Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
August 4, 2014
You may start to notice that we are beginning to “tweak” our new website. It has been online for approximately 8 months and we have identified a number of areas which we think we can improve for both our existing customers and those coming to our website for the first time. We have changed the positioning of our blog so it is now “above the fold” in the upper left hand side of the home page. You do not need to be a member of SMU to access blog posts and we try to blog about the industry as each day progresses. You may want to check our blog out as we do not always print in our newsletters items we are placing on our blog.
The next project we are working on is a redesign of our drop down menu. We are going to try to simplify the menus so we can get away from sub-menus. This fix will take a little while to accomplish and we will advise as we get closer (we hope within the next 2 weeks).
We are fixing some areas of the site which were causing both members and non-members to get “Error 404” messages. If you are on our website and get an Error 404 message please let me know (and what page you were on when the error occurred) so we can fix it. We noticed that we were getting Error 404 messages when we were logged into the website working in a secured area and then we logged out. At that point we were getting an error message. That should not happen again as that was being addressed late yesterday.
You will also notice we have new popup messages when you try to access content that is password (login) protected. If you are an Executive Level member and you try to access a Premium Level article or page you will get a new popup message. Prettier and more descriptive as to what your options are (become a Premium Level subscriber…).
I think we are closing in on over 100 companies registered to attend our Steel Summit Conference. We anticipate our attendance will be approximately 150 steel people. There are many companies who are bringing multiple people. We have identified those for you on our website. If you click on the Steel Summit Conference link from any page on the website you will go to the main Steel Summit page. From there you can find out anything you want (speakers, schedule, registration – single or group, etc.). On the right hand side of the page is a partial list of companies attending. Those with an asterisk (*) represent companies with more than one person attending.
We would love to see you and your company on our list of attendees. We have a great list of speakers and panelists and we think we have put together a program which will be appreciated by our attendees. The cost to attend is $1000 for non-SMU members (single individual) and $900 per person for SMU member companies. If you bring more than one person the price drops by $100 per person. You can register online or you are welcome to contact our office: 800-432-3475.
I hope to put out a full newsletter regarding our Steel Summit Conference which will provide all the information needed to make a decision (pass it on to your customers/suppliers) about whether you should attend by the end of this week.
For those interested in attending our workshops – Steel 101 will be October 7 & 8 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and will include a tour of the Steel Dynamics Butler, IN flat rolled mill. You can fly into Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis or Toledo, OH. Details are on our website. This should be an interesting opportunity for those both new to the industry and moving into new positions to meet SDI personnel at different levels as the company will be participating in our workshop (as attendees), providing a tour of their facility (operations) and then hosting a networking/cocktail party and dinner at our hotel that evening (sales/operations/management). Space is limited and SMU member companies receive a discount to attend the two day program.
We are working with the CME Group right now to cement new dates for our next Managing Price Risk II workshop. Most likely it will be in mid-November in Chicago and we will advise the exact dates and location once we are confirmed with the CME Group.
I want to take this opportunity to once again thank all of our loyal members for your business which is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
Where can you see Timna Tanner vs. John Anton Round 4..?
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.