Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
April 3, 2015
SurveyMonkey.com handles our flat rolled steel market analysis (surveys) and sends out invitations twice per month. They have made some changes to the way they send out the surveys and the way you access the questionnaire. If you normally get a invitation and have not seen it please check your SPAM folder as it is most likely hidden there. The survey invitations were sent out on Monday at 8 AM ET and then again on Tuesday at 7:30 AM ET. Our next reminder will go out at 8 AM ET on Wednesday morning.
We continue to register more people for our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop which will be conducted in Merriville, Indiana just outside of Chicago on May 19 & 20th. What is nice to see is there are a number of returning companies who continue to send their employees to our workshops. This is a true measure that our workshops are hitting their mark. Come find out for yourself. We still have open spots available. You can find out more about our program, instructors, facilities, costs, etc. on our website. The workshop includes a tour of the NLMK Indiana mini-mill. You are also welcome to contact our office with any questions you might have: 800-432-3475 or info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
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
Whether it’s the twists and turns of the presidential election, the U.S. Steel deal, or just what’s happening with the movement of steel pricing, there has been no shortage of stories for us to cover.
Final thoughts
Cleveland-Cliffs is seeking $750 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled coil. That’s $20/st above where the steelmaker had been. It’s also $30/st above Nucor, which is at $720/st this week. We've seen prices increase incrementally this week. SMU's HR price, for example, stands at $690/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The questions now are whether a number well above $700/st will stick, whether other mills will follow Cliffs, and whether there is enough demand to support higher prices.
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.