Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 2, 2016
The move by ArcelorMittal USA today was anticipated and the price levels noted in their increase email to their customers are in line with expectations. I expect the rest of the mills will follow along within $10-$20 per ton of the levels suggested by AMUSA. Some of the mills may wait for scrap prices to settle which is expected by the end of this week. So, we should see most, if not all of the mills move by early next week at the latest.
I saw an interesting comment today in an email I received from Level Five Associates which Steel Market Update totally agrees with: “First, define work as a learning experience. That means the leader clearly ‘walks the talk’ in demonstrating that both failures and successes are opportunities to continuous improvement through shared lessons learned. The leader models behavior by owning his or her mistakes, and doing something about them.” They went on to explain that after a “significant event” a team examines the event and makes proposals in order to create a high-performing culture:
What happened.
Why it happened.
What we would sustain.
What we would improve.
Who would lead the fixes necessary, and by when.
For the learning process to occur, as John Lencioni discusses it in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, “Trust is the foundation of real teamwork…the first dysfunction is a failure on the part of team members to understand and open up to one another…if that sounds touchy-feely, let me explain, because there is nothing soft about it. It is an absolutely critical part of building a team. In fact, it’s probably the most critical.”
The article I read went on to say, “Learning organizations thrive in uncertain conditions because they create a culture of openness.”
We continue to receive registrations on a daily basis for our 6th Steel Summit Conference which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center next to the Atlanta International Airport on August 29-31, 2016.
A quick note about our SMU App: we will use the App once again this year. If you already have the App from last year’s conference my understanding is you will be able to access both year’s worth of data once we bring this year’s App up live. We do not expect to populate this year’s App until June. We will advise once we put a firm date to populating the App. Anyone can download our App through your phone’s App provider. However, only registered attendees, speakers and sponsors will be able to access the information which will be contained in the App regarding the 2016 Steel Summit program, presentations, surveys and attendees.
I have been speaking to a number of companies who did not attend last year, have heard how good last year’s conference was and plan to attend this year. We appreciate word of mouth recommendations and pointing people to our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com where information about our program, speakers, costs and registration can be found. Thank you again for promoting our conference to your steel friends. If anyone has any questions please contact us at 800-432-3475.
Hotel rooms for the conference: We have a room block for about half the rooms in the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway Hotel for our conference. We highly recommend that you book rooms early. This will allow us to increase the room block if possible or make recommendations for other hotels in the area should the Marriott fill up. Unlike last year, this year there is another conference in the other side of the convention center. There will be more competition for the hotel rooms. Reserve your room early which you can do through a link on our website or, if you contact the hotel mention you are with the Steel Market Update group for our special $139 rate (vs. $239 which is the regular rate).
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!