Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 5, 2019
President Trump has announced that he intends to increase the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese finished goods to the full 25 percent by the end of this week (current rate on first batch is 10 percent). He also intends to increase the number of products to be hit. His statement was the Chinese were dragging their feet in the negotiations and enough time has passed. No more extentions. Lewis Leibowitz is working on an article on this subject, but it was not ready when we went to publish this evening. Stay tuned. This is an important development for the steel industry.
My next round of travel adventures begins this week as I head to Chicago where I am speaking to Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Wednesday and then attending the Metals Industry Boy Scout Dinner on Thursday. If you would like to speak to me while I am in Chicago, please send me an email.
Next week I will be in Davenport, Iowa, for our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop. We will tour the SSAB Iowa steel mill, and I want to thank the SSAB teammates for their hospitality. We are looking forward to our second visit to this facility.
I will advise when and where our next Steel 101 workshop will be held in the coming days. Stay tuned.
We have exceeded 450 registered attendees for this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference. We are well on our way to the 1,000 executive goal we set after last year’s conference. This year we have a tremendous program. A tremendous group of sponsors and exhibitors. This is the one place you and your company need to be to network and to learn about what to expect in the coming year. We have wonderful speakers, the facility is perfect and easy to get to… Need I say more? To register or find more information, go to: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel-summit
Our next flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis begins at 8 a.m. tomorrow (Monday). Look for your invitation link and please take a few moments to complete the questionnaire.
We will provide service center inventories data providers our “Flash” report on Tuesday of this week. This is one of the benefits of being a data provider. If you are a flat rolled or plate steel service center and would like to participate, please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
If you would like information about how to upgrade, renew or become a new subscriber, please contact Paige Mayhair at 724-720-1012 or 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
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Final Thoughts
It’s another week of big headlines for the world writ large – an expanding war in the Middle East, another potentially catastrophic hurricane – and not much going on in the world of steel prices. “Call me Stevie Wonder, I see nothing.” That’s how one service center executive described the current sheet market. There seems to be almost a competition among some of our Community Chat guests and contributors to outdo each other in flowery ways to say, “
Final Thoughts
Surprise, surprise. Forget Halloween, the trend this October is all around the unexpected. Known as the “October Surprise,” you never know what is in store for you in the month before a US presidential election. Still, if we pull back the dial back date-wise a little bit, a familiar theme has been added to the mix: kick the can.
Final Thoughts
Another day, another massive gap between the news and market sentiment. On the news side, we’ve got war in the Middle East. The devastation facing western North Carolina coming into tragic focus. And the outcome of the presidential election remains a coin toss, according to current polling.
Final thoughts
There are markets where the headlines and the prices are both crazy. This does not appear to be one of them, at least not yet.
Final thoughts
Washington loomed large in our surveys this week. Two things actually: the upcoming presidential election and the trade case against imported coated products from 10 nations.