Steel Products
Steel Summit Poll Favors Trump Again
Written by Tim Triplett
August 27, 2020
The “crowd” at this year’s Steel Market Update Virtual Steel Summit was a conservative and somewhat pessimistic one, judging by polling data gathered during the event this week. SMU posed eight questions to the 900 industry executives who registered for the summit and this is the breakdown of their opinions.
The majority view of the industry: Steel demand will be down more than 10 percent at this time next year and the hot rolled steel price will be under $400 per ton. But the new steel capacity coming online in the next few years will be good for business.
On the political front, more than 50 percent of the respondents believe the economy would fare better under a Republican administration and President Trump should get a second term. It’s worthy of note that in 2016 when Hillary Clinton was seen as the frontrunner, Donald Trump received 48 percent of the vote in the steel summit poll vs. Clinton’s 22 percent. This year it’s closer, with conference attendees favoring Trump over Joe Biden 53 percent vs. 41 percent.
Tim Triplett
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Final Thoughts
The difference: The spat with Turkey was a big deal for steel. This time, the 50% reciprocal tariff for Brazil – if it goes into effect as threatened on Aug.1 – hits everything from coffee and to pig iron. It seems almost custom-built to inflict as much pain as possible on Brazil.
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