Steel Products

Hurricane Takes Forefront at Steel Summit

August 29, 2017

SMU’s Steel Summit 2017 kicked off its first full day with heartfelt empathy for those colleagues in the Houston region who were unable to make it to the conference in the wake of destruction left by Hurricane Harvey.

The devastating floods along the Gulf Coast and in Houston may have a lasting impact on the economy, said Dr. Chris Kuehl, keynote presenter and managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. Up to 10 percent of the Texas population may be displaced as families move from destroyed homes and flooding, he said.

The state budget for disaster relief will be exhausted within a week and billions of dollars will be needed over the next few years to rebuild the area, said Kuehl. Although the administration has declared a disaster emergency in the area, funding for relief comes at a tenuous time in Washington as Congress confronts a possible government shutdown.

Freight transportation is at a virtual standstill in southeast Texas as heavy rains closed seaports in Houston and Corpus Christi. The Port of Corpus Christi sustained moderate damage from the storm. The Coast Guard has issued a “Condition Zulu” for all port channels, effectively closing down the port until further notice. The Port of Houston remained closed on Tuesday due to weather conditions, along with Galveston and Freeport.

FTR Transportation Intelligence anticipates up to 10 percent of U.S. truck capacity will be disrupted during the next two weeks.

“Look for spot prices to jump over the next several weeks with very strong effects in Texas and the South Central region,” according to Noël Perry, partner at FTR. “Spot pricing was already up strong, in double-digit territory. Market participants could easily add 5 percentage points to those numbers.”

Houston is a major interchange point for freight, and high waters will affect intermodal transport. Union Pacific has stopped all freight rail service to the Houston area. BNSF reports Houston (Pearland) Intermodal and Automotive are both open, but road conditions are preventing access to the facilities and only emergency-related travel is advised. Train loading/unloading operations are currently suspended and BNSF is re-routing some traffic. Customers are advised to expect continued delays on shipments.

Average national gasoline prices jumped to $2.37 per gallon at the pump on Tuesday in response to fuel supply disruptions from the hurricane. Refinery shutdowns Friday through Monday in Galveston and Corpus Christi lowered total refining capacity by one-sixth or three million gallons per day.

“It’s still really early to tell what this is going to mean for long-term supply,” said Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. “If some of these refineries are flooded, it’s going to take weeks to get the water out of there and then get into damage assessment.”