Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
January 30, 2019
We have many new members as well as those on trials of our newsletters and website. I want to take a couple of minutes and explain what “final thoughts” means as it relates to this newsletter and Steel Market Update in general.
Since I first started writing the Steel Market Update newsletter, I wanted a forum to be able to provide my opinion(s) on the industry. I wanted the ability to provide information about workshops and conferences we have coming up and a way to explain what we are working on that may be of interest to the steel community.
When I take a position in this segment of the newsletter (Final Thoughts), it is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the CRU Group (our parent company).
Part of the way I conduct the day-to-day operations of Steel Market Update is to try to develop interaction between myself and those who work for and with SMU. I also am very receptive to getting questions, comments and suggestions from our members (our subscribers are called members), those taking a trial and those from the greater steel community. Many of the articles written in our newsletter begin as a question, comment or suggestion from someone associated with the North American steel markets. If you would like to reach out to me, you can do so by emailing me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone at 800-432-3475.
I have just returned from a sold-out Steel 101 workshop that was held in Starkville, Miss., where we toured the SDI Columbus steel mill. The group was diverse with about half of the class being women. I thought our instructors Mario Briccetti, Chuck McDaniel and Roger Walburn did a great job explaining the steelmaking process, pre-paint process, qualities of steel and how they are made and more. I filled in to discuss the current market situation, what “stick” means when it comes to prices, as well as AD/CVD, Section 232 and Section 301.
I got the following comments about this week’s workshop from one of the attendees: “I found the workshop very informative and the content and expertise you delivered was top-notch. I will use the strategies presented and bring back many of those ideas to help guide our Business Intelligence and Big Data initiatives. All your presenters were outstanding and true experts in their respective fields. An exceptional workshop.” Mike O’Neil, Corporate Purchasing Manager, Edw. C. Levy Co.
I will advise the exact date and location of the next Steel 101 in the coming days.
I continue to work on the 2019 edition of the SMU Steel Summit Conference. Most of the work right now is dedicated to fine-tuning the program and attracting the absolute best speakers for the topics we want to cover. We will have a number of steel mill CEO’s this year, as well as a strong service center panel – something we have not done for a couple of years. Registration is open for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We hope to have our agenda out on the website by the end of next week.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
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U.S. Steel plans to increase sheet prices by at least $30 per short ton (st). That's something we haven't seen for a while.
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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.
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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).
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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.