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    Analysis

    March 31, 2017

    Final Thoughts

    Written by John Packard

    When we began planning for our 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference I was actually thinking that I would be able to drop the subject of trade and perhaps work on other issues of “more importance” by the time we reached the end of August 2017. Even with the CORE, hot rolled, cold rolled and cut-to-length plate cases having been finalized in 2016 (CORE, CR, HR) and just last week (CTL Plate) the subject of trade is not fading away. In fact, there is perhaps a different discussion needed than what we had in the past. It is not just about anti-dumping and countervailing duties but about the rights of manufacturing, U.S. consumers and steel producers. The debate this year will be different than what we saw in the past and we are working to bring as many diverse opinions to the conference as possible. We expect to have a four-person panel with Philip Bell, President of the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) which is an organization representing the interests of the steel mills, Daniel Pearson with the Cato Institute and a former Chairman of the International Trade Commission (ITC) the group of commissioners that determines “final duties” in trade cases and trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz. We are working very hard to bring in a fourth viewpoint that maybe hasn’t been heard before. We will have more details once we get closer to a confirmation of that 4th name.

    I only fell for one April Fool’s prank this year but I have to hand it to DoubleDutch (our Events App provider) they had me eating it up on Saturday afternoon… (see article in tonight’s newsletter for more details).

    John Packard

    Read more from John Packard

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    SMU scrap market survey results now available

    SMU’s November ferrous scrap market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the Pricing and Analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for Ferrous Scrap Survey results. Past scrap survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results or if your company would like to have your voice heard in our future surveys, contact smu@crugroup.com.

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    Market chatter: Supply, not price, dominates steel buyers’ concerns

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