Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 3, 2014
There has been a fair amount of interest being generated regarding our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop which will be held in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina on January 20 & 21, 2015. If you go to our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com and click on the Steel 101 link in the Events box in the top right hand side of our Home Page, it will take you to the home page for the workshop. There you will see a number of tabs (Objectives, Schedule, Instructors, Pricing, Video & Registration) which should answer most questions you might have. The hotel we are using is the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina and the Nucor Berkeley mill is located about 30 minutes from the hotel. We will take a bus from the hotel to the mill for a tour which is part of our program.
If you have any questions we are available at: 800-432-3475 or by email: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
A note to those attending the HARDI conference which begins this weekend I will be speaking to the Sheet Metal Market Forum on Sunday (2:00 PM to 3:15 PM). If you would like to have a private meeting with me during the conference please send me an email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or you can reach me on my cell phone: 770-596-6268. I am not leaving the conference until Tuesday and will return to my office on Wednesday…
At the end of next week Steel Market Update will be conducting our first onsite Sales Training Program for a service center located in Louisiana. If you are interested in learning more about this special program or any other possible special training programs that we can do with your company please contact me: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
A note to our Premium level members – we should have the new survey Power Point presentation on our website by early on Friday afternoon. You do need to be logged into the website as a Premium user in order to find the Latest Survey Results (and Survey Results History) tabs which are located under the Analysis tab to Survey Results… If you are not a Premium member you are not able to see a number of the Premium only content tabs. If you would like to learn more about Premium how much it costs, multiple users, etc. please contact our office: 800-432-3475 or info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
I want to welcome our newest members to the Steel Market Update community. I encourage our readers to interact with us and advise if you have questions, comments or suggestions. You are welcome to send comments to me directly at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Many of our articles and special industry analysis comes from suggestions from our readers.
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’ve been writing a lot about sheet prices, and those for hot-rolled (HR) in particular, coming down. Here's one thing that hasn't dropped: The wide spread between HR and cold-rolled (CR) prices. That's what's in a chart below. And I'm using it as a rough proxy for galv and G'lume base prices as well
Final thoughts
Sometimes, words can lead you in interesting directions. Specifically, crosswords. For the last six weeks we have been making steel-themed crosswords in the lead-up to SMU's Steel 101 course in Fort Wayne, Ind., which is taking place today and tomorrow. I’ve learned snippets of steel history and educated myself on the finer points of sponge iron.
Final thoughts
Where do sheet prices go from here? How is the state of steel demand? And is the dip in prices we've seen just a case of the summer doldrums, or is it something more significant?
Final thoughts
It feels like the summer doldrums arrived a little earlier than usual this year. I know there had been rumors of a price hike. The prospect of a sharply lower June scrap trade probably didn't help the chances of that actually happening.
Final thoughts
When you step out of the airport in Phoenix in June, the heat tends to focus your mind. I was in town to attend the Steel Manufacturers Association/Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. The desert locale with palm trees, swimming pools, and the obligatory high-powered air conditioning was fitting for 2024. Between the presidential election and the geopolitical situation, things have definitely been heating up.