Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 18, 2014
I am going to start off today’s final thoughts with a shout out to one of our own, John Temples, who recently was interviewed by a Michigan Business Network radio station about Steel Market Update. You can listen to a replay of the interview by clicking on this link.
For our Premium Level members, be advised that April imports by product, port and country are on the website. We also expect to have our most recent survey results on the site by late Friday morning. Another supplementary newsletter will be coming out either on Friday or over the weekend as well.
We will have a number of articles in the Sunday evening edition of Steel Market Update regarding our flat rolled steel market survey results which was just completed late on Thursday afternoon.
Although we still have our SMU Price Momentum Index pointing toward lower prices there appears to be a bit of a lull as the market digests what it has learned while in New York. The impression is the mills will exhibit some restraint when it comes to pricing. However, as I reviewed (briefly) the results of our survey the respondents reported the domestic mills are in a negotiable mood. The debate will rage on…
One of our readers sent me Sal Tharani’s report essentially saying that there is support at the current price level.
Another one of our readers told me that their inventories went from being at the lowest level to the highest monthly level in one month due to the amount of foreign they are receiving this month…
The debate rages on.
Your comments and opinions are always appreciated: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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Final thoughts
We got a little flack for adjusting our sheet momentum indicators to neutral last week. To be clear, we didn’t adjust them to lower. Part of the reason we moved them to neutral was because there are some unusual cross-currents in the current market. On the news side, you could make a case that there should nowhere to go but up.
Final thoughts
I think all of us know that sometimes courtships go wrong. A misplaced word or deed and soon things can go sideways, and not in the prices sense. Such could be the case with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel’s play for U.S. Steel.
Final thoughts
We’re starting to see some impacts of the big trade case filed last week against imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 nations. Namely, we’ve heard that a range of traders have stopped offering material from Vietnam. An alleged dumping margin of nearly 160% will do that. Especially amid chatter of critical circumstances.
Final thoughts
The phrase “political football” has been tossed around a lot lately. (Pun probably intended.) For the humble journalists at SMU who thought the week following Steel Summit would prove a quiet one… the news cycle had other ideas
Final thoughts
Sheet prices didn’t roar back after Labor Day. But steel market news sure came out of the gate strong (or maybe chaotically is the better way to put it). First, the nearly $15-billion proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel exploded into the news. And when I say exploded, I mean that all sides seem to be escalating things now.