and the world's needs.

Steel is not just a material, it is the fabric of life. Look around you — you'll see steel everywhere. Our steel is pushing the boundaries of material science. Sustainable LEED certified buildings. Fuel-efficient cars and trucks that don't compromise safety. New product development used for 3D printed bridges and solar energy roof solutions. With 1,400 researchers worldwide and 150 here in Hamilton, we're investing in the future of our business and the world. It's clear, our steel is the new steel.

Like product innovation, there is also significant opportunity for process continuous improvement and innovation in our mills — how we run our business and how we make steel. This is our approach to becoming world class as these improvements make us more efficient and productive and improve our performance, including environmental impact.

Hamilton is home to many firsts including our recent achievement, the world's most automated basic oxygen steelmaking furnace (2013). With nearly 800 acres and nine different business units, there are plenty of opportunities for improvement that can then be shared throughout our Hamilton site and around the ArcelorMittal globe.

There's only one thing that brings all of these elements together and that's people. The world is what you make it, and our people aim to seize every opportunity to make it better. In our business Hamilton is held in very high regard and we're known for our leadership, our ability to continuously improve and innovate and for our very talented and skilful people. This is our secret sauce and why we remain proud to be a made-in-Hamilton company. Some things never change — Our product is steel. Our strength is people.