Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
August 29, 2014
We’ve gone well past hectic as we are literally within a few hours of kicking off our 4th Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. We exceeded our registration goals and we had to expand both of the rooms we are using at the Georgia International Convention Center to accommodate the extra people. The place is set up and we’ve already begun to check-in those who have arrived at the Marriott Gateway Hotel the night before.
For those attending our Steel Summit Conference the day begins at 8:30 AM with a special pre-Summit workshop on Advanced High Strength Steels and the concept of light-weighting. The full conference will began at 10 AM Sharp in salon’s 6 & 7 in the south side of the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC).
For those who are flying into Atlanta in the morning – one note to remember – follow signs for Rental Cars – the SKYTRAIN goes to both the rental car lots (2nd stop) and the Marriott Gateway Hotel and GICC (1st Stop). There is no charge for the train which is located just outside the airport terminal. DO NOT TAKE THE MARTA TRAIN which goes downtown and cost money to ride. The SkyTrain has black cars and is free to ride.
Big River Steel has scheduled their “official” ground breaking for September 22nd. The ground breaking is by invitation only. Actual construction has already begun.
A note that we will not produce a Steel Market Update newsletter on Thursday due to our Steel Summit Conference. We will be back in full swing by Sunday evening.
As always your business 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.