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
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
Can technology help with pig iron and DRI/HBI tariffs?

Final Thoughts
Tariff-related noise aside, there is one basic factor keeping buyers on the sidelines. Despite recent declines, HR prices remain at historically high levels. And there is no obvious support to keep them there.

Final Thoughts
United Airlines raised eyebrows earlier this month when it provided two forecasts for 2025 – one assuming a relatively stable economy and another assuming a recession. The reason? Uncertainty around the impact of President Trump’s policy shocks on the broader economy. And it sometimes feels like we’re seeing a battle between those two narratives (stable vs recession) play out within in the pages of this newsletter.

Final Thoughts
Despite some scary headlines lately (especially about Trump potentially firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell) this is not October 2008 (financial crisis) or March 2020 (onset of the pandemic). But it sure seems like we’ve taken a relatively strong economy and poured a thick sauce of uncertainty over it.

Final Thoughts
I put some of our survey data through ChatGpt, with interesting results.