Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
January 18, 2016
I am pleased to announce that we have been given permission to take our next Steel 101 workshop to Ohio and to tour the Northstar Bluescope steel mill. Northstar Bluescope Steel has an exceptional reputation for both quality and efficiency and we are looking forward to seeing the mill in action. We will have more information about this Steel 101 program online in the coming days.
At this time I am in Mississippi having just finished touring the SDI Columbus steel mill which is the largest EAF flat rolled mill in North America. I can tell you that the mill was running all of their equipment and is projected to set a new production record for galvanized this month. I want to thank Madhu Ranade, General Manager of the Columbus plant and Don Switzer, Head of Commercial as well as the rest of the SDI team for their hospitality and the great job they did showing off their mill to our attendees this afternoon. It was a little cool temperature wise here in Mississippi but, the mill was running hot and a good experience was had by all.
If you would like to have an exceptional learning experience come join us in Ohio in May when we visit Northstar Bluescope Steel and/or in Arkansas in October/early November when we will tour the new Big River Steel…
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.)