Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
August 11, 2017
I was advised late on Friday afternoon that we should expect a Nucor price increase early next week. With scrap prices firming $10 to $30 per ton our expectation is for the increase to be $25-$30 per ton. Then the question will be will the industry support another increase after tepid (at best) support for the last increase made in July. On July 19, Nucor advised their flat rolled customers of their intention to take prices up by $25 per ton. The other mills followed with similar increase announcements except NLMK USA, which asked for $40 per ton (and UPI on the West Coast asked for $50 per ton).
SMU will begin our mid-August flat rolled steel market trends analysis on Monday, Aug. 14, at 8 AM ET. If you receive an “invitation to participate” please take a moment to click on the button contained in the invitation, which will take you to our questionnaire. Thank you in advance for your participation and feedback.
The following steel mills are registered to attend this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference at the end of this month: ArcelorMittal Mexico, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, ArcelorMittal/Nippon Sumitomo Calvert, Ternium USA, Ternium Mexico, NLMK USA, Nucor, Nucor Mexico, Nucor Canada, Kandil Steel (Egypt), California Steel Industries, AK Steel, CSN USA, North Star BlueScope, Steel Dynamics Inc., The Techs, U.S. Steel, Worthington Industries, USS/POSCO, Big River Steel, SSAB Americas, Algoma, AHMSA, Stelco. Besides these mills, also attending will be many international trading companies with affiliations with steel mills such as Tata, ThyssenKrupp, Uttam, Severstal and many Japanese companies (many represent Wheeling Nisshin).
If your supplier is not listed, you are welcome to suggest to them that they may want to attend. If you are unsure if your supplier is registered and you are already registered, you can use the SMU Events App to search for their company or the individual’s name.
Just two weeks to go before the start of our 7th SMU Steel Summit Conference. We are working hard to make sure this year’s conference is the most entertaining and educational event yet. We have a great group of speakers, a new look and a record number of manufacturing and steel executives already registered to attend.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts: Survey says edition
SMU’s latest survey results indicate that steel market participants think sheet prices are at or near a bottom. But most also think there is limited upside once they inflect higher.
Final Thoughts
A recent IIMA meeting in Brazil shows how the US and much of the rest of the world are operating in parallel realities.
Final Thoughts
We moved our pricing momentum indicators from “lower” to “neutral” for all sheet products this week. For those keeping score, we had been at “lower” for six weeks. And I know some of you think we should have been there for even longer.
Final Thoughts: The long shadow of Ken Iverson
Renowned Nucor Chairman and CEO Ken Iverson would’ve turned 100 on Sept. 18 of this year.
Final Thoughts
Algoma Steel has publicly confirmed that it might scale back its presence in the US market. It's no secret why: 50% Section 232 tariffs remain in place against Canada, which has traditionally been one of our closest allies.