Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
October 27, 2013
The testing of the new Steel Market Update website continues. We are probably 90 percent through the process and have a few projects which still need to be completed before we can bring the site up live for you to (hopefully) enjoy. We anticipate once we launch the site we will still have a few bugs in the system. We are addressing that by not taking down the old site until we are sure the new site is running smoothly.
We will not have 100 percent of the new pages loaded into the website when we bring it up. The website will be constantly changing as we add new pages, revise those on the site needing updating and develop new proprietary products.
We have upgraded our Price Estimator and we intend to upgrade it again once we have the site rolling and we have time to dedicate to the product. In the new site we have shortened the tab to “Estimator” in order to save space. The Price Estimator in its current form will be available to the public.
Probably one of the first things you may notice is the website looks a little different for those who are logged in versus those who are not. In an effort to make the experience a little better for our members.
We will have an interactive poll in the bottom left hand corner of the website. Take a moment to vote and then click on the results to see how others have voted.
We have a section of the site dedicated to hot rolled and scrap futures. You no longer will need to search the CME website or elsewhere in order to get the forward curve on a daily basis.
There is much more and we will be writing about it (and providing videos) as the week progresses.
Tell your friends to take some time getting to know our old website, sign up for a trial and experience the existing newsletter and then (soon) they will have the opportunity to live through our transition and transformation.
A reminder – the new website will come online including a change in pricing for those signing up as our newest members. Single memberships will cost $995, two person $1100 and our corporate rates will increase by approximately 10 percent over existing levels.
Existing members (you) pricing will not change until January 1, 2014. Once the new website comes online we will provide our existing members with a coupon code which can be used to renew at your existing price level.
We will also work with any company wishing to increase the number of users on their account. Please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone: 800-432-3475 to discuss what options we have available.
Reminder: We now have two newsletters – our existing newsletter which we are calling our Executive Newsletter and our new Monthly Newsletter. Both can be purchased at this time and our Monthly Newsletter is $300 per year for a single subscriber. Once the new website comes online we will also have a Premium Level membership which gets the Executive Newsletter, access to all areas of the website (including our proprietary data) and special analysis on topics of interest. The Premium option will be $1995 for a single membership.
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!