Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

Written by John Packard

January 25, 2019

I have read a number of articles recently claiming steel prices have gone back to the levels they were when the Section 232 tariffs were announced. This is somewhat deceiving as the domestic mills had been pushing prices up prior to the announcement.

A better benchmark would be to use the historical average on hot rolled coil. If my memory serves me correctly, Peter Wright had defined the HRC average for our Premium members in a recent article at around $610 per ton. If that is correct, we are still a ways away from the average. However, when you take into consideration the 25 percent tariffs, the average should be much higher than the levels being quoted right now.

I wonder sometimes if the market would be more stable with no tariffs? Especially in light of good end-user demand?

I would like to know what you think? You can reach me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.

One of our readers recently complained about the rotating banner ads on our newsletter. The complaint was not about the content or who was advertised, rather the distraction from our content the ads were causing. I would like to know if other readers are being noticeably bothered by the rotating ads (again, having nothing to do with the company advertising). Please let me know at John@SteelMarketIpdate.com.

I will be out of the office on Monday-Wednesday of this week as we are conducting one of our Steel 101 workshops in Mississippi and touring SDI Columbus.

As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, President & CEO

John Packard

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