Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
March 27, 2019
I want to make sure that all of you thinking of attending this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference are aware of some of changes, so you can plan your schedules accordingly. First, the CME Group will be hosting a Price Risk Management Workshop in the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway Hotel (next to GICC) from 10:30 a.m. until noon on Monday, Aug. 26. Second, the conference will begin on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the Georgia International Convention Center. First up will be Chris Houlden and Josh Spoores of the CRU Group and myself. We will be discussing some of the proprietary indices we produce, and CRU will discuss their price forecast for the balance 2019 and 2020. Third, the CRU Group will host an Aluminum Conference immediately following the SMU Steel Summit Conference.
To learn more about the CRU Aluminum Summit Conference, please use this link: http://bit.ly/2uwwEz1
Some of the companies that registered executives for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference during last 24 hours (companies with * have more than one person): Steel Dynamics*, Precoat Metals*, Agway Metals*, AGCO, U.S. Steel*, Spantek Expanded Metal, Central Steel & Wire*, Nucor Tubular*, Nucor Sheet Mill Group*, Southwark and Ryerson*. The total number will soon exceed 250 registered attendees with five months to go until the event. You can register online by clicking here.
I intend to put out a much more detailed email regarding our conference, agenda and speakers in Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update.
For those of you who will be in New York City on June 17, the CRU Group will conduct a free Steel Briefing for clients of CRU and SMU. Let us know if you are interested and we will provide a registration link.
My next business trip is not until Monday, April 15 & 16 when I will be in Orlando for the Air Distribution Institute. So, I will be stationary for the next couple of weeks for those who would like to speak with me. 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
Sure, demand isn’t as good the market had hoped it would be earlier this year. But assuming it doesn’t fall of a cliff, buyers will have to restock at some point. And that might give domestic mills enough leverage to raise prices again.
Final Thoughts
While I would anticipate market sentiment to pivot and improve if all the questions around tariffs were answered, that still leaves us with a few other factors.
Final Thoughts
Let's see what SMU survey respondents are saying about Trump's tariffs.
Final Thoughts
The Tariff Town amusement park ride shows no signs of slowing down.
Final Thoughts
Cliffs came tantalizing close to buying U.S. Steel in 2023. There were rumors in 2024 that Cliffs might buy NLMK USA before it ultimately purchased Stelco for $2.5 billion in November of last year. Who would have thought that asset sales would have been the focal point of discussion just six months later?