Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
January 25, 2017
I want to take a moment to thank all of the attendees who attended our Steel 101 workshop in Huntsville, Alabama. We had a great two days and the Nucor team at Decatur did a great job hosting our mill tour on Tuesday of this week. Thank you again to Nucor for supporting our educational programs. Our next Steel 101 will be held in Toledo, Ohio where we will tour the North Star BlueScope mill. Dates for that workshop are April 11-12, 2017.
The scrap article in tonight’s issue is another warning shot across the bow of steel buyers. If scrap prices drop $30-$40 per gross ton in February the psychology of the market will change and buyers will expect concessions from the steel mills, especially after pushing prices up 5 times on the back of rising scrap prices… As I have said before, steel buyers must remain vigilant and stay close to their suppliers as well as those of us who are ferreting out market intelligence.
If you are seeing changes in the market (good or bad) please take a moment to email, text or call me (cell is 770-596-6268). I can be reached by email at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
I have been receiving a number of requests to do speaking engagements for companies as well as organizations associated with the industry. We are also getting requests to do private training (sales, customer service, market, steelmaking, etc.). My schedule, especially with the amount of time I have to focus on our upcoming Steel Summit Conference, is somewhat limited and I have had to raise my fees. If you would like information as to what we charge for either a speaking engagement or a custom training program please send me an email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com with the details of your request (date, time allotted, subject to be discussed or taught, etc.) and I will do my best to get back to you with a response.
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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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.