Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
October 5, 2020
I began writing Steel Market Update as a way to use my experience and relationships from my 31 years of sales and management within the steel industry in order to assist the industry to make better buy/sell decisions. I wanted SMU to be a source of quality information as we ask the targeted questions of active industry sources, produced proprietary data and analysis, and add insights based on what we are seeing and hearing from active steel buyers and sellers on a daily basis. It was never my intention to make decisions for those actively involved, but to be a provider of market intelligence from which you can add your own experiences, your own market intelligence as well as data from other trusted sources within the greater steel and economic communities.
Over the years SMU expanded our publications, added steel training classes on how steel is made and sold (Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals and Steel 201), on HRC and scrap futures trading, and we produced the SMU Steel Summit Conference. More recently we have added free SMU Community Chat Webinars in order to help keep everyone in the industry aware of pressing issues affecting the steel industry.
We will be hosting a new free Community Chat webinar on Wednesday (Oct 7) at 11 a.m. ET with Timna Tanners, Metals and Mining Analyst at Bank of America. I will also be making a few statements prior to Timna. You can register for the webinar by clicking here or by going to www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/blog/smu-community-chat-webinars
We are working on some new events for the 2021 calendar (besides the 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which is scheduled to be in person in Atlanta on Aug. 23-25) and I will discuss these new events as they get closer.
A reminder that our 2020 SMU Virtual Steel Summit Conference had 913 registered attendees. We are hoping to conduct the 2021 conference live and at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC), which is located adjacent to the Atlanta International Airport (ATL).
Our scrap data providers are telling us early indications are for scrap to trade sideways for the month of October. The early deals are just now getting done at sideways (no increase/no decrease). There is a chance some of the prime deals may be sightly higher when all is said and done. However, at this moment it appears scrap is a little weaker than expected. We will have more details in Thursday’s issue of SMU.
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: Survey says edition
SMU’s latest survey results indicate that steel market participants think sheet prices are at or near a bottom. But most also think there is limited upside once they inflect higher.
Final Thoughts
A recent IIMA meeting in Brazil shows how the US and much of the rest of the world are operating in parallel realities.
Final Thoughts
We moved our pricing momentum indicators from “lower” to “neutral” for all sheet products this week. For those keeping score, we had been at “lower” for six weeks. And I know some of you think we should have been there for even longer.
Final Thoughts: The long shadow of Ken Iverson
Renowned Nucor Chairman and CEO Ken Iverson would’ve turned 100 on Sept. 18 of this year.
Final Thoughts
Algoma Steel has publicly confirmed that it might scale back its presence in the US market. It's no secret why: 50% Section 232 tariffs remain in place against Canada, which has traditionally been one of our closest allies.