Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
March 21, 2018
WOW! What a day. I don’t know if anyone has the ability to accurately calculate the value of a piece of steel based on what has been happening since President Trump all of a sudden announced Section 232 tariffs while answering a reporter’s question. With the announcement of more countries being excluded from the tariffs, the market (stock and steel both) is in an uproar.
Even with the newly excluded countries there are enough tons missing to create a shortage of certain products. Some questions that still exist:
- Will NLMK USA be able to get slabs to keep running?
- Will AK Steel Ashland restart (so far, the answer is no)?
- Are there available tons from the excluded countries to take up some/all of the shortfall?
Don’t forget there are still AD/CVD duties in place against some of these countries.
USS/POSCO or UPI sent out a letter late today to their customers advising that they have limited availability to take new orders. The letter sounds like a way of saying they are going to be on allocation for some time.
We have had a busy couple of days taking registrations for our 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be the largest flat rolled steel conference in North America. Our conference is the premier conference for buyers and sellers of steel. We should have our agenda online sometime tomorrow or at the latest by Monday. Remember, when making your flight reservations, you want to arrive into ATL by noon on Monday, Aug. 27, and you want to try to arrange for a flight back around 4:30 p.m. or later so you don’t miss the media personality who will be at the end of our program on Wednesday. Registration can be done through our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel-summit or by contacting our office at 772-932-7538.
We have also opened up registration for our June Steel 101 workshop, which will be held in Memphis, Tenn., and will include a tour of the Nucor Hickman and Nucor-Yamato steel mills. This will be a special workshop for those who attend. You can find information and registration links on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel101 or you can contact our office at 772-932-7538.
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!