Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 25, 2015
I couldn’t escape the snow. Our offices in North Georgia were closed today due to 4″ of the white stuff which paralyzes those in its wake in the South. However, I traveled to Chicago yesterday only to find that the flurries being forecast earlier in the week became closer to 5″ of snow and much, much colder than what they are experiencing back in Georgia. So, if you need to reach me on Friday you can do so by email or on my cell. I will be the voice shivering at the other end of the line (wind chills forecast to be below zero on Friday). I will be back in our GA office on Monday.
I was reading the Armada Corporate intelligence report this evening. One of the items they mentioned was to watch the oil storage tanks in Cushing, Oklahoma. There are reports that the tanks may be full in the next 8 weeks or so. What does that mean? If the storage tanks do completely fill up oil prices could drop to $25 per barrel or, about half of where it is trading at this moment.
Dr. Chris Kuehl and his Keith Prather also pointed out in their report that the economic data coming out next week will be extremely important. There have been too many “mixed” messages in recent weeks. Hopefully, next week will clear up some of the mess as they believe the economy is growing at 3.5 percent. “But after this wave of economic data is released this week, we could be in for a pretty interesting, and exciting ride.”
Commodities would be one of the items which would reverse course if the growth is confirmed.
I think this is going to be a very interesting year for the steel industry…
By the way, Dr. Chris Kuehl will be one of our Keynote speakers at this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta on September 1st & 2nd. Dr. Kuehl was excellent this past year and we are looking forward to his insights. Mark your calendars….
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
It’s once again A Tale of Two Cities in the steel market. Some are almost euphoric about Trump’s victory. Others, some rather bearish, are more focused on the day-to-day market between now and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
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.
Final Thoughts
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.