Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
April 20, 2018
I was asked if plate price momentum was also at neutral as we had just adjusted our flat rolled price momentum indicator away from higher to the neutral designation. To be honest, we haven’t actually incorporated plate into having its own index and it probably needs one. Plate prices don’t always move in sync with flat rolled and we would give it a “higher” designation right now rather than a neutral one.
Plate continues to be on allocation, and we are hearing numbers as high as $1,020-$1,030 once the next month is opened. We will dig deeper into this subject this week as we go out and canvass market participants for both flat rolled and plate products.
Late last week, ArcelorMittal USA put through an “internal” $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) price increase. The word from their customers was they had been at $42.50/cwt or below for some time while the other mills were at $42.50/cwt or higher. We had captured some of the mills collecting as much as $900 per ton ($45.00/cwt) from their spot customers. The move by AM takes them to the same levels as most of the other mills ($42.50/cwt-$45.00/cwt).
We reached 350 registrations for our SMU Steel Summit Conference on Friday. We also booked a new speaker on Friday – John Axelberg, President & CEO of General Stamping & Metalworks, Inc. He will be joining our manufacturing panel. I will have more about Mr. Axelberg and the other three companies on this year’s panel later this week. You can learn more about our agenda, hotels, convention center, attending companies currently registered, costs and how to register on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit or you can contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 772-932-7538.
We are also two-thirds sold for our June 5 & 6 Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop, which will be held in Memphis, Tenn., and will include a once-in-a-lifetime tour of two Nucor plants: Nucor Hickman and Nucor-Yamato. Attendees will have a rare opportunity to view a flat-rolled mill, beam mill and a Castrip mill. You can find details on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel101 or you can contact me at 800-432-3475 for more information.
Tim Triplett and I will be representing Steel Market Update at this year’s Metals Industry Boy Scout Dinner in Chicago on May 10. If you would like to chat with one (or both) of us ahead of the Boy Scout dinner, please send an email to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
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
From one group of folks, I’ve heard that Trump might not wait until Feb. 1 – the date he threatened on to place tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. They say he could act as soon as Friday. And then there are those who don’t think anything will happen before April 1. That’s the deadline for Commerce, Treasury, and USTR to submit key reports on “America First Trade Policy” to President Trump.
Final Thoughts
Trump made a clarification in a speech on Monday. Previously, he had declared the word “tariff” the most beautiful word in the dictionary. No longer.
Final Thoughts
President Donald Trump on Sunday hammered Colombia with 25% tariffs and threatened to increase them to 50%. Trump in a post on Truth Social said he took the action not because of a trade dispute but because the South American nation had refused to accept planes carrying deported immigrants. The president also cited "national security" concerns, just as he did to justify 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel in his first term. Even the 50% threat echoes his first term. Turkish steel, like that of most nations, was assessed a 25% tariff in March 2018. Trump doubled Turkey's tariff to 50% via a tweet in August of that year over a matter unrelated to steel.
Final Thoughts
We surveyed many of you this week and asked what you wanted to see from the new Trump administration. Responses were varied but fell largely into three groups: tariffs and trade policy, the Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, and those who are concerned about too much government sway in steel. Some also expressed hope that President Trump would continue the infrastructure spending that began under former President Biden.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes new presidential administrations hit the ground running. No time for change like the present. And sometimes new administrations blast off on a SpaceX rocket bound for Mars. There’s a big universe, and we’ve got a lot of flags to plant. Such seems to be the case with the new Trump administration.