Port of Tampa 26th Steel Conference

Sitting inside the port facilities the conference heard a number of speakers discuss the U.S. economy, steel markets in general, shipping and how imports were affecting the steel industry.

The subject of free trade was roundly debated with no clear cut victors. We will delve into this subject a little deeper in Sunday evening’s issue of SMU.

What we found interesting were some comments which may have been missed by those who were not listening “between the lines.” There was a distinguished panel on Trade & Logistics which consisted of Tom Perdue, President, Ports America Stevedoring; Fulvio Carlini, Chairman & CEO, Multi Marine Services and Rick Shannon, President of Atlantic Ro-Ro.

Mr. Carlini was out of Italy and reported to the group that his ships carried 500,000 metric tons of steel from Italy to the United States during 2014. What we found interesting is he told those in attendance that the Euro was worth $1.40 two years ago and now it is at $1.12. “Everyone wants to ship to the United States,” is what he told the group. He went on to tell the group that the U.S. is going to become an even more important market. He said European costs are going down while the dollar continues to strengthen.

I think we can expect more steel being exported out of Italy to the United States in the coming months.

Mr. Shannon’s business is associated with Russia and Russian steel. For his company it is not only about the value of the dollar but, perhaps more importantly which way the political winds are blowing. Right now there are sanctions which are impacting his business and he told the group that they are putting more ships into the European market.

So Russian steel is going to Europe and Italian steel is headed to the United States.

Mr. Perdue told those assembled that the sticking point for the west coast labor negotiations is the demand by the unions that they have the ability to fire any mediator who does not rule in their favor. Obviously, this is something that port management cannot condone. He felt once they get past that issue that there would be a settlement between the two sides.

All the shipping companies reported that break bulk shipments destined for western locations have been rerouted to the Gulf ports. Carlini said, “Ninety five percent of the ships carrying steel to the West Coast are now going to the Gulf.” Perdue said, “Break bulk is too expensive to handle on the West Coast. The shift [to the Gulf] has been going on for a long time.” Mr. Perdue also reported that half of the break bulk vessels are being direct discharged into barges which are headed into the Midwestern USA.