Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
September 17, 2014
It will be interesting to see how AK Steel and Steel Dynamics (SDI) interact with the newly purchased Dearborn and Columbus steel mills. One SDI customer told us today that the mill tends to be very deliberate in their decision making process and they did not expect radical changes for a number of weeks if not months.
My son sent me a long range forecast for the United States which was calling for another big snow year for most of the United States. Something to think about as you prepare for late 4th Quarter and into 1st Quarter 2015. Will this be another record ice year on the Great Lakes. Brendan O’Conner of Interlake Steamship Company told our Steel Summit attendees that the Great Lakes water temperatures were running about 7 to 8 degrees cooler than normal. He also told the group that alone does not predict whether it will be a big ice year or not but… (if you are planning a warm weather destination vacation book early).
We still have a couple of seats left for our Steel 101 workshop in Fort Wayne, Indiana on October 7 & 8th. This workshop will include a tour of the Steel Dynamics steel mill in Bulter, IN. You can find more details on our website or by contact us in our office: 800-432-3475.
Our next Steel 101 workshop will be held in South Carolina and will include a tour of Nucor Berkeley. More details will be coming out on this workshop over the next few weeks.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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Final Thoughts
When a mapmaker constructs a map, it’s always to the contours of the land. Or sea. That is, the mapmaker doesn’t say, “Look, these rocks really don’t belong here, so I’m not going to include them in the harbor map.” Uncharted rocks, sink ships (along with loose lips).
Final Thoughts
We had an October surprise here at SMU on Wednesday. I was working from the CRU office in Pittsburgh, and the internet connection briefly went out. As luck would have it, that happened smack in the middle of a live Community Chat webinar. Fortunately, my colleague David Schollaert stepped in, Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman rolled with the punches – and the show went on. Could there be any more October surprises in store for us and for the steel market?
Final Thoughts
We just wrapped up another Steel 101 workshop, easily the most hands-on industry workshop on steelmaking and market fundamentals, in this humble opinion. Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, SMU’s Steel 101 was held in Starkville, Miss.
Final Thoughts
Everybody has an opinion about politics these days. More importantly for our readers, though, every business has a bottom line. A popular question in our most recent steel buyers survey asked how uncertainty around the upcoming US presidential election could affect that line.
Final Thoughts
I’m trying to make sure this is not a TL;DR Final Thoughts. As a journalism school professor once told me, ‘No one but your mom reads more than 1,000 words.’ Also, as the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand as well. With that in mind, below are a couple of charts that I think go a long way toward explaining how prices and lead times have been relatively stable despite concerns about demand.