Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 9, 2018
Today is Feb. 11 and it has been one month since Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross sent his recommendation regarding Section 232 to the office of President Trump. Since then, there has been much speculation but nothing of substance as the industry waits for the president to remove the uncertainty.
Over the past week, I have been reaching out to steel traders to see what their thoughts are regarding Section 232 and other subjects. One trader told me, “It is impossible to run a business on no facts at all… We are not stopping but we are trading with our eyes wide open.” This trader told us that they have put language in their contracts that protects them should the government impose new duties. “You can go broke by doing nothing.”
So, as of Feb. 11, there are 59 days left before a decision must be made.
Speaking of days left – as of today there are 44 days left before our next Steel 101 workshop, which will be held in Merrillville, Ind., just outside of Chicago. We have a few spots left, and you can get more information on our website.
There are also 196 days before the beginning of our 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference. Registration is available on our website.
I will be in my office all week this week. Next week, I will be at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference. I do recommend the conference, which this year will have a few of our past Steel Summit speakers (and at least one current one) presenting. I look forward to seeing you there.
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!