Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
January 14, 2015
I am looking forward to traveling to South Carolina for our next Steel 101 workshop which is at the beginning of next week. I would like to recognize and thank Nucor and their Berkeley facility for allowing us to tour their flat rolled (sheet) and beam mills. This is the first time I personally will have visited Berkeley and I am looking forward to seeing their operation in person. We have a diverse group attending our Steel 101 workshop (as always) which I think adds depth to the learning process.
I expect to finalize the date for our next Steel 101 workshop which will be held in the Chicago area. We will have more details about that in Sunday evening’s issue.
Ray Culley (former GM of Marketing for Severstal NA) and I are working diligently on our management level workshop which a number of you have heard me reference in the past as “Steel 201.” We will name it something different but both Mr. Culley and I are quite excited about the program we are putting together. One of the basic principles behind this new workshop/seminar/conference will be that the attendees be able to leave the meetings with “actionable information.” We will have more on this new event soon.
A reminder that our Steel Summit Conference, our 5th Steel Summit Conference will be held on September 1 & 2, 2015 in Atlanta. Block the dates on your calendar now.
On a personal note. Some of you are aware that my son is a professional musician (commonly referred to as a struggling artist…). He is a percussionist and performs with a number of groups and solo. He plays jazz, indie music and contemporary music. On Friday of this week he will be performing with Fenoma Consort at the New Music Miami Festival at the CARTA Miami Beach Urban Studios. Fenoma Consort is a contemporary music group and you may want to listen to some of their music if you are not familiar with contemporary works.
I want to welcome the latest new members to Steel Market Update. We have had a rush of Executive, Premium and Corporate level new members over the past week. If any of you have any questions about how to best interact with our website or with us here in the office please do not hesitate to contact our office. We are open to questions and suggestions and we are always striving to get better. I can be reached at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone: 800-432-3475. Remember to tell your steel friends about us…
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
SMU had the pleasure of attending the American Iron and Steel Institute's (AISI's) annual general meeting in Washington this week. It was a slow week in our nation's capital, so we were able to take a leisurely stroll around the National Mall and take in the sights. Just kidding. In fact, the meeting coincided with significant trade actions announced by the Biden administration. It included, among other things, additional tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum.
Final thoughts
Our spot price is little changed this week after moving sharply lower last week on the heels of Nucor’s unexpected price cut. Here’s one thought on that trend: Nucor's weekly HR price (aka, its “Consumer Spot Price” or CSP) has to date functioned almost more like a monthly price.
Final thoughts
What's the tea in the steel industry this week? Here's the latest SMU gossip column! Just kidding... kind of. Yes, some of the comments we receive in our weekly flat-rolled market steel buyers' survey are honestly too much to put into print. Some make us laugh. Some make us cringe. Some are cryptic. Most are serious. We appreciate them all. Below are some highlights from our survey results this week. Some of the comments that we can share with you are also included, in italics, in the buyers' own words, with minimal editing on our part.
Final thoughts
Last week we wrote about a brief lull in price movement, labeling it a period of wait and see. It did, in fact, turn out to be pretty brief. This week... things are little bit different. Perhaps right now we are more in a period of "hope and pray" or "Here we go, hold on to your hats."
Final thoughts
Unless you've been under a rock, you know by know that Nucor's published HR price for this week is $760 per short ton, down $65/st from the company’s $825/st a week ago. I could use more colorful words. But I think it’s safe to say that most of the market was not expecting this. For starters, US sheet mills never announce price decreases. (OK, not never. It has come to my attention that Severstal North America rescinded a price increase back on Feb. 14, 2012. And it caused quite the ruckus.)