Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 12, 2016
I was very disappointed to hear the news that Carrier Corporation has decided to move their manufacturing and distribution operations in Indianapolis, Indiana to Monterrey, Mexico. As I heard the news I thought about the 2016 AHR Expo show (co-sponsored by ASHRAE and the AHRI) that I attended at the end of January. That show is billed as the “World’s largest HVACR Marketplace” but Carrier did not bother to exhibit.
Carrier was at one time during my active steel sales career one of my largest accounts. I feel sad for the 1,400 workers and their families in Indiana that will lose their jobs as Carrier focuses their business to other areas of the world. I also saw Donald Trump’s comments about Carrier Corporation during the presidential debates (which we have quoted in another article on the subject in this evening’s edition). I would be curious to hear what you think about Carrier’s (and other companies across the U.S.) move to Mexico and its impact on the U.S. steel and distribution industries. You can provide your opinion at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
The European Union targeted Chinese steel as they announce new investigations into Chinese plate, hot rolled and seamless pipes. The EU also announced duties on cold rolled steels for China and Russia. There will be protests in Brussels on Monday against the flood of cheap, subsidized Chinese steel flooding the EU.
I will be in my office on Monday and Tuesday of this week before traveling to Tampa for the Port of Tampa Steel Conference on Wednesday and Thursday. For those of you traveling to Tampa I look forward to seeing you there. I think the weather is suppose to be nice in Florida so those of you coming from the north – enjoy.
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 has heard from some larger buyers who have stepped back into the market to buy at prices that, if not at a bottom, they assess to be close to one. Is it enough to stretch out lead times and send prices upward again? Or do we continue to scrape along the mid-$600s per short ton (st) as we have been doing for most of the last month?
Final thoughts
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves had some insightful things to say today about the steel market and about a conference we suspect might be Steel Summit.
Final thoughts
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, when you add in some commentary from respected peers in the steel industry to those pictures, that may shoot you up to five thousand words, at least. In that spirit, we’ve added some snapshots from our market survey this week, along with some comments from market participants.
Final thoughts
I thought we’d have more clarity this week on Section 232, Mexico, and a potential carve-out for steel melted and poured in Brazil. As of right now, the only official comment I have is from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Final thoughts
There are just 40 days left until the 2024 SMU Steel Summit gets underway on Aug. 26 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. And I’m pleased to announce that it's official now: More than 1,000 people have registered to at attend! Another big development: The desktop version of the networking app for the event has officially launched!