Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
March 4, 2015
Steel Market Update just concluded our 5th flat rolled steel market survey earlier today. We have a couple of articles in tonight’s issue associated with our survey results and there will be more on Sunday. Our Premium level members should have access to the latest Power Point presentation on the survey results on our website by late morning on Friday.
I want to welcome our newest members to the Steel Market Update family. I also want to let our newest members know that our office is open to comments and suggestions. We appreciate knowing both what we are doing right as well as what we could do better. I can be reached by email at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or on our office phone: 800-432-3475.
We have set a date at the end of April for our next Managing Price Risk workshop. There is quite a bit of interest in futures trading (or in how to hold these lower prices for a longer period of time using futures and options) so we are working on a program focused on some of the issues and opportunities associated with what we are seeing in the market right now (along with the usual protecting of inventory values, margins, etc.). I hope to have the tweaked program ready and online by late next week.
Right now our Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop on May 19 & 20th in the Chicago area is open for registration. You can find details on our website or by clicking on this link. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us in our office: Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475.
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
“We’ll always have Paris,” as the famous line in Casablanca goes. And this month, the global steel industry did as well. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Steel Committee met in the City of Lights earlier this month. There was also a meeting of the Global Forum addressing excess steel capacity.
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.)