Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 2, 2016
The move by ArcelorMittal USA today was anticipated and the price levels noted in their increase email to their customers are in line with expectations. I expect the rest of the mills will follow along within $10-$20 per ton of the levels suggested by AMUSA. Some of the mills may wait for scrap prices to settle which is expected by the end of this week. So, we should see most, if not all of the mills move by early next week at the latest.
I saw an interesting comment today in an email I received from Level Five Associates which Steel Market Update totally agrees with: “First, define work as a learning experience. That means the leader clearly ‘walks the talk’ in demonstrating that both failures and successes are opportunities to continuous improvement through shared lessons learned. The leader models behavior by owning his or her mistakes, and doing something about them.” They went on to explain that after a “significant event” a team examines the event and makes proposals in order to create a high-performing culture:
What happened.
Why it happened.
What we would sustain.
What we would improve.
Who would lead the fixes necessary, and by when.
For the learning process to occur, as John Lencioni discusses it in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, “Trust is the foundation of real teamwork…the first dysfunction is a failure on the part of team members to understand and open up to one another…if that sounds touchy-feely, let me explain, because there is nothing soft about it. It is an absolutely critical part of building a team. In fact, it’s probably the most critical.”
The article I read went on to say, “Learning organizations thrive in uncertain conditions because they create a culture of openness.”
We continue to receive registrations on a daily basis for our 6th Steel Summit Conference which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center next to the Atlanta International Airport on August 29-31, 2016.
A quick note about our SMU App: we will use the App once again this year. If you already have the App from last year’s conference my understanding is you will be able to access both year’s worth of data once we bring this year’s App up live. We do not expect to populate this year’s App until June. We will advise once we put a firm date to populating the App. Anyone can download our App through your phone’s App provider. However, only registered attendees, speakers and sponsors will be able to access the information which will be contained in the App regarding the 2016 Steel Summit program, presentations, surveys and attendees.
I have been speaking to a number of companies who did not attend last year, have heard how good last year’s conference was and plan to attend this year. We appreciate word of mouth recommendations and pointing people to our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com where information about our program, speakers, costs and registration can be found. Thank you again for promoting our conference to your steel friends. If anyone has any questions please contact us at 800-432-3475.
Hotel rooms for the conference: We have a room block for about half the rooms in the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway Hotel for our conference. We highly recommend that you book rooms early. This will allow us to increase the room block if possible or make recommendations for other hotels in the area should the Marriott fill up. Unlike last year, this year there is another conference in the other side of the convention center. There will be more competition for the hotel rooms. Reserve your room early which you can do through a link on our website or, if you contact the hotel mention you are with the Steel Market Update group for our special $139 rate (vs. $239 which is the regular rate).
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.