Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 10, 2014
For those of you watching the weather you may be aware that Atlanta is suffering through another winter weather event. Since our offices are located north of Atlanta that means we are suffering as well. The good news for me personally is I decided to spend a few days in Florida after attending the Port of Tampa Steel Conference this past week. As the weather has moved in our date to return to North Georgia keeps moving out….
Thanks to our staff for keeping everything together in my absence. The weather forecast for our area tomorrow is 4″ to 6″ inches of snow. Something tells me I won’t be back in my office tomorrow – maybe on Thursday.
A note about pricing and momentum. We are in a market where not all mills are equal. The most aggressive mills have been the EAF producers while the integrated mills have had less to sell in the spot market. Even so, we are hearing AK Steel has developed some holes in hot rolled and this has been one of the signs I have been waiting for prior to moving our SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Lower from Neutral.
We have heard that ArcelorMittal is suffering from some cold weather related production issues which has been keeping them out of the spot market (or at the higher end of the spot market). As one of our sources stated in our pricing article, the weakness is with conversion and some mini-mills. Not so much with the integrated mills.
Popping to another subject, a reminder that our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held at The Henry Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan and will include a tour of Severstal Dearborn. This will be our second tour of the Severstal facility and they did an exceptional job the first time around. Space is limited for this program so you will want to register early. You can do so on our website or feel free to contact our office with any questions you might have (800-432-3475 or info@SteelMarketUpdate.com).
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard
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Final Thoughts
From one group of folks, I’ve heard that Trump might not wait until Feb. 1 – the date he threatened on to place tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. They say he could act as soon as Friday. And then there are those who don’t think anything will happen before April 1. That’s the deadline for Commerce, Treasury, and USTR to submit key reports on “America First Trade Policy” to President Trump.
Final Thoughts
Trump made a clarification in a speech on Monday. Previously, he had declared the word “tariff” the most beautiful word in the dictionary. No longer.
Final Thoughts
President Donald Trump on Sunday hammered Colombia with 25% tariffs and threatened to increase them to 50%. Trump in a post on Truth Social said he took the action not because of a trade dispute but because the South American nation had refused to accept planes carrying deported immigrants. The president also cited "national security" concerns, just as he did to justify 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel in his first term. Even the 50% threat echoes his first term. Turkish steel, like that of most nations, was assessed a 25% tariff in March 2018. Trump doubled Turkey's tariff to 50% via a tweet in August of that year over a matter unrelated to steel.
Final Thoughts
We surveyed many of you this week and asked what you wanted to see from the new Trump administration. Responses were varied but fell largely into three groups: tariffs and trade policy, the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, and those who are concerned about too much government sway in steel. Some also expressed hope that President Trump would continue the infrastructure spending that began under former President Biden.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes new presidential administrations hit the ground running. No time for change like the present. And sometimes new administrations blast off on a SpaceX rocket bound for Mars. There’s a big universe, and we’ve got a lot of flags to plant. Such seems to be the case with the new Trump administration.