Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
March 20, 2017
Galvanized steel buyers need to continue to watch LME zinc pricing as there are reports out there suggesting higher zinc prices as 2017 progresses and into 2018. This will be one of the subjects touched on during our 7th SMU Steel Summit Conference at the end of August. With the mills just having announced new extras my expectation is we are probably “safe” for at least three months. But, if you start to see zinc trading above $1.30 and as high as $1.40 per pound then be prepared for more changes.
We have finalized negotiations with our hotel in Ontario, California for our June 2017 Steel 101 workshop. The dates for the workshop are Thursday, June 22nd and Friday, June 23rd. We normally conduct our workshops on Tuesday and Wednesdays but we wanted to be able to see the re-heat furnaces and hot strip mill in action and the later part of the week worked best. It will also allow those coming from the Midwest and East Coast some flexibility in travel to and from the West Coast. It also provides an opportunity for those who would like to add a day or two to enjoy California to do so. Details about the workshop, costs and registration can be found on our website. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com
We have 127 people registered for the SMU Steel Summit Conference with still 159 days to go (next Tuesday will mark the point when we will have 5 months to go). We are essentially 100 registrations ahead of last year’s pace when we saw 430 executives attending our 2016 SMU Steel Summit Conference. Our expectation is we will break our attendance record by at least 100 people if not more. So, I recommend registering early. For individual registrations click here or group registrations here.
We started our mid-March flat rolled steel market trends survey earlier this week and we will continue collecting responses through Thursday morning. Our Premium level members can expect to see our analysis in a Power Point format on the website on Friday afternoon. If you would like to be added to our survey invitee list please contact me at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or you are welcome to give me a call at 800-432-3475.
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!