Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
October 2, 2013
I made a decision many years ago that when the domestic steel industry (multiple mills) announced price increases that I would automatically move the SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral. Since we are already at Neutral it is important to understand that at this point prices could move up, down or absolutely nowhere from where they are at this moment.
There is a portion of the industry which supports higher prices 100 percent. Another portion who believes – strongly – that market fundamentals will ultimately come home to roost and it is only a matter of time before prices tank.
The next few weeks will be interesting.
Our next Steel 101: Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop will be in Mobile, Alabama on February 4th and 5th, 2014. Part of the workshop will be a tour of the SSAB plate and hot rolled mini-mill (EAF) in Axis, Alabama. We are working on finalizing details regarding hotel and other logistics as well as tweaking our program. We anticipate being able to take registrations within the next week or two. If you have any questions please contact us at: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone at 800-432-3475.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard
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Final thoughts
SMU has heard from some larger buyers who have stepped back into the market to buy at prices that, if not at a bottom, they assess to be close to one. Is it enough to stretch out lead times and send prices upward again? Or do we continue to scrape along the mid-$600s per short ton (st) as we have been doing for most of the last month?
Final thoughts
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves had some insightful things to say today about the steel market and about a conference we suspect might be Steel Summit.
Final thoughts
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, when you add in some commentary from respected peers in the steel industry to those pictures, that may shoot you up to five thousand words, at least. In that spirit, we’ve added some snapshots from our market survey this week, along with some comments from market participants.
Final thoughts
I thought we’d have more clarity this week on Section 232, Mexico, and a potential carve-out for steel melted and poured in Brazil. As of right now, the only official comment I have is from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Final thoughts
There are just 40 days left until the 2024 SMU Steel Summit gets underway on Aug. 26 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. And I’m pleased to announce that it's official now: More than 1,000 people have registered to at attend! Another big development: The desktop version of the networking app for the event has officially launched!