Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
November 16, 2016
A note to our Premium level members, we put out a Premium supplemental newsletter this afternoon that covered an extensive analysis of the MSCI data (long and flat rolled), there is also an article on currency values for steel trading nations (not good news for domestic mills as dollar has been strengthening), there is a special article that looks at scrap values and three other benchmarks that you might find interesting and we do a special analysis of imports (flat and long).
I am in Las Vegas (sunny but cool) as John Eckstein (metallurgist and Steel 101 instructor) and I are conducting a special Steel 101 workshop at FabTech. I was over at the Las Vegas Convention Center and learned that the workshop is full (bigger room next year). John and I are reviewing those registered to attend so we can tweak our program to our audience (which is quite mixed). If you are at FabTech and would like to see if you can sneak in the workshop, it is in N205-N206 which is above the Fabricator section of the Expo being held below the meeting rooms. The workshop begins as 8 AM and will end at 10 AM.
I am also here to attend the annual meeting of the Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) as they are holding their meeting in conjunction with FabTech.
In December I will be speaking at the HARDI annual meeting as part of the galvanized steel council. If you are a HARDI member I recommend you come see us on Tuesday morning, December 6th.
Our next Steel 101 workshop is scheduled for January 24-25, 2017 in Huntsville, Alabama and we will be touring the Nucor Decatur sheet mill. Information is on our website or you are welcome to contact Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com (706-216-2140). The photo to the left is of Steel 101 instructor John Eckstein explaining to the attendees (and being assisted by John Woods of Interstate Steel) how the transition of different chemistries is controlled in a continuous casting operation.
As always we want to take a moment to thank our members/subscribers for your business as it is truly appreciated by all of us at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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Final Thoughts
I sort of expected big news last Friday and over the long, Memorial Day weekend. Because that's become more the norm than the exception for steel this year. Sure enough, Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday afternoon that he had given his blessing to a “partnership” between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel. And then over the weekend we had market moving new on tariffs, this time involving the EU.
Final Thoughts
We're going to have to wait a bit longer for the final outcome of the Nippon/USS deal.
Final Thoughts
Sure, demand isn’t as good the market had hoped it would be earlier this year. But assuming it doesn’t fall of a cliff, buyers will have to restock at some point. And that might give domestic mills enough leverage to raise prices again.
Final Thoughts
While I would anticipate market sentiment to pivot and improve if all the questions around tariffs were answered, that still leaves us with a few other factors.
Final Thoughts
Let's see what SMU survey respondents are saying about Trump's tariffs.