Economy

Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 10, 2014
I was advis ed today that Nucor had reduced their pricing on beams by $40 per ton in order to compete with foreign beam offers. The question then became what are the mills doing to blunt the impact of foreign steel offers of flat rolled products into the United States? As we reported on Tuesday, US Steel is attempting to stem the price erosion which has occurred since the beginning of November. Meanwhile, buyers seem to be back to sitting on their hands waiting to see what happens next. Lead times are relatively short and inventories appear to be higher than they have been in awhile.
A note to those planning on attending our Steel 101 workshop in South Carolina in January. The room rate guarantee of $91 per room (includes resort fee) will expire on December 20th. We still have plenty of room to take more reservations. If you have any questions please contact our office: 800-432-3475 or by email: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
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 Economy

Steel Summit: Dr. Basu blames tariffs for riskier path ahead
Steel executives packed the main conference hall of the 2025 SMU Steel Summit on Tuesday, Aug. 26, to hear economist Dr. Anirban Basu lay out his blunt view of tariffs, inflation, and demand.

Steel Summit: Schneider sees SDI ‘on the edge of a very good run’
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) President and Chief Operating Officer, Barry Schneider, remains bullish about the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker’s position in the current market.

US housing starts gain momentum in July
US housing starts rose in July both month-on-month and year-on-year, according to figures from the US Census Bureau.

Manufacturing in New York state improves again in August
Business activity in New York state improved modestly in August. It was just the second positive reading for the general business conditions index in six months.

President Trump intends to set additional steel tariffs
While boarding Airforce One on Friday, US President Donald Trump stated that he would be setting more steel tariffs and putting ~100% tariffs on semiconductors and chips.