Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 26, 2019
I am being asked for my opinion regarding the price increase announcements, and specifically if the increases will “stick”?
The announcements are not a surprise to me as some of our data was showing service center spot pricing in the area of “capitulation” (more than 75 percent of the service centers dropping spot prices to their end customers). We are also catching service center inventories as declining, although at 2.5 months of supply they may not be at levels yet where they are forced to buy. I mentioned in a recent article that the frustration in this market is the influence of the U.S. government with the Section 232 and 301 tariffs. Foreign steel in the past acted as a backboard for domestic prices. Without guidance from foreign pricing the domestic mills don’t seem to know where the bottom should be.
I have no easy answers and have always taken the position that Steel Market Update would not push prices in one direction or the other. We will report what we are gathering in the marketplace and will do our best to be even-handed in our reporting.
If you would like to chat with me privately on the subject, I would be pleased to do so. I can be reached at 770-596-6268.
We will continue to accept nominations for the 2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award until Aug. 1. We have begun to receive a few nominations and we have been approached by many companies asking for information and clarification regarding the nomination process. Again, the individual being nominated does not have to be in a management position. A nomination should be viewed as a good thing for both the individual and the company making the nomination. You can go to www.SMUAward.com for more details. You may also send an email to Events@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held on Oct. 8-9, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. We will be touring the Nucor Gallatin steel mill. I hope to have registration for the workshop up and running tomorrow, although we are still waiting for final confirmation from the hotel we will be using. If you would like more information, send a note to Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com and he will make sure you are on the notification list as soon as the registration link is live.
Speaking of registrations, we continue to register more people from across the world for this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta on Aug. 26-28. The final tweaks are being made to the CME-sponsored Price Risk Management workshop, which will be held on Monday at 10:30 a.m. until noon. Arrange your flights for as early an arrival into Atlanta as possible. The actual conference will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Monday and we will be starting with a bang as CRU/SMU roll out our new Service Center Inventories index. We will also discuss other proprietary products and the CRU price forecast for the balance of 2019 and 2020.
To register for the conference, click here or go to www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit
If you have any issues or questions regarding the registration process, please contact Paige Mayhair at 724-720-1012 or send an email to Events@SteelMarketUpdate.com
A note about next week’s publication schedule. We will publish on Sunday and Tuesday as normal. We will not publish on Thursday, July 4, or on Sunday, July 7. The SMU offices in the United States will be closed. However, the events staff at CRU in London will continue to work and will handle any conference registrations that come through.
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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