Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
October 6, 2014
On Tuesday (today) Steel Market Update (SMU) adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Lower. I explain our reasoning in the first article above regarding our price indices. I will do a more detailed explanation as to why we are making a change at this point in time in the coming days.
Today Steel Market Update conducted the first day of our two day workshop on the steel making and rolling process. Part of the program was an exceptional tour of the Steel Dynamics Butler, Indiana mill. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will concentrate our instruction on qualities and how they are made, how steel is bought and sold (both long and flat products) and we will look at market fundamentals. If you have an interest in joining SMU for our next workshop it will be held in Charleston, South Carolina and we will tour the Nucor Berkeley steel mill. This workshop will be held in the later part of January 2015 (Exact date and hotel information to be announced soon).
We are still hearing that there is pressure on scrap prices – down $20 per gross ton in many markets. We will have more about scrap in Thursday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update.
I want to welcome our newest members (subscribers) as we have added a number of new Premium and Executive level members over the past few days. I want to not only welcome you but I want to let you know that we are hear to assist you if we can. You can ask questions, make comments about content or make suggestions as to what you would like to see in our newsletter, website or our workshops/conferences. We are here to help and we appreciate your comments as many times they lead to articles or ideas for speakers/workshops. You can send your questions/comments/suggestions to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
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
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.