Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
September 12, 2018
There have been many comments regarding the recent article I did on steel index methodologies. Included were comments/answers from two of the price providers mentioned at the beginning of the article who were unable to get to me prior to our publication deadline. I am going to do a follow-up article on Sunday evening. What I think I should do is publish an expanded version of what was already done and include the information gleaned from the two price providers not covered. Look for that in Sunday evening’s issue.
I want to give our readers the opportunity to ask questions about any of the indexes mentioned and their price assessments. With the ownership of SMU by CRU, I can speak freely with their team that handles HRC and other flat rolled and plate products. Recently, I have had questions from plate buyers, and CRU has worked with SMU to get answers back to those asking. If you have any questions regarding the various indexes and their price assessments, I will do my best to answer them or will work with the other providers. There is one provider that has refused to cooperate with SMU and answer any of our questions. So, at this point, if you have any questions for the American Metal Market, you will need to read their methodology online and hope that they will answer questions to you directly should you feel compelled to ask them.
I will include a video clip taken from our SMU Steel Summit Conference where CRU (Chris Houlden and Josh Spoores) and I discussed the differences in our indices, the differences in the methodologies and the importance of keeping the products isolated from one another so they maintain their independence and the value they were meant to provide to buyers and sellers of steel.
I am back in my office and I think I am here for the next seven days before I have to leave town again. If you have a question, suggestion or would just like to chat, feel free to contact me at 800-432-3475 or by email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
SMU's hot-rolled (HR) coil price slipped this week to $685 per short ton (st) on average. We also adjusted our sheet momentum indicators to lower for the first time since July.
Final Thoughts
When a mapmaker constructs a map, it’s always to the contours of the land. Or sea. That is, the mapmaker doesn’t say, “Look, these rocks really don’t belong here, so I’m not going to include them in the harbor map.” Uncharted rocks, sink ships (along with loose lips).
Final Thoughts
We had an October surprise here at SMU on Wednesday. I was working from the CRU office in Pittsburgh, and the internet connection briefly went out. As luck would have it, that happened smack in the middle of a live Community Chat webinar. Fortunately, my colleague David Schollaert stepped in, Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman rolled with the punches – and the show went on. Could there be any more October surprises in store for us and for the steel market?
Final Thoughts
We just wrapped up another Steel 101 workshop, easily the most hands-on industry workshop on steelmaking and market fundamentals, in this humble opinion. Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, SMU’s Steel 101 was held in Starkville, Miss.
Final Thoughts
Everybody has an opinion about politics these days. More importantly for our readers, though, every business has a bottom line. A popular question in our most recent steel buyers survey asked how uncertainty around the upcoming US presidential election could affect that line.