Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 5, 2020
There is much to discuss, much to learn…
As trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz lays out in his article/opinion piece this evening, there are no easy solutions to issues built over decades. International manufacturing companies need to review their supply chains to ensure they are not doing business in countries potentially hostile to the United States. Steel mills are balancing supply against demand. Steel buyers are rethinking their sourcing strategies.
During a “normal” economy, the U.S. steel mills do not produce enough steel to satisfy domestic consumption. Even Barry Zekelman admitted that in the SMU Community Chat webinar we held with him a couple of weeks back. There are new mills under construction, but at the same time it appears old mills are going to be phased out.
One question that we will address during the 2020 SMU Virtual Steel Summit Conference is: Will the mills be able to balance supply with true demand, including items that are not being produced in the U.S. right now?
You will hear answers to that question and many more during this year’s SMU Virtual Steel Summit Conference. You can register for the event by clicking here.
We produced our SMU Service Center Inventories & Shipments “Flash” report for data providers last week. We will produce our full report for data providers and for Premium members shortly thereafter. If you are a service center and would like to participate (confidential basis), please contact Estelle.Tran@crugroup.com or John Packard at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. If you would like to upgrade your membership to Premium, please contact Paige Mayhair at Paige@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 724-720-1012.
We are conducting one of our SMU flat rolled and plate steel market trends surveys this week. Look for your invitation in your email inbox at 8 AM ET on Monday. If you would like to participate in our surveys, please send a note to: Brett@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
The market breathlessly awaits the arrival of President Trump's "Liberation Day."
Final Thoughts
I’m not sure what I can write today that won’t be old news after April 2. The Trump administration has dubbed Wednesday “Liberation Day.” Since it’s mostly about tariffs, let’s just call it “Tariff Day.” Or maybe we should call it “Tariff Week” – since tariffs typically dominate the news cycle in the first week […]
Final Thoughts
A personal perspective on Galvalume prices from SMU analyst Brett Linton.
Final Thoughts
After a March frenzy, are prices nearing a peak in April? Some of you have suggested that they are. Others think it's too early to make any such call.
Final Thoughts
Have we hit a bit of a lull when it comes to the recent price bump? Mills certainly capitalized on the threat of tariffs and the unknown, with much that still could unfold.