Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 15, 2020
The United States is beginning to go back to work. Automotive plants are scheduled to begin opening this week. The U.S. is working with Mexico to ensure automotive suppliers in Mexico are deemed “essential businesses” and return to work.
From my perch here in Florida, traffic has returned to normal, restaurants are open (50 percent of capacity) in all but a couple of counties, beaches are opening as are many stores. Exactly how big an impact there has been to the economy is unknown, but very much in debate.
That debate will continue Wednesday at 11 AM as our SMU Community Chat guest speaker will be John Anton steel, purchasing and pricing expert for IHS Markit. You can register for this free webinar by clicking here.
Being the parent of a professional musician and another in the food service business, their jobs are not returning anytime soon. I can only keep my fingers crossed that people remain smart, social distance, invest in a fun mask (and wear it when in public) and that someone in the world finds a vaccine that will work (and be safe).
Click here if you want to learn more about what each state is doing regarding remaining in lockdown or reopening.
In our latest flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey, we are seeing early signs of life, early signs of a growing optimism. Our SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index left the pessimistic portion of our index and is now +15 (based on a single week’s data point) for Current Sentiment. Future Sentiment never dropped below +10 (barely in the optimistic range) and has now rebounded to +30. Both are good signs that buyers and sellers of steel feel conditions are improving.
Demand is the area of concern for everyone. The data collected during our survey suggests there are hurdles to overcome ahead of us. We did see general demand improve…well, maybe a better way to say it is fewer respondents reported declining demand this past week than in the prior six weeks (see graphic below).
The vast majority of those responding to our survey last week (74 percent) believe the domestic mills will announce another price increase on flat rolled before the end of May.
One reason for another increase by the domestic mills can be seen in the responses we received regarding the amount of the first increase that is being collected now. Only 5 percent of those responding to our query reported mills as collecting the full increase. Slightly more than half of the respondents reported a portion of the increase was being collected.
Our Premium members can get the full details on these and many other questions asked last week by going to our website. On the Home Page (you must be logged in to your Premium account) click on the Analysis tab and pick “Latest Survey Results” from the drop-down screen. Executive members can view a sample survey, but are not able to see the latest and the full history of surveys that are on the site. If you would like information about how to become a Premium member, please contact Paige@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Paige Mayhair is also your contact if you would like to renew your membership, add new members (many companies are not utilizing all of the licenses they have available to them), upgrade your account or to add a new account. She can be reached at 724-720-1012.
I am in my office all week. You can reach me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
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
Sometimes new presidential administrations hit the ground running. No time for change like the present. And sometimes new administrations blast off on a SpaceX rocket bound for Mars. There’s a big universe, and we’ve got a lot of flags to plant. Such seems to be the case with the new Trump administration.
Final Thoughts
What’s been the impact of tariff threats on prices and demand? In short, not much – or at least that was the case when I was writing this column on Sunday afternoon. Spot activity for Canadian material, for example, has been put on hold over the last few weeks while the market waits to see what the new tariff landscape might look like.
Final Thoughts
Next Monday marks the start of the second Trump administration. The limbo we’ve been living in since Election Day in early November will finally come to an end. What better way to take a look at what’s coming up in Washington, D.C., than a conversation with Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) President Philip K. Bell. He […]
Final Thoughts
It’s another week of big headlines and ho-hum pricing moves – which is to say the start of 2025 is looking a lot like the end of 2024. Scrap has settled up $20 per gross ton (gt). Steel prices, however, were a soft sideways this week. Chalk it up to uneven demand and abundant supply. And while we’re not aware of any major outages, some of you tell us that you’ve lost some shipping days here and there because of the recent cold snap.
Final Thoughts
I wrote in a Final Thoughts a few years ago that it seemed all the swans were black. More recently, I’ve been asked by some of you what the wildcards are for 2025. You could probably make the case that all the cards are wild now.