Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 14, 2018
It seems like forever since I have been in the office for a full week. Well, this week is one of the rare occasions. A little home time as we run up to the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
A note about our publication schedule as we will be taking some time off between Christmas and New Year’s Day. We will publish as normal this week. Next Sunday, Dec. 23, will be our last issue of the year. However, if something happens in the industry that we believe we should report on, we will do so. Our offices in Florida will be closed. However, the Pittsburgh office will be working a few days between Christmas and New Year’s. You should be able to reach Paige Mayhair should you have questions, wish to subscribe to one of our newsletters or upgrade your existing membership.
We will continue to take registrations for our Jan. 29-30, 2019, Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop, which will include a tour of SDI Columbus, including their paint line. You can find more details about the workshop and our quality instructors at www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel101
I want to welcome our newest members as well as the last Steel 101 workshop attendees to Steel Market Update. As part of the workshop, attendees receive three months of access to our Executive and Premium newsletters, as well as access to our website. We encourage our new members and those on trial to interact with SMU. Feel free to send us a note to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com and ask questions or give us suggestions. Many of our articles come from the suggestions we receive through our email.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
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.