Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 18, 2018
We continue to book more registrations for the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held on Aug. 27-29 at the Georgia International Convention Center right next to the Atlanta International Airport (ATL).
Some of the companies that registered late last week: Hyundai Steel USA, Tata Steel, McNichols Company, ALCOS Machinery Inc., USS Posco, Charter Steel, Willbanks Metals Inc., Olympic Steel, Crowe Horwath LLP, Chemcoaters, PADNOS, Steel Dynamics, Hascall Steel Company, Commercial Metal Forming, Metal One America, Affinity Metals and many others. We have reach 500 executives as we strive to bring 800 people to Atlanta for this year’s event. You can find more information (and a list of the companies registered to date) on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel-summit
I will be in my office all this week. You can reach me at 800-432-3475 or by email at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Please contact me should you have any questions or suggestions.
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 had the pleasure of attending the American Iron and Steel Institute's (AISI's) annual general meeting in Washington this week. It was a slow week in our nation's capital, so we were able to take a leisurely stroll around the National Mall and take in the sights. Just kidding. In fact, the meeting coincided with significant trade actions announced by the Biden administration. It included, among other things, additional tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum.
Final thoughts
Our spot price is little changed this week after moving sharply lower last week on the heels of Nucor’s unexpected price cut. Here’s one thought on that trend: Nucor's weekly HR price (aka, its “Consumer Spot Price” or CSP) has to date functioned almost more like a monthly price.
Final thoughts
What's the tea in the steel industry this week? Here's the latest SMU gossip column! Just kidding... kind of. Yes, some of the comments we receive in our weekly flat-rolled market steel buyers' survey are honestly too much to put into print. Some make us laugh. Some make us cringe. Some are cryptic. Most are serious. We appreciate them all. Below are some highlights from our survey results this week. Some of the comments that we can share with you are also included, in italics, in the buyers' own words, with minimal editing on our part.
Final thoughts
Last week we wrote about a brief lull in price movement, labeling it a period of wait and see. It did, in fact, turn out to be pretty brief. This week... things are little bit different. Perhaps right now we are more in a period of "hope and pray" or "Here we go, hold on to your hats."
Final thoughts
Unless you've been under a rock, you know by know that Nucor's published HR price for this week is $760 per short ton, down $65/st from the company’s $825/st a week ago. I could use more colorful words. But I think it’s safe to say that most of the market was not expecting this. For starters, US sheet mills never announce price decreases. (OK, not never. It has come to my attention that Severstal North America rescinded a price increase back on Feb. 14, 2012. And it caused quite the ruckus.)