Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 12, 2014
I am getting excited by the progress we are making on our September Steel Summit conference. I have been talking to as many manufacturing companies, service centers, steel mills and trading companies as we strive to put on an exceptional program with quality speakers who will provide valuable content. Easy to say, not so easy to do. But, I think we are well on our way. I have advised previously that one of our dynamic duos will be Ms. Timna Tanners of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and John Anton of IHS Global Insight. It is rare that the two of them agree on their price and market forecasts. I will be interested to see if 2014 is any different. The dates to mark on your calendar are: September 3 & 4, 2014 – destination: Atlanta, Georgia.
Today just seems to be import day as the news cycle is hitting foreign steel. We are staying on top of the subject and it is one we will also try to cover in our conference in September.
I want to take a moment to welcome our newest members and I want to remind them that we try to be an accessible and responsive company. If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas or articles you would like to share with us we can be reached at: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone: 800-432-3475.
As always I want to take a moment to thank all of our customers for your business which is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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Final Thoughts
Getting back to the price increases I mentioned at the top of this article, to what extent are they aimed at raising prices and to what extent are they aimed at stopping the bleeding that was happening in the second half of May, before President Trump announced the 50% tariff?
Final Thoughts
We just wrapped another Steel 101 Workshop, where you take what you learned in the classroom into the steel mill.
Final Thoughts
Steel equities and steel futures fell hard after news broke earlier this week that the US and Mexico might reach an agreement that would result in the 50% Section 232 tariff coming off Mexican steel. The sharp declines didn’t make much sense, especially if, as some reports indicate, Mexico might agree to a fixed quota. They didn't make sense even if steel flows between the US and Mexico remain unchanged.
Final Thoughts
Even before the news about Mexico, I didn’t want to overstate the magnitude of the change in momentum. As far as we could tell, there hadn’t been a frenzy of new ordering following President Trump’s announcement of 50% Section 232 tariffs. But higher tariffs had unquestionably raised prices for imports, which typically provide the floor for domestic pricing. We’d heard, for example, that prices below $800 per short ton for hot-rolled (HR) coil were gone from the domestic market – even for larger buyers.
Final Thoughts
I want to draw your attention to SMU’s monthly scrap market survey. It’s a premium feature that complements our long-running steel market survey. We’ve been running our scrap survey since late January. And over just that short time, it’s become a valuable way not only for us to assess where scrap prices might go but also to quantify some of the “fuzzy” indicators - like sentiment and flows - that help to put the price in context.