Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 7, 2018
JSW Ohio (former Mingo Junction mill) has been struggling to get their existing electric arc furnace (EAF) up and running. It was supposed to have fired up last week, but we were told there is an issue with the oxygen, and the new ETA first heat date is Monday or Tuesday of this week. I am following this closely as I have been invited to visit the mill once the furnace is running. I will keep our readers advised on the situation at JSW Ohio and what that means for hot rolled supply and pricing as we move into the New Year.
I understand that Nucor is switching their zinc coating extras back to table “C” for contract customers. Are any of you having discussions with other mills regarding zinc coating extras?
We sent our SMU Service Center Inventories “Flash” Report to all data providers this morning. We are hopeful that the full report will be completed by the afternoon of Dec. 14. If your company is a data provider and you have any questions, or if your service center/wholesaler would like to participate in our service center inventories analysis, please contact DeWayne Tuthill at DeWayne.Tuthill@crugroup.com or by phone: 724-720-1008. I am also available to answer any questions you might have.
I will be traveling on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week as SMU is conducting one of our Steel 101 workshops to a sold-out crowd in Toledo, Ohio. I will return to my office on Thursday at 8 a.m. ET.
Paige Mayhair will be attending our Steel 101 workshop, as well. If you have any questions, please contact Brett Linton at 706-216-2140.
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
Cleveland-Cliffs is seeking $750 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled coil. That’s $20/st above where the steelmaker had been. It’s also $30/st above Nucor, which is at $720/st this week. We've seen prices increase incrementally this week. SMU's HR price, for example, stands at $690/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The questions now are whether a number well above $700/st will stick, whether other mills will follow Cliffs, and whether there is enough demand to support higher prices.
Final thoughts
We got a little flack for adjusting our sheet momentum indicators to neutral last week. To be clear, we didn’t adjust them to lower. Part of the reason we moved them to neutral was because there are some unusual cross-currents in the current market. On the news side, you could make a case that there should nowhere to go but up.
Final thoughts
I think all of us know that sometimes courtships go wrong. A misplaced word or deed and soon things can go sideways, and not in the prices sense. Such could be the case with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel’s play for U.S. Steel.
Final thoughts
We’re starting to see some impacts of the big trade case filed last week against imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 nations. Namely, we’ve heard that a range of traders have stopped offering material from Vietnam. An alleged dumping margin of nearly 160% will do that. Especially amid chatter of critical circumstances.
Final thoughts
The phrase “political football” has been tossed around a lot lately. (Pun probably intended.) For the humble journalists at SMU who thought the week following Steel Summit would prove a quiet one… the news cycle had other ideas