Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
June 17, 2015
On Thursday evening I attended an Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) regional meeting in Chicago. Although the program had been set a couple of months ago, the timing was spot on as they had Larry Friedman, trade attorney with Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, LLP. He did an excellent job of positioning where the idea of trade laws came from, what has to be proven in order to win a trade case and why the five countries named in the latest coated trade case were selected. I am getting his Power Point slides and we will produce an article on the subject in Sunday night’s issue.
What was interesting was there were a couple of questions regarding the TPP and TPA legislation and we happen to have an article on the exact subject in tonight’s issue. So, I guess we are leaning in the right direction with our reporting (thank you Sandy).
Our Steel Summit workshop is getting a lot of buzz during our time here in Chicago. Everyone is excited with the program we have put together and we are in the process of adding a couple of the final pieces to the puzzle which we will get out to everyone soon. This will be an excellent networking event based on the companies who have registered so far. We have last year’s attending companies on our website and we are finding that we are getting support from those who attended last year, many of them increasing the number of people who will be attending from their company. We are also seeing new companies have found us or learned about our conference. This is one that will be worth the money. There will be some surprises as we work to make this not only a networking, information gathering, forecasting conference but to make it an “Event” in the true sense of the word. There is nothing worse than good subjects with boring or self-serving speakers. It is also important to have a laugh or two as this business can be so serious at times. Come to Atlanta on September 1st and 2nd to see what we (and everyone else) is talking about. Details are on the website or you can click here.
Tonight’s issue is running a little later than usual due to my travels and meetings. The ASD did a great job tonight as did Bank of America Merrill Lynch last night where I spoke.
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
With the US presidential election decided, ‘wait and see’ has quickly turned into ‘we’re about to find out.’ Following Donald Trump’s victory, I had a chance to sit down with Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). He gave his thoughts on what he thought we might see in Trump’s second term in office, and what it means for steel.
Final Thoughts
Votes were still being counted when this column posted on Tuesday evening. And I’d be surprised if we know who the president will be by the time some of you are reading it on Wednesday morning.
Final Thoughts
Next week promises to be a big week for the country. Could even top the World Series (congrats to the Dodgers). As we all hold our breath to see what happens next, it’s a good time to reflect.
Final Thoughts
It’s official. U.S. Steel has made the first coil at Big River Steel 2 (BRS2). We congratulate the company and all the hard work that went into achieving that milestone. USS said BRS2 would begin shipments to customers this quarter. And we’re assuming those volumes will increase into Q1'25.
Final Thoughts
Nucor said it is seeking $740 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled (HR) coil this week, up $20/st from last week. USS, meanwhile, is shooting for up $30/st for sheet products in general. (USS did not announce a target price for HR.)