Final Thoughts
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Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
July 15, 2016
We knew it would happen and it has, we learned late on Friday that our room block has been sold out. We are trying to see if there is anything we can do to expand the block and we will be working on that over the next couple of days. However, there is another option as there is a Springhill Suites Hotel (also owned by Marriott) across the street from the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway Hotel. If you are having an issue please let us know by sending us an email to: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com and we will see if there is anything we can do on your behalf.
As of Sunday evening, there are 42 days until the start of our 6th Steel Summit Conference (August 29-31) in Atlanta.
Registrations have been quite strong over the past couple of weeks and we are already well over the total registrations for the 2015 Conference. If your company name is not already on our list (see our website for a listing of companies) you can register on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com or by contacting our office: 800-432-3475.
I have been traveling for the past three weeks as I tried to take a “semi-vacation” in Maine. Over the past three weeks I put 4300 miles on my car (which now has 280,000 miles on it), 1681 of which came from the drive back from Maine to Florida over the weekend. A warning to those traveling either north or south on I-95 between Richmond, Virginia and Connecticut – traffic is brutal.
I am back in the office and do not expect to travel again until we leave for Atlanta at the end of August. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please contact me at: 800-432-3475 or by email at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
We will begin our mid-July flat rolled steel market trends analysis on Monday morning. If you would like to be added to our invite list please shoot me an email.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
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John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
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Final Thoughts
That’s not to say Section 232 shouldn’t be tightened up. Or that certain trade practices – even among our traditional allies – weren’t problematic. But when it comes to the reboot of Section 232, I do wonder whether there will be some unintended consequences.
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Final Thoughts
As February comes to a close this week, the scrap markets are poised for another – and perhaps more extreme – move upward in March. March is usually a month when scrap prices relent as winter’s impediments subside. That’s not the case this year. And this time, the driver of prices will be increased demand from mills along with restricted flows over the last two months.
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Final Thoughts
The US steel market has whipsawed upward on the prospect of expanded Section 232 tariffs of 25% being applied to imported steel - including downstream goods - on March 12. It seems pretty clear that domestic steel mills have the ear of the Trump administration when it comes to Section 232. The result? The much-anticipated Trump bump has finally arrived - and then some.
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Final Thoughts
Some of you have told me that the current market feels about as crazy as early 2021 when demand snapped back after the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Others have said it might be more like late February/early March 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – and, in the process, caused […]
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Final Thoughts
To say we’ve entered a “Brave New World” since Jan. 20 might be an exaggeration, but we’ve definitely entered a different one.