Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
January 25, 2017
I want to take a moment to thank all of the attendees who attended our Steel 101 workshop in Huntsville, Alabama. We had a great two days and the Nucor team at Decatur did a great job hosting our mill tour on Tuesday of this week. Thank you again to Nucor for supporting our educational programs. Our next Steel 101 will be held in Toledo, Ohio where we will tour the North Star BlueScope mill. Dates for that workshop are April 11-12, 2017.
The scrap article in tonight’s issue is another warning shot across the bow of steel buyers. If scrap prices drop $30-$40 per gross ton in February the psychology of the market will change and buyers will expect concessions from the steel mills, especially after pushing prices up 5 times on the back of rising scrap prices… As I have said before, steel buyers must remain vigilant and stay close to their suppliers as well as those of us who are ferreting out market intelligence.
If you are seeing changes in the market (good or bad) please take a moment to email, text or call me (cell is 770-596-6268). I can be reached by email at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
I have been receiving a number of requests to do speaking engagements for companies as well as organizations associated with the industry. We are also getting requests to do private training (sales, customer service, market, steelmaking, etc.). My schedule, especially with the amount of time I have to focus on our upcoming Steel Summit Conference, is somewhat limited and I have had to raise my fees. If you would like information as to what we charge for either a speaking engagement or a custom training program please send me an email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com with the details of your request (date, time allotted, subject to be discussed or taught, etc.) and I will do my best to get back to you with a response.
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
SMU's hot-rolled (HR) coil price slipped this week to $685 per short ton (st) on average. We also adjusted our sheet momentum indicators to lower for the first time since July.
Final Thoughts
When a mapmaker constructs a map, it’s always to the contours of the land. Or sea. That is, the mapmaker doesn’t say, “Look, these rocks really don’t belong here, so I’m not going to include them in the harbor map.” Uncharted rocks, sink ships (along with loose lips).
Final Thoughts
We had an October surprise here at SMU on Wednesday. I was working from the CRU office in Pittsburgh, and the internet connection briefly went out. As luck would have it, that happened smack in the middle of a live Community Chat webinar. Fortunately, my colleague David Schollaert stepped in, Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman rolled with the punches – and the show went on. Could there be any more October surprises in store for us and for the steel market?
Final Thoughts
We just wrapped up another Steel 101 workshop, easily the most hands-on industry workshop on steelmaking and market fundamentals, in this humble opinion. Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, SMU’s Steel 101 was held in Starkville, Miss.
Final Thoughts
Everybody has an opinion about politics these days. More importantly for our readers, though, every business has a bottom line. A popular question in our most recent steel buyers survey asked how uncertainty around the upcoming US presidential election could affect that line.