Final Thoughts

Final thoughts

Written by Ethan Bernard

December 10, 2023

Steel-tide Greetings

‘Twas two weeks before Christmas, and at our publication

We kept logging steel price increases from across our fair nation.

Up hot rolled, up cold rolled, and galvanized coil.

On Galvalume and plate — gushing skyward — like a geyser of oil.

Blink for a moment and you might miss a hike,

Oh what a change from the United Auto Workers strike.

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Discuss prices at your holiday party but do practice moderation

As you sip on spiked eggnog and discuss decarbonization.

Will the EU and US agree, or will we see some global sheriff

Ride into Washington and pronounce a world carbon tariff?

Maybe start a little smaller, a more realizable goal,

Hang up our stockings and receive metallurgical coal.

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Though it’s true some say Old Saint Nick is not real,

The same can’t be said for the much vaunted “green steel.”

Lower and lower the carbon goes, the greener it gets,

Are we reaching net zero soon, is anyone taking bets?

Carbon capture, hydrogen, the only limit’s the sky

As long as we don’t end up getting taken over by AI.

–

Here at SMU, we wish you all a joyful holiday season.

Join us soon in Tampa, in Florida, the weather sure is pleasin’.

There’ll be much to learn and discuss, old and new friends aplenty,

It will be 2024, a real blank slate, let’s finally forget 2020.

So two weeks before Christmas, and if you’ve also got that holiday feel

Don’t hesitate to drop us a tip: Who’s going to buy U.S. Steel?

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Are you shivering through the season? Beat the winter blues and get a jump on all things steel at our 35th Annual Tampa Steel Conference. Rooms are filling up fast. Register here.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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Final thoughts

Is it just me, or does it seem like the summer doldrums might have arrived a little early? I could be wrong there. It’s possible we could see a jump in prices should buyers need to step back into the market to restock. I’ll be curious to see what service center inventories are when we update those figures on May 15. In the meantime, just about everyone we survey thinks HR prices have peaked or soon will. (See slide 17 in the April 26 survey.) Lead times have flattened out. And some of you tell me that you’re starting to see signs of them pulling back. (We’ll know more when we update our lead time data on Thursday.)