Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 24, 2014
We have to do a better job of learning military time. By mistake tonight’s newsletter was sent out at 20:00 hours not 22:00 hours as originally planned. Since I have a habit of working into the evening on publishing nights all of a sudden we published before the newsletter was complete. So, throw away your 20:00 hour copies and use the 22:00 hour ones (or read the newsletter online) and you will get the complete edition as opposed to the abbreviated one.
I am off to Austin, Texas in the morning to attend the FMA Toll Processing Conference. I am looking forward to visiting Austin for the first time in my life. I am also looking forward to the program which specializes in Advanced High Strength Steels.
Speaking of conferences – please take a moment to complete the survey we have linked you to in tonight’s newsletter. We are working on our Fall 2014 Steel Summit Conference and your responses will be very helpful to our planning.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
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John Packard
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Final Thoughts
It’s once again A Tale of Two Cities in the steel market. Some are almost euphoric about Trump’s victory. Others, some rather bearish, are more focused on the day-to-day market between now and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Final Thoughts
One of the perhaps unintentional perks of being a trade journalist is the opportunity to travel and cover an array of industry conferences and events. Some I've attended have been at fun locations, like Palm Springs and Tampa, Fla. Others have been in more practical locations, like SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) meetings in Washington, D.C.
Final Thoughts
t this point in the game I think what we can say about Nippon Steel’s proposed buy of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel is that it will go through, it won’t go through, or the outcome will be something new and completely unexpected. Then again, I’m probably still missing a few options.
Final Thoughts
President-elect Donald Trump continues to send shockwaves through the political establishment (again). And steel markets and ferrous scrap markets continue to be, well, anything but shocking. As the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote in 1849, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." (I thought the quote might have been Yankees catcher Yogi Berra in 1949. Google taught me something new today.)
Final Thoughts
President-elect Donald Trump will officially retake the White House on Jan. 20. I’ve been getting questions about how his administration’s policies might reshape the steel industry and domestic manufacturing. I covered the tumult and norm busting of Trump's first term: Section 232, Section 301, USMCA - and that's just on the trade policy side of things. It's safe to say that we'll have no shortage of news in 2025 when it comes to trade and tariffs.