Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
April 13, 2018
On Monday, April 16 we will begin our mid-April flat rolled steel market trends analysis. Our goal is to be able to spot changes in pricing, demand, negotiations, sentiment and many other trends that ultimately affect steel prices in North America. If you receive an invitation to participate please answer the first question which will then take you to the rest of the questions being asked of your industry group this week. If you want to be added to the invitee list please contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com
A reminder that our Steel 101 workshop in Memphis, Tennessee still has plenty of room in it. I think this will be a special one since we are going to tour two Nucor mills – Hickman and Nucor-Yamato. I want to thank Nucor for working with us on this workshop as well as other Steel 101’s in the past. The workshop cost is $2,000 per person with a $100 per person discount for SMU member companies and another $100 per person discount for those companies sending two or more people. Details are on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel101 and you can register online or you are welcome to contact our offices at 772-932-7538. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them for you. Send them to: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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Final Thoughts
It’s once again A Tale of Two Cities in the steel market. Some are almost euphoric about Trump’s victory. Others, some rather bearish, are more focused on the day-to-day market between now and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Final Thoughts
One of the perhaps unintentional perks of being a trade journalist is the opportunity to travel and cover an array of industry conferences and events. Some I've attended have been at fun locations, like Palm Springs and Tampa, Fla. Others have been in more practical locations, like SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) meetings in Washington, D.C.
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.