Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 11, 2014
If you are in any way involved with analyzing risk within your company I have two suggestions: 1) Sign up for the Armada Executive Intelligence Brief and, 2) Come to our Steel Summit Conference in September when Dr. Chris Kuehl, one of the Managing Directors and founders of Armada Corporate Intelligence, will address our conference.
In this afternoon’s e-newsletter, Armada pointed out that something very subtle has happened which has Washington, D.C. on edge. Turkey has asked for an emergency meeting of NATO (not the United Nations) due to the deteriorating situation in Iraq to their south. “Turkey went to NATO because it knows that NATO will act in the best interests of the associated group of allied nations…But, it now places the US and NATO allies in a difficult position, and reduces our political stance on Russia’s involvement in Ukraine if we do indeed use outside resources to aid the Iraqi Government….” They went on to point out that if there is any interruption in the supplies of oil coming from Iraq analysts believe the price of gasoline would jump to $4 per gallon (higher in California). Higher gas prices equate to lower consumer spending. The Armada report goes into a great deal of background and detail regarding the world and domestic economic situation. We are looking forward to Dr. Kuehl keynote presentation on September 3, 2014.
We are holding back announcing a couple of our panels as we are looking to get at the subject most being talked about as the summer ends. We are canvassing our readers – both members and those who read our website – and we will be putting a new poll on the front of our website asking for your opinion as to what program you would like to see that has not already been announced.
We had a discussion with John Eckstein this morning regarding building a “scab” in a blast furnace. I won’t go into specifics but, if you hear a mill talking about “scabs” this is what I have learned, “Building a scab on the interior wall is a dangerous proposition. What happens to that scab when the furnace gets back to the run rate…scabs are not a good thing to have. On the side wall, it can’t be controlled. At some point that scab can and will fall.” That would create more problems according to one of our Steel 101 metallurgists.
Speaking of Steel 101 our next workshop will be in Fort Wayne, Indiana in early October. We will be touring Steel Dynamics (SDI). We will have exact dates and details on our website probably in about a week.
We still have a couple of spots left open for our new Managing Price Risk II: Strategies & Execution workshop which will be in Chicago on June 24 & 25, 2014. Details are on our website or you are welcome to give us a call: 800-432-3475.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
SMU looks back at stories from Decembers past, one, five, 10, and 100 years ago.
Final Thoughts
It's that time of year again. You know, that time when people wonder if those things are drones in New Jersey or if the aliens are ready to come onto the stage just in time for Inauguration Day. What will that do for steel price volatility? In any case, the SMU team finds itself in Pittsburgh this week.
Final Thoughts
The Community Chat last Wednesday with ITR economist Taylor St. Germain is worth listening to if you couldn’t tune in live. You can find the replay and Taylor’s slide deck here. You can also find SMU reporter Stephanie Ritenbaugh’s writeup of the webinar here. Taylor is Alan Beaulieu’s protégé at ITR. Many of you know Alan from his talks at SMU Steel Summit. I found Taylor’s analysis just as insightful as Alan’s.
Final Thoughts
Cracks have formed in what has been presented as the Biden administration’s united front against Nippon Steel’s play for U.S. Steel. A report from the Financial Times said parts of the administration are at odds on the deal.
Final Thoughts
It’s been another week of torrid speculation when it comes Trump and tariffs. And another week of mostly flat price movement when it comes to steel sheet and plate. As far as Trump and tariffs go, I think I might have lost track. We've potentially got 10% blanket tariffs on imports from China, 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, 100% tariffs on the BRICs, and 200% on Caterpillar. Canada might be the 51st state. Mexico could be the 52nd state. But all can be resolved if you stop by Mar-a-Lago and kiss the ring?