Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 15, 2017
Happy Holidays to everyone. I know I have told you on a number of occasions that I am now no longer at my desk, but rather slowly moving out to sea for an extended period of rest. Well, as much rest as a workaholic can possibly get. The rest of the SMU team is busy at work and we should not miss a beat.
We will publish as normal this week (Tuesday evening and Thursday evening) with Thursday’s issue being the last one of the year. Steel Market Update will close our offices the week of Dec. 24 and will not reopen until Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. If you need to reach someone at SMU, the best way is to send an email to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or to contact our office at 772-932-7538 or 706-216-2140.
There are rumors that the domestic mills may try to press their luck and go for another price increase before the end of the calendar year. A steel buyer who works with Steel Dynamics reported seeing two $30 per ton price increases over the past 10 days. Whether this was an effort to move prices up to where they should have been or because their order book is stronger than normal, we don’t know for sure right now. Steel buyers should be aware of the potential for more price moves as we slip into the New Year.
Our last flat rolled steel market trends analysis (survey) will begin at 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 18. If you receive an “invitation to participate” from SMU, please take a moment to open the email and click on the “Start Here” button. If you are not receiving an invitation, check your SPAM folder for 8 a.m. (or very close to that time) to see if it is there. If you have never received an invitation, please contact Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com . As long as you are an active buyer or seller (or executive management) of a manufacturing company, flat rolled or plate service center, steel mill, trading company or toll processor, you are eligible to participate. Currently, we have 640 individuals registered to participate and we are always looking for more participants. You can also call Brett Linton if you would like information on how to “white list” the inbound email that is used to deliver the invitations. He can be reached at 706-216-2140. If you would like to have your name removed or applied to someone else in your company, please contact Brett.
Our offices, with the exception of mine (800-432-3475), are open this week.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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Final Thoughts
t this point in the game I think what we can say about Nippon Steel’s proposed buy of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel is that it will go through, it won’t go through, or the outcome will be something new and completely unexpected. Then again, I’m probably still missing a few options.
Final Thoughts
President-elect Donald Trump continues to send shockwaves through the political establishment (again). And steel markets and ferrous scrap markets continue to be, well, anything but shocking. As the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote in 1849, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." (I thought the quote might have been Yankees catcher Yogi Berra in 1949. Google taught me something new today.)
Final Thoughts
President-elect Donald Trump will officially retake the White House on Jan. 20. I’ve been getting questions about how his administration’s policies might reshape the steel industry and domestic manufacturing. I covered the tumult and norm busting of Trump's first term: Section 232, Section 301, USMCA - and that's just on the trade policy side of things. It's safe to say that we'll have no shortage of news in 2025 when it comes to trade and tariffs.
Final Thoughts
Another presidential election cycle has come to an end. If you’re anything like me, part of you is just happy you no longer need to unsubscribe or “text STOP to opt-out” from the onslaught of political text messages this cycle produced.
Final Thoughts
With the US presidential election decided, ‘wait and see’ has quickly turned into ‘we’re about to find out.’ Following Donald Trump’s victory, I had a chance to sit down with Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). He gave his thoughts on what he thought we might see in Trump’s second term in office, and what it means for steel.