Final Thoughts

SMU continues to pick up negative vibes through the analysis we currently are actively conducting on the flat rolled and plate steel markets. There is obviously something going on that is concerning buyers and sellers of steel. At the same time, one of the steel mills told me today that even though prices on their product are at low levels, their order book is quite strong. Hmmmm…. If you have received an invitation to participate in our questionnaire, please take a few minutes to answer our questions. We will be reporting what we learn later this week and over the weekend.

I am in Cincinnati conducting our 29th Steel 101 workshop. The weather was exceptional today as we toured the Nucor Gallatin steel plant, a mill that is involved in a major transition. Nucor is expanding the Gallatin mill, adding another 1.5 million tons of capacity taking the mill up to 3.0 million tons per year. We toured the new PGAL (pickle galvanize line), which takes hot rolled through the pickle mill and then straight into the galvanized line. This is a totally new production experience for the Gallatin mill, which was only a hot rolled provider prior to Nucor purchasing the facility in 2014. There is a new electric arc furnace under construction, along with a new caster and other equipment. Quite impressive.