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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And so it begins (again). Not to be outdone by Thanksgiving, President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on all imports from Canada and Mexico. He also threatened to hit all imports from China with tariffs of 10% - an amount that would come on top of a boatload of pre-existing duties and tariffs.
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“We’ll always have Paris,” as the famous line in Casablanca goes. And this month, the global steel industry did as well. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Steel Committee met in the City of Lights earlier this month. There was also a meeting of the Global Forum addressing excess steel capacity.
Final Thoughts
It’s once again A Tale of Two Cities in the steel market. Some are almost euphoric about Trump’s victory. Others, some rather bearish, are more focused on the day-to-day market between now and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.