Final Thoughts

May 23, 2014

Welcome back to those who have returned to your offices for the next big summer push. I spent a portion of my day today trying to get a sense of how business conditions are for those with whom I was speaking. With the exception of one service center located on the East Coast who told me that business conditions were much better but the competition didn’t seem to have a game plan on what it means to make money when times are good, everyone else was telling me things have gotten better.

As we reported in last Thursday evening’s edition of Steel Market Update, our flat rolled steel survey conducted this past week was showing 50 percent of our respondents as reporting demand as improving. This was only the second time in the history of our survey when 50 percent or more of the respondents were this bullish (the other time was at the beginning of May).

I asked a wholesaler, a distributor who supplies the HVAC mechanical contractors and is tied to the construction industry, how his business was faring and he reported year-over-year demand as having improved by approximately 6 percent. I will learn more about the rest of the wholesalers tomorrow when HARDI conducts their monthly galvanized steel conference call. More on that in Thursday’s issue.

A service center whose focus is on heavy gauge hot rolled and plate reported their business as being up 9 percent.

Business is getting better and so we enter the summer with an air of optimism which has been missing from a number of industries for a number of years.

I hope the flood of foreign steel doesn’t ruin the party for everyone.

A note to those attending Steel Success Strategies: I will be in New York City to attend the Platts NYC Steel Forum and the Bank of America dinner on the 16th. I am available for meetings on the 17th and morning of the 18th. If you are going to be in New York City and would like to chat for a few minutes please shoot me an email to see what time works best: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or give me a call in my office at: 800-432-3475.

Steel Market Update will host our own 2-day conference and we think it will be a great one. We already have a number of confirmed speakers including two CEO’s of steel mills. We are working hard to put together a program which one manufacturing company told me needed to include: The status of the steel industry from the mill viewpoint, from the service center viewpoint and from an economic viewpoint. We also want to touch on some of the risks and opportunities which lay ahead for 2015 and beyond and we want to provide a number of forecasts for raw materials, steel prices and various market segments which will impact the industry. Lastly, we want to provide a forum conducive to networking with suppliers and meeting with old friends, as well as making new ones.

Save the dates: September 3 & 4, 2014.

Location: Georgia International Convention Center (Hotel: Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway)

As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, Publisher