Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 6, 2016
A quick note to those who will be attending the Chicago Metals Industry Boy Scout Dinner on Thursday of this week. I will be there as well. If you want to get a moment to chat send me an email or text. My email is John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
While communicating with a service center executive late on Friday I was told:
Some other things that are bugging me right now: 1) A number of suppliers have scheduled maintenance coming up. 2) For the most part, mills are shipping on-time right now and managing their order book. If there is any slip in on-time delivery, there’s no inventory out there to cover it. That could be a source of a lot of frustration this summer.
We need to watch production carefully as unplanned outages such as the North Star BlueScope explosion and fire (unknown right now if production will be affected) could have ripple effects through the industry. Especially, as the service center pointed out above, is there is no build-up in inventory to provide a cushion.
We encourage our readers (and everyone in the industry for that matter) to attend our 2016 Steel Summit Conference. I have a feeling there will be much to discuss about the industry and issues affecting manufacturing, distribution and others in the industry come August 29th through the 31st. If you have any questions about the conference that you are unable to get answered on our website please feel free to contact our office at: 800-432-3475 or by email: 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
From one group of folks, I’ve heard that Trump might not wait until Feb. 1 – the date he threatened on to place tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. They say he could act as soon as Friday. And then there are those who don’t think anything will happen before April 1. That’s the deadline for Commerce, Treasury, and USTR to submit key reports on “America First Trade Policy” to President Trump.
Final Thoughts
Trump made a clarification in a speech on Monday. Previously, he had declared the word “tariff” the most beautiful word in the dictionary. No longer.
Final Thoughts
President Donald Trump on Sunday hammered Colombia with 25% tariffs and threatened to increase them to 50%. Trump in a post on Truth Social said he took the action not because of a trade dispute but because the South American nation had refused to accept planes carrying deported immigrants. The president also cited "national security" concerns, just as he did to justify 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel in his first term. Even the 50% threat echoes his first term. Turkish steel, like that of most nations, was assessed a 25% tariff in March 2018. Trump doubled Turkey's tariff to 50% via a tweet in August of that year over a matter unrelated to steel.
Final Thoughts
We surveyed many of you this week and asked what you wanted to see from the new Trump administration. Responses were varied but fell largely into three groups: tariffs and trade policy, the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, and those who are concerned about too much government sway in steel. Some also expressed hope that President Trump would continue the infrastructure spending that began under former President Biden.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes new presidential administrations hit the ground running. No time for change like the present. And sometimes new administrations blast off on a SpaceX rocket bound for Mars. There’s a big universe, and we’ve got a lot of flags to plant. Such seems to be the case with the new Trump administration.