Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
September 17, 2014
It will be interesting to see how AK Steel and Steel Dynamics (SDI) interact with the newly purchased Dearborn and Columbus steel mills. One SDI customer told us today that the mill tends to be very deliberate in their decision making process and they did not expect radical changes for a number of weeks if not months.
My son sent me a long range forecast for the United States which was calling for another big snow year for most of the United States. Something to think about as you prepare for late 4th Quarter and into 1st Quarter 2015. Will this be another record ice year on the Great Lakes. Brendan O’Conner of Interlake Steamship Company told our Steel Summit attendees that the Great Lakes water temperatures were running about 7 to 8 degrees cooler than normal. He also told the group that alone does not predict whether it will be a big ice year or not but… (if you are planning a warm weather destination vacation book early).
We still have a couple of seats left for our Steel 101 workshop in Fort Wayne, Indiana on October 7 & 8th. This workshop will include a tour of the Steel Dynamics steel mill in Bulter, IN. You can find more details on our website or by contact us in our office: 800-432-3475.
Our next Steel 101 workshop will be held in South Carolina and will include a tour of Nucor Berkeley. More details will be coming out on this workshop over the next few weeks.
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.