Final Thoughts

January 8, 2018

We have had companies contact us already regarding when registration will open for the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We will be working on the Steel Summit section of the website tomorrow (Wednesday) with the hope to open up registration for the Aug. 27-29, 2018, event on Friday of this week. We will also open up the links to the three hotels we have blocked for this year’s event. The conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center where we will be able to accomodate the 750-800 expected attendees. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call at 800-432-3475. Invoices and direct payments go through 772-932-7538. You can email us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. To inquire about sponsor spots and exhibition space, please contact Jill Waldman at Jill@SteelMarketUpdate.com.

With the fast-approaching deadline for Wilbur Ross to file his long-awaited Section 232 report on steel (and aluminum), the market is abuzz with speculation as to what the report will say and what recommendations it will make to the president. There are opinions that range from no recommendations at all to one which suggests quotas and duties. There have been other investigative reports sent to the White House where the report and its recommendations continue to be a secret. Since this is a political move, we can only assume the timing of any release of information will be politically motivated.

Earlier today, I tweeted some items on our Twitter account (#SMUsteel) about the plate price increases and I noticed that ArcelorMittal was doing a lot of tweeting about how important steel is to national security… I think we all agree as invested manufacturers and steel distributors that there is a need for a healthy steel industry. At the moment, with hot rolled prices well above $600 per ton, the industry should be quite vibrant. The antidumping and countervailing duties have stopped Chinese steel and the circumvention ruling against Vietnam may create an environment where substrate from countries deemed to be “dumping” in the U.S. may be blocked from going through the backdoor by sending their substrate to countries not blocked from doing business in the U.S. A Section 232 ruling with “teeth” may have more negatives than positives for manufacturing and in the process the steel mills. One thing is clear, the industry does need to get rid of the uncertainty that is preventing some from conducting their business and making buying and selling decisions.

I welcome your comments, and I am working on an article on the subject for the next issue of Steel Market Update.

As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, Publisher