Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
November 26, 2013
For those of you who logged into the website and read the newsletter online – you will already know that our SMU Price Ranges & Indices article has an interactive graphic at the end of the article. Those of you reading the newsletter in your inbox will not be able to see or interact with the graphics.
A quick note to those of you who have not gone to the new website and logged in for the first time, if you have lost your user name and password, please contact our office. Once you have logged into the site for the first time you will be prompted to change your password and update your account information. It is important that all fields are filled in completely as failure will break the link which delivers your email newsletter.
I apologize, we had no choice but to bring up a new website and we were not able to keep passwords from the old site (nor do we have access to them in the new site). With the market slowing for the Holidays, now is an excellent time to log in and test out our new website.
If you lost your password and user name we provided over the past couple of weeks or, if you can’t get in, we can work with you either on the phone or by email so that you can get into the website. You can reach us at 800-432-3475 or by email at info@steelmarketupdate.com.
We are finding there is a tremendous amount of interest in our Premium Level membership. We published our second Premium Supplement Newsletter yesterday and we expect to publish supplements on a regular basis. Last night’s had information about our Key Market Indicators as well as the most recent data for imports by product, port and country.
If you would like to learn more about our Premium Level products please contact John Temples or me at 800-432-3475 or John@SteelMarketUpdate.com / JohnTemples@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
The buzz in the market is that ThyssenKrupp AG may announce as early as late this week their intention of selling the ThyssenKrupp Steel USA plant located in Calvert, Alabama to a 50/50 joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel. We are hearing the sales number will be approximately $1.97 billion. My personal opinion is this sale will happen and AM/Nippon will be the buyers. I don’t think the deal will close until sometime after 1st Quarter 2014. ThyssenKrupp AG is scheduled to announce earnings on December 2nd.
Housekeeping issues: Steel Market Update will not publish our Executive Newsletter on Thursday due to Thanksgiving. We will produce a mini version on Sunday evening.
We will publish our next Monthly Newsletter early next week.
We will conduct our next market analysis of the flat rolled steel market beginning on Monday of next week.
As more and more members go to the website we are finding most (if not all) of them like what they see. Hopefully, your impression will mirror the comments we have been receiving like the one I got a couple of days ago from a paint company: “Love SMU.”
As always your business is truly appreciated.
John Packard
Publisher

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
SMU uses ferrous scrap survey data to take AI out on a test drive.

Final Thoughts
Will a US-UK meeting next week prove a harbinger of tariff deals to come, or will it be just another case of having the rug pulled from under us?

Final Thoughts
When will we see prime scrap become scarce as the worldwide transition to EAF melting increases, especially for HRC production? It's a question I've been asked a lot.

Final Thoughts: The hidden cost of analysis paralysis in the age of uncertainty
With US economic indicators all over the map, it’s no wonder the steel market has experienced a whole lot of analysis paralysis this year.

Final Thoughts
A recurring theme in conversations with some of you and in the comments submitted in our surveys is concerns about demand and uncertainty around tariffs. Where does SMU’s latest opinion polling on President Trump’s tariffs stand? Let’s take a look at the numbers.