Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 27, 2016
To all of our U.S. readers, welcome back from the Memorial Day Holiday. Each holiday is a big deal to me as this past weekend was one of those rare occasions where I wasn’t writing or studying the market every day and was able to actually take a couple of days off and give my hands a rest. Next holiday is the 4th of July…
At any point in time Steel Market Update (SMU) has up to 200 individuals on a free trial of our newsletter and website. I encourage those on a trial to spend some time on our website. If you need assistance in getting in, needing help in finding something or just want to ask questions about the website and our data, feel free to contact Brett Linton at: Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com and he will do his best to help you.
Recently, a large manufacturing company who is on a trial asked us if we would be available to answer questions. My response is we want to interact with our customers as much as possible. I recently responded to another manufacturing company who submitted a list of questions they and their customers had about the market and I did my best to respond to the best of my ability. If you have a question I can be reached at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Someone was asking me questions recently about the flat rolled trade cases and the Section 337 filing by US Steel against China. The questions were better asked of an attorney than myself and I provided Lewis Leibowitz’s email address. I also mentioned that one of the advantages of attending our Steel Summit Conference (Atlanta, Aug 29-31, 2016) is having the opportunity to meet and speak directly to many of our speakers. SMU highly encourages our speakers to attend our full conference and I know that attorney Lewis Leibowitz is one that enjoys doing just that. The “free” consulting/networking you are able to receive during the conference is probably worth more than the cost of admission… There is a full conference schedule in tonight’s issue. You can read the speakers’ biographies and learn more on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com which is also where you can register. If you have any problems please contact my office: 800-432-3475 (772-245-8630).
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.