Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 25, 2018
Welcome back to those who were off for the Memorial Day Holiday here in the United States. If you are extending your time off, well I’m jealous as we are back in the thick of it here at Steel Market Update.
As expected, we didn’t see much movement between the flat rolled steel prices we collected last week and those we gathered during the day today. The key for steel prices is coming at the end of the week when the country tariff exclusions run out for the European Union, Canada and Mexico. All large suppliers of steel and aluminum to the United States.
SMU does not yet know what is going to happen to these specific exclusions. NAFTA partners may get another 30-day pass in an effort to finish negotiations on NAFTA. Trump may decide to lower the boom and end the exclusions. No one is quite sure how to play it and “it” (the decision) is literally less than three days away. USTR Robert Lighthizer and DOC Secretary Wilbur Ross are scheduled to be in Europe this week to see if they can get them to agree to a reduction in shipments… So far, they have resisted.
I will be in my office all week. If you have any questions for SMU, please send them to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or you are welcome to send them directly to me: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
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!