Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 8, 2015
Hello from New York City, the Big Apple, the friendly city (oh, that’s somewhere else…). If you have $20 for a drink (bar brand) and $50 for breakfast (for 2) it’s a great place to be, even better if you are on an expense plan with your company. Darn, I own this one…
I’ve managed to meet with close to 50 companies during my first full day in New York (I am here because of Steel Success Strategies which attracts steel people to New York like buzzards on road kill). After I finish this newsletter I will do the late rounds and maybe rub shoulders with another 20 to 50 steel people in various levels of coherence (at the bar). A few drinks loosens up the lips and gets the gums a flappen…
I will keep my final thoughts short because I will do all of you more service by rubbing shoulders with more steel people thank trying to blind you with my usual BS.
And, no commercials in final thoughts.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Now that the USS/Nippon deal has been completed, what's next?
Final Thoughts
Getting back to the price increases I mentioned at the top of this article, to what extent are they aimed at raising prices and to what extent are they aimed at stopping the bleeding that was happening in the second half of May, before President Trump announced the 50% tariff?
Final Thoughts
We just wrapped another Steel 101 Workshop, where you take what you learned in the classroom into the steel mill.
Final Thoughts
Steel equities and steel futures fell hard after news broke earlier this week that the US and Mexico might reach an agreement that would result in the 50% Section 232 tariff coming off Mexican steel. The sharp declines didn’t make much sense, especially if, as some reports indicate, Mexico might agree to a fixed quota. They didn't make sense even if steel flows between the US and Mexico remain unchanged.
Final Thoughts
Even before the news about Mexico, I didn’t want to overstate the magnitude of the change in momentum. As far as we could tell, there hadn’t been a frenzy of new ordering following President Trump’s announcement of 50% Section 232 tariffs. But higher tariffs had unquestionably raised prices for imports, which typically provide the floor for domestic pricing. We’d heard, for example, that prices below $800 per short ton for hot-rolled (HR) coil were gone from the domestic market – even for larger buyers.