Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
November 15, 2019
Do you think the country is going to be a little distracted this week with all the witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment hearings? A reminder of the results of one of our real-time polls where 53 percent of the 493 individuals responding to a question about who they were going to vote for in the presidential race in 2020 answered President Trump. President Trump can get wet, but he doesn’t seem to rust….
On Monday we will begin our mid-November flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey as we look to better understand this market. Invitations will be sent out at 8 AM ET.
If you would like to be included, please send me a note at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Cold air has come all the way to South Florida where earlier today I got up close to a lizard who was desperately trying to catch some heat off my brick sidewalk. The lizard (seen here in the picture to the left) was alive and well as I reached down to touch it. However, the 60 some odd degrees seemed a bit much for this cold-blooded creature who is used to 70’s at night and 80’s during the day at this time of the year. He refused to budge off the somewhat warm brick no matter how much I prodded him…
Why do I bring up the plight of this poor lizard? I thought it would be a great segue to mention that our next Steel 101 workshop will be held in beautiful Southern California on Jan. 7-8, 2020. Many of you will be searching for warm bricks of your own as you try to navigate the winter of 2020. Maybe a couple of days in Ontario, Calif., and a tour of a nice warm steel mill (in this case, California Steel Industries) might do the trick. You can learn more about our workshop, the venue, costs and how to register on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel101 or you are welcome to contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com
A note about the 2020 SMU Steel Summit, our 10th conference, which will be held in Atlanta on Aug. 24-26. The venue is not going to change, but there will be some advances as we look to expand the size and scope of the conference. We are anticipating close to 1,200 attendees, which will make for exceptional networking. I am working hard on the speakers already. Mark your calendars to join us in Atlanta at the end of August 2020.
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.