Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

Written by John Packard


We will hopefully have information and a date for a new workshop we have under development. The new workshop is tentatively being called: Managing Price Risk: Strategies & Execution. The workshop will be for those who already have some knowledge of hot rolled coil (HRC) and busheling (BUS) futures and options trading. Our intention is to provide a workshop for those who want to know more about the various strategies for protecting inventory values, protecting profits or offering long-term firm pricing through the use of futures and options trading. We already have a waiting list so our goal is to have the workshop – which at this time we are forecasting to go over two half days and the first to be held at the CME in Chicago.

We will publish one of our Premium Level newsletter supplements on Friday for our Premium Level members.

The OCTG dumping case decision was postponed today due to the winter weather in Washington, D.C. We should get a decision early next week.

I will be back in the office on Monday after having been stranded in Florida due to the weather in North Georgia (I can tell I am not getting much sympathy for that one). My next trip will be to Austin, Texas for the FMA Tolling Processing conference.

As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update. Thank you for your kind words and recommendations to your suppliers and customers. We continue to grow and your help is always appreciated.

John Packard, Publisher

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Latest in Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

As Wolfe Research’s Timna Tanners put it in her opening talk at Tampa on Monday afternoon, we’re living in a world of “Trumplications” now. That probably means – at least in the short term – higher scrap costs, lower imports from countries hit with or threated tariffs, and higher steel prices. SMU data reflects that. Scrap went up in January. More than 75% of the respondents to our more recent survey expect scrap to go up again February, maybe by a lot. Lead times, meanwhile, have been ticking upward this month. It started with hot-rolled coil and plate earlier this month. Now we’re seeing coated lead times extending too.