Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

Written by John Packard


Short comments this evening as I am attending the Metals Industry Dinner (Boy Scout Dinner) in Chicago. The sentiment within the room was mostly optimistic, although there were a number of conversations about April not being a great month or not meeting expectations. This would help explain some of the weakness seen in the MSCI data which was reported earlier today.

There were a number of conversations about the upcoming negotiations between the USW and ArcelorMittal and US Steel. The thoughts were that AM would once again take a strict tone in negotiations.

The other issue being discussed was what were the chances for dumping suits to be filed. The opinions were running high that dumping suits would be filed soon – but, no one knows when “soon” will come. As Andre Marshall stated in his futures article this evening there has been a lot of “blah, blah, blah…” when it comes to the conversation about dumping suits. This conversation is well over a year old with no suits having been filed to date.

Congratulations to Lori Hahn of Steel Dynamics for receiving the Good Scout Award this evening for her work on the Boy Scout Dinner and raising money for scouting.

As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, Publisher

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Final thoughts

Cleveland-Cliffs is seeking $750 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled coil. That’s $20/st above where the steelmaker had been. It’s also $30/st above Nucor, which is at $720/st this week. We've seen prices increase incrementally this week. SMU's HR price, for example, stands at $690/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The questions now are whether a number well above $700/st will stick, whether other mills will follow Cliffs, and whether there is enough demand to support higher prices.