Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
March 25, 2019
After traveling for the past eight days and arriving back in Florida at 1 a.m. this morning, I am back in my office. I expect to be in the office for the next two weeks before traveling to Orlando to speak to the Air Distribution Institute.
Registrations for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference have passed through 200+ executives (not counting our speakers, SMU or CRU people). We have completed one-fifth of our goal to host 1,000 manufacturers, distributors, steel mills, fabricators, processors, trading companies and suppliers to those industries. Please let your industry friends, suppliers and customers know the place to be on Aug. 26-28, 2019, is at the Georgia International Convention Center adjacent to the Atlanta Jackson-Hartsfield International Airport (ATL). There are now 152 days to go before the conference begins. Information about the conference can be found at www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit
Here are a few of the companies that have registered for the conference over the past few days (* means more than one person): Hubbel Inc.*, California Steel Industries*, Galvasid*, Minmetals, Inc., Reliance Steel & Aluminum*, North Shore Steel*, Ferrostaal Steel GmbH, Honda of America Mfg. Inc.*, Midwest Pipe & Steel*, Kinder Morgan, Inc.
Registrations are also picking up for the next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop, which will be held on May 14-15 in Davenport, Iowa, and will include a tour of the SSAB Iowa facility located about 30 minutes away. Cost for an attendee at one of our Steel 101 workshops is $2,000 (prior to any discounts for SMU/CRU membership or multiple people attending from the same company). The registration fee covers breakfast and lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday, dinner and reception on Tuesday evening, all breaks, transportation to SSAB and back, our 100+ page workbook, access to the PowerPoint presentation slides and three months of the Steel Market Update Premium newsletter and access to our website. It does not include transportation to and from Davenport or the hotel expenses. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or you can find information and how to register on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel101
I want to say welcome to our newest member companies and to the many companies who have taken advantage of our new pricing structure to upgrade to Premium, Regional or Global memberships. If you or your company would like more details regarding expanding the number of employees that receive our newsletter, you can do so by contacting Paige Mayhair at 724-720-1012 or by email at Paige@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
Tariff-related noise aside, there is one basic factor keeping buyers on the sidelines. Despite recent declines, HR prices remain at historically high levels. And there is no obvious support to keep them there.
Final Thoughts
United Airlines raised eyebrows earlier this month when it provided two forecasts for 2025 – one assuming a relatively stable economy and another assuming a recession. The reason? Uncertainty around the impact of President Trump’s policy shocks on the broader economy. And it sometimes feels like we’re seeing a battle between those two narratives (stable vs recession) play out within in the pages of this newsletter.
Final Thoughts
Despite some scary headlines lately (especially about Trump potentially firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell) this is not October 2008 (financial crisis) or March 2020 (onset of the pandemic). But it sure seems like we’ve taken a relatively strong economy and poured a thick sauce of uncertainty over it.
Final Thoughts
I put some of our survey data through ChatGpt, with interesting results.
Final Thoughts
Nearly 50% of respondents to our latest survey thought hot-rolled coil prices have already peaked. And where will those prices be two months from now? Responses were decidedly split on that question.