Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
November 30, 2015
I thought it would be nice to send out our Premium newsletter to all of our readers today since we did not publish over the weekend due to the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the United States.
We are conducting our early December flat rolled steel market analysis this week. This means those who participate in our questionnaire, as well as our Premium level members, will receive a link to the Power Point presentation which contains a good portion of the results provided in a historical perspective. If you have not seen one of our Power Point presentations and would like to get a look at one please email Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com or Ryan@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
As we approach the end of the calendar year I am having my son Ryan work with me to review everyone who is currently on our invitee list for the flat rolled market analysis we do twice per month. We want to make sure that we have the proper contact information, that the invite is getting through and that there are no issues regarding the process. If you would like to be included on our invitee list you can send an email to either Brett or Ryan (shown above) or, if you would like to suggest someone else from your company be included, please contact Brett or Ryan.
As we move into 2016 I am going to try to expand our analysis and break out market segments that might be best analyzed independently from the main group. I will discuss my ideas as we complete the project we are working on now with the existing survey people.
Some of you might have experienced a problem with our website on Thursday and Friday of last week as our security certificate expired on Thanksgiving Day. That issue was corrected on Friday and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you are having any issues with our website or newsletter please let me know: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
Ray Culley (SMU Events) and I had a tremendous conversation with one of the presenters for our Leadership Summit which will be held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on March 7-9, 2016. We spoke with Alex Chausovsky of The Institute for Trend Research. Alex will be working with us and our attendees on economic issues (broad view) as well as where we are in the business cycle and how to use economic indicators to map out where your business stands and where it is going next. Many of you may remember Alan Beaulieu of ITR who spoke at this year’s Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. We are expanding our relationship with ITR as we believe those attending our conference in Atlanta, as well as this Leadership Summit, will benefit from what they have to share. We will have more details about their involvement in our program over the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can register for the Leadership Summit online or by contacting our office: 800-432-3475. Early bird discount is available through January 1, 2016.
SMU Note: If you would like an invoice for our Leadership Summit with plans on paying at the beginning of the New Year we will apply early bird discount rates. You can send a note requesting an invoice to: Diana@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
SMU Note: For Cyber Monday we are allowing non-SMU member companies to utilize the membership rate which is $150 less than the normal rate shown on the website. To get the membership rate use the code: LEADERSHIP.
We also have our next Steel 101 workshop registration open. The next workshop will be in Starkville, MS and will include a tour of the SDI Columbus steel mill. The hotel we are using is the brand new (just opened about a week ago) Marriott located in Starkville. This will be an exceptional program for those new to the industry or wanting to learn more about the steel making, rolling and buying/selling process. You can learn more about the program on our website or by contacting me in my office: 800-432-3475.
SMU Note: If you would like to learn more about Premium level membership please contact me either by phone: 800-432-3475 or by email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com and I will do my best to fill you ini on the benefits of Premium membership and what specials we are having on upgrading for existing Executive members.
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.)