Final Thoughts
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Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
September 13, 2017
A note to service centers: SMU is working on a new prime flat rolled distributor inventory index and trends analysis. If your company is interested in participating or if you have any questions, please send me a note: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
The hurricane saga continues, and I want to take a moment to wish those who have been impacted by either Harvey or Irma best wishes and a quick recovery from whatever damage you might have suffered. To our readers, if it is possible, please contribute to the American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) or another disaster relief organization.
We are back in Hobe Sound where both our home and office were untouched by the storm. Brett Linton in our Georgia office has not been quite so lucky and has been without power since Monday when a tree came down in their neighborhood and took out all of the wires. To date, the tree and the wires remain where they fell and Brett has been working at his in-laws and Chick-Fil-A (so, we have to give a shout out to his in-laws and Chick-Fil-A for helping with tonight’s issue).
I spoke about the new service center index we have been working on for about three months. The service centers who participate will receive the results before they are offered out to our subscribers. Our goal is to produce the index within the first 10 days of each new month. I will continue to “tweak” the index over the next few months. If you have suggestions on what you would like for us to cover and how you would like to see the information portrayed, please send me an email. I have a good idea as to what I would like to accomplish and I will be sharing those thoughts directly with the companies who have volunteered to share information (confidentially) with us. I will be sending a report on Friday to the service centers who participated this week.
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
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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.
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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).