Final Thoughts
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Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
August 5, 2016
My opinion is that we will need to watch foreign hot rolled offers this week. There are a couple of countries (including Korea) that were scheduled to come out with new HR pricing this week. Will the final determination ruling by the US Department of Commerce have any impact on prices?
We also will need to watch and see what USS/POSCO does as they deal with their potential supply issues. We expect they will be able to find other suppliers and we believe they have been qualifying other mills since the preliminary determinations were reported and it was obvious that POSCO was potentially at risk.
Buyers need to be aware that steel that is imported from those countries where duties are indicated the trading company is on the hook for any revisions on the duties in the future. Any subsequent duty is payable retroactively. The importer of record carries all of the risk.
Something that we are working on: With the status of the U.S. presidential election and the anti-trade rhetoric by both candidates, what happens to the ITC commissioners once a new president takes office? Are these political positions? We hope to have an answer on this shortly and I expect that this could be one of the topics of discussion at this year’s Steel Summit Conference.
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John Packard, Publisher
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John Packard
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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.