Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
September 26, 2018
I am back in my office after four very long days, mostly due to long and late flights to Minnesota, Pittsburgh and back to West Palm Beach. I will be in the office for most of the day on Friday should you need to reach me. I am off again on Sunday as I head to Chicago to attend the CRU North American Steel Conference.
I’ve been reaching out and speaking with my trading contacts. On Sunday, we will do one or two articles regarding the status of foreign steel import offers and more.
One of the traders I spoke with earlier today told me he thought the market was close to a bottom. “Buyers have to buy,” is what he told me. We discussed the Turkish situation with the 50 percent tariff. “Turkish business has stopped.” He told me he has a vessel docking soon where he will be paying the 50 percent tariff. He told me the duties come to approximately $1,000 per ton… (wow). I was told the 25 percent tariff has been “absorbed by the market.” When it reaches 50 percent, it’s just too high to collect and pass through.
On the East Coast there aren’t many options. There are no domestic sheet mills on the East Coast and freight rates are high. So, the expectation is for the buyers to continue to buy foreign.
I will have more in Sunday’s issue of SMU about foreign steel imports and the status of the market now and looking forward into first-quarter 2019.
Again, if you need to reach me on Friday, I can be reached 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.