Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
April 11, 2018
Our 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference registrations are quickly approaching 300 executives. With 136 days still to go, we are confident we will set another record attendance. Over the past two days we have received registrations from the following companies (those with a * next to their name means there is more than one person attending from their company): Overhead Door*, Nucor*, Ryerson*, Wabash National, Honda of America*, Acuity Brands Lighting, Klauer Manufacturing, Mainline Metals*, Berlin Metals*, Leeco Steel* and West Coast Metals*.
You can join those and the hundreds of other companies who will be attending this year’s conference in Atlanta on Aug. 27-29, 2018, by going to www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel-summit to register. You can also contact our offices at 772-932-7538. If you have questions, you can email them to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
Late this afternoon, UPI told their customers that their July order book is now closed.
It’s been a busy week and there is still another day to go…
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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United Airlines raised eyebrows earlier this month when it provided two forecasts for 2025 – one assuming a relatively stable economy and another assuming a recession. The reason? Uncertainty around the impact of President Trump’s policy shocks on the broader economy. And it sometimes feels like we’re seeing a battle between those two narratives (stable vs recession) play out within in the pages of this newsletter.
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Despite some scary headlines lately (especially about Trump potentially firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell) this is not October 2008 (financial crisis) or March 2020 (onset of the pandemic). But it sure seems like we’ve taken a relatively strong economy and poured a thick sauce of uncertainty over it.
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I put some of our survey data through ChatGpt, with interesting results.
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Nearly 50% of respondents to our latest survey thought hot-rolled coil prices have already peaked. And where will those prices be two months from now? Responses were decidedly split on that question.