Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
March 10, 2014
For our Premium Level members – we should have a special Premium Supplemental newsletter for you by Wednesday afternoon. In it will be an article on currency values and changes and their impact on the market as well as our imports by product, port and country. We will be including slabs in our import by port report. We also will have a special report on net imports by Peter Wright.
We are looking for price providers for plate products. If you would be interested in becoming a price provider please contact me at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
Our next Steel 101 workshop is about 60 percent sold out. We do have spots available but we recommend that those interested not wait until the last minute. Based on past experiences we believe the tour of the Severstal Dearborn facility will be tremendous and help our attendees better understand the steelmaking process and learn more about Severstal as a steel supplier. As with all of our programs this one promises to have a very diverse group of attendees with manufacturing, service centers, logistics, mill people and others associated with the industry participating. The networking is an important part of the program. You can learn more about the workshop in the Events section of our website.
I hope to be able to unveil our next Managing Price Risk 2: Strategies & Execution workshop which we are trying to have ready for late April/May in Chicago. More on this soon.
I was speaking with a couple of metals and mining analysts earlier today. One of the questions on their minds was: How can the flat rolled mills be running at approximately 90 percent of capacity and steel not be able to have any pricing power? The question was asked of ArcelorMittal during their investor conference in New York City yesterday (Monday) and the only response was “foreign imports.” We heard that the mill does not anticipate closing any of their facilities – even with the acquisition of the TK Calvert facility (AM/NS Calvert).
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update. Keep in touch with us by asking questions. You care welcome to let us know what you are thinking and what questions you may have for us: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or you can send them directly to me: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
John Packard, Publisher
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John Packard
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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.
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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.