Final Thoughts
Final Thougths
Written by John Packard
January 20, 2017
The Final Thoughts section is the area where I get to provide my opinions about what I am seeing and sensing in the market. I have been debating over the weekend whether or not now is the time to adjust our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral. A Neutral reading would mean prices are in a state of fluctuation and could move in either direction over the next 30 days. However, I do not have any evidence of spot price erosion in cold rolled and coated products, only in hot rolled. If you have any information or thoughts on the subject please feel free to contact me.
I will be in Huntsville, Alabama over the next few days as we conduct our Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Marker Fundamentals workshop. I am looking forward to touring the Nucor Decatur steel mill as this will be my first time at the mill. The weather looks to be decent (for late January).
After Huntsville our next Steel 101 workshop will be in Toledo, Ohio where we will be touring the North Star Bluescope EAF steel facility. We had a workshop in their area last year but the mill had an issue with one of their furnaces that stopped us from touring their facility. So, I am looking forward to going to the North Star Bluescope mill. The dates of this workshop will be April 11 & 12, 2017.
We continue to work with a number of mills over the balance of this year and into 2018. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
Brett will be with me in Huntsville assisting with our workshop. Diana and Alison will be covering our offices here in Florida and can be reached at 800-432-3475 or 772-932-7538.
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
A short tour of key dates in the Nippon/USS deal, and what the future might hold.
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.