Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
April 22, 2015
We appear much closer to the crossroads than I think many of you realize. Reliance, Nucor and Steel Dynamics spoke about the changes coming in their own way during their earnings conference calls. Reliance prodded the mills to raise prices – now. SDI spoke about their attorneys waiting for the right time before they can file successful dumping suits. Nucor talked about keeping foreign steel at bay and that it may be premature to file price increases. We live in interesting times and my personal opinion is everyone in the flat rolled steel industry needs to keep their eyes, ears and minds open to change.
I will go into more detail on what I mean in Sunday night’s newsletter.
Our Premium level members will see that this week’s flat rolled steel market survey Power Point will be posted on our website on Friday afternoon. We added a couple new questions this week regarding end users looking to lock in future orders at today’s pricing. Seems the results were mixed between end users and service centers…
We are getting down to three weeks before out next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Merriville, Indiana (outside of Chicago). We encourage both our members and non-members alike to take some time to learn more about what we are trying to teach and how it may fit with your company or individual needs. Our program is on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com or you are welcome to contact our office with any questions you might have: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475.
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 Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Yesterday’s tragedy and loss of life at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Works is a stark reminder of how important safety in the workplace really is.
Final Thoughts
What are our scrap survey participants saying about the market?
Final Thoughts: Pig iron ‘sideways’
What the word "sideways" means can depend on where you sit on the procurement spectrum.
Final Thoughts: Happy birthday SMU
Steel Market Update is proud to celebrate its 17th birthday this month.
Final Thoughts
We’re in the dog days of summer, and the question is whether the market will improve as lead times stretch into September. Your answer to that question might depend on where you are in the supply chain. And producers, it seems to me, are a lot more optimistic than consumers at the moment.