Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 4, 2017
Hectic day here at SMU as our server was down (actually the entire server farm) for a couple of hours right at our peak publishing time. You may have noticed our website either moving very slow or not being able to access the site at all between 4 PM ET and 6 PM. Everything is fine now and we are actually seeing our load times being faster than they were earlier today.
Behind the scenes Steel Market Update continues to make investments to benefit our members. We are updating the software that is the platform for our website. That has mostly been done and the biggest change you might notice is the faster and smoother uploads. We are also have a new mobile platform developed to improve and upgrade your ability to read our newsletter and access our website on your smart phone. We expect this to be completed within the next month and we will advise once it is ready to roll.
We are also investing in people and we hope to have some announcements in that regarding in the coming weeks.
Don’t forget that the Chicago Metals Industry is hosting their Boy Scout Dinner in Chicago on Thursday, May 18th. I am in the process of looking at my schedule to see if I can be there this year.
Short one tonight due to the issues we had with the server farm…
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
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.

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.

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 […]

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.

Final Thoughts
I think it’s fair to say that the last few weeks – and last week especially – have been among the most intense for any of us covering steel (or aluminum).