Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
October 2, 2015
One of the reasons SMU decided to go with an App for our Steel Summit Conference this year was the belief that the App was something that could be used prior to the conference as well as after the conference. For example, earlier today I was working on developing scrap information in relationship to iron ore (spot in China) and billet prices delivered to Turkey. I remembered that Pete Meyers of Metalico had spoken on the subject so I went to the App, clicked on the Agenda, found his presentation and reviewed his slides which then prompted me to ask him a couple of questions.
For those of you who attended our 2015 Steel Summit Conference, the App is still alive and you can still access power point slides and send emails to attendees or speakers with any questions you might have.
We think this will also be a bonus for those of you who will be attending our 2016 Steel Summit Conference (scheduled for August 30-31, 2016 in Atlanta) as you will have access to what was said last year as well as the new material once the conference is in full swing.
We will begin our early October flat rolled steel market analysis at 8 AM ET on Monday morning. If you receive an invite to participate please click on the link (button) contained in the message and you will be redirected to the questionnaire. I thank you in advance for helping us to better understand the flat rolled steel markets.
I will be traveling to Davenport, Iowa on Monday where I will meet up with the rest of our Steel 101 instructors: John Eckstein and Steve Painter who are flying out of Baltimore, Peter Wright who comes from Dallas/Ft. Worth and Mario Briccetti who joins us from Rhode Island. We are looking forward to our workshop and our first tour of the SSAB facility located about 30 minutes away.
I want to welcome our newest members and I want to take a moment to let you know that I encourage questions, comments and suggestions from our members. If there is something on your mind please let us know. You can reach us at: 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
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.