Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 15, 2018
I got a note from one of our readers who pointed out that Sept. 18 & 19 are Holy Days on the Jewish calendar. These were the days selected for our first SMU 201: Intro to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels workshop, which is going to be held at AK Steel Research and Innovation Center (RIC) in Ohio. We are reviewing the dates with AK Steel to see if we are able to shift the timing and will advise.
A reminder about my travel schedule as it will be a bit hectic over the next couple of weeks. I will be in my office on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Wednesday I will be in Pittsburgh visiting the CRU Group USA offices and meeting their staff. I will be back in the office on Thursday and Friday. Next week, the week of June 25, I will be traveling to New York City where on Monday afternoon I will participate in a free CRU Group briefing. Our members are invited to attend and can register by clicking on this link. Later that afternoon, I will be hosting the Bank of America Merrill Lynch dinner as Timna Tanners will be traveling and unable to host the event this year.
The following day, Tuesday, June 26, I do have a couple of openings to meet with people who are in New York to attend other steel meetings. If you would like to meet, send me an email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
On Tuesday evening, Diana and I are flying overnight to London, England, where we will be meeting with the management and staff at the CRU Group headquarters for the balance of the week. We will be returning to the U.S.A. on Monday, July 2, but will not return to our offices until July 3.
Due to the Fourth of July falling on a Wednesday, I have decided we will not publish on Tuesday, July 3. This means we will produce our flat rolled and plate steel indices on Thursday, July 5. We will return to our normal schedule on July 5.
Tomorrow morning (June 18), we will begin collecting responses from our mid-June flat rolled and plate steel survey. If you receive an “Invitation to Participate” around 8 a.m. ET, please take a few minutes to respond to the first question, which is located at the bottom of the email. Once answered, you will be taken to the rest of the questions. The survey usually takes 3 to 5 minutes to complete.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Tariff-related noise aside, there is one basic factor keeping buyers on the sidelines. Despite recent declines, HR prices remain at historically high levels. And there is no obvious support to keep them there.
Final Thoughts
United Airlines raised eyebrows earlier this month when it provided two forecasts for 2025 – one assuming a relatively stable economy and another assuming a recession. The reason? Uncertainty around the impact of President Trump’s policy shocks on the broader economy. And it sometimes feels like we’re seeing a battle between those two narratives (stable vs recession) play out within in the pages of this newsletter.
Final Thoughts
Despite some scary headlines lately (especially about Trump potentially firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell) this is not October 2008 (financial crisis) or March 2020 (onset of the pandemic). But it sure seems like we’ve taken a relatively strong economy and poured a thick sauce of uncertainty over it.
Final Thoughts
I put some of our survey data through ChatGpt, with interesting results.
Final Thoughts
Nearly 50% of respondents to our latest survey thought hot-rolled coil prices have already peaked. And where will those prices be two months from now? Responses were decidedly split on that question.