Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
November 10, 2013
What a week we have in store for us (and you) this week.
John Temples and I will be traveling to a domestic steel mill where we will meet two of our instructors we use for Steel 101 and we will conduct two one-day workshops for approximately 50 people. This is a custom program specifically for this one customer. However, we can do custom programs on a wide variety of topics for your company. Should you have an interest please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Besides our normal publishing schedule for the week we have a surprise planned. Well, maybe surprise is a bit over-used since it seems like we have been crowing Chicken Little for the past few months. Our original intention was for our new website to be launched during the month of July. That got pushed to Friday, September 13th. If you voted against Friday the 13th you were right. Now the new date is Wednesday, November 13th. I thought it fitting we stick with the 13th for good luck.
We hope we don’t have another Affordable Care Act website on our hands…
On Tuesday evening we will have most of the Executive Newsletter dedicated to the new website.
On Wednesday Diana and Brett will be manning the phones in our office should something go wrong… Please don’t kill the troops. Something will go wrong – it is no different than having that first steel order going to the toughest customer – something will go wrong. We just don’t know what it is yet.
If you are interested in upgrading one of your memberships to the Premium Level please contact Diana in our office and she can help you with the process.
If you would like to provide a Monthly Newsletter to one (or more) of your people please contact our office and we will assist you. The office number is 800-432-3475.
We still have room in our Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop which will be held in Mobile, Alabama on February 4 & 5, 2014 and will include a tour of the SSAB plate and hot rolled mill. There is information on both the existing and new website or you are welcome to contact our offices with any questions you might have.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
Sure, demand isn’t as good the market had hoped it would be earlier this year. But assuming it doesn’t fall of a cliff, buyers will have to restock at some point. And that might give domestic mills enough leverage to raise prices again.

Final Thoughts
While I would anticipate market sentiment to pivot and improve if all the questions around tariffs were answered, that still leaves us with a few other factors.

Final Thoughts
Let's see what SMU survey respondents are saying about Trump's tariffs.

Final Thoughts
The Tariff Town amusement park ride shows no signs of slowing down.

Final Thoughts
Cliffs came tantalizing close to buying U.S. Steel in 2023. There were rumors in 2024 that Cliffs might buy NLMK USA before it ultimately purchased Stelco for $2.5 billion in November of last year. Who would have thought that asset sales would have been the focal point of discussion just six months later?