• Skip to main content

    Analysis

    January 23, 2025

    Tampa Steel Conference: Just 10 days to go!

    Written by David Schollaert

    With just 10 days to go and nearing the final countdown, we have nearly 550 registered (and counting) so far for the 36th annual Tampa Steel Conference. Join us and hundreds of industry executives at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street from Sunday, Feb. 2, through Tuesday, Feb. 4.

    Take a break from the snow and subzero temperatures this winter and come down to Tampa. The extended forecast is calling for above-normal temperatures – the perfect remedy for the winter blues.

    The event will bring together executives from across the steel supply chain, along with leading analysts and policy experts.

    Discover the agenda, speakers, networking opportunities, and how to register here.

    Here is the latest list of over 290+ companies registered through this week:

    3GM Steel, Inc., AGS, Alabama State Port Authority, Algoma Steel, Inc., Alliance Steel LLC, Alter River Terminals / Alter Logistics, American Consolidated Industries, American Dream Search, American Heavy Plates, American Iron & Metal, AMS Specialty Steel, Arbor Metals Inc., ArcelorMittal, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, Argus Media, Arrow Tru-Line, Inc., Associated Terminals, Astec Industries, Athader / The Bradbury Group, Athader North America, Atlantic Logistics, Atlas Tube, AZZ Metal Coatings, Bailey Metal Products Ltd, Bank of America, Bank of America Business Capital, BankUnited, N.A., Bayou Processing & Storage, LP, BBC Chartering USA, LLC, Beshert Steel Processing, Bharat Forge America, BMG Latin America, Inc., BMO Bank N.A., Bank of America Global Research, Bank of America Securities, Borroughs LLC, Braner USA, Briccetti & Associates, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, Butech Bliss, Can Corporation of America, Carver Maritime, CEMCO, Century Metals & Supplies, Inc., Challgren International Iron Trade, CIH, Cincinnati Barge & Rail, Cincinnati Bulk Terminals LLC, Port of Cincinnati LLC, Citi, Cleveland Steel Container, CloudForge, CO Building Systems, Coilplus, Inc., Colonial Terminals, Inc., Conklin Metal Industries, Inc., Cooper Consolidated LLC, Cooper/Ports America, Cordell Beaumont LLC, Cressaty Metals, Inc., C-River Logistics, Crowe LLP, Crown Equipment Corporation, Crown Products Co., Inc., CRU Group, CSN LLC, Cyan Hill Capital Management, Delaware River Stevedores, Inc., Diehl Tool Steel, DLS Marine, Duferco Steel LLC, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, Electrolux North America, Inc., Elgen Manufacturing, Enstructure, Esmark Steel Group, Euramax, EXCEPTIONAL Metals, Fehr Warehouse Solutions, Ferrosource LLC / Ferrometrics LLC, Ferrous Processing and Trading Co., FerrouSouth, Fifth Third Bank, Flack Global Metals, Friedman Industries, G&W Products, LLC, Gerdau, Gibraltar Building Accessories, Gibraltar Industries, Inc., Global Steel Climate Council, Global Steel Solutions LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co., Grand Steel Products, Inc., Great Circle Shipping Corporation, Great Lakes East, LLC, Great South Metals, Greenpoint Metals, Inc., Greenway Steel, Harris Steel Company, Hartree Metallia LLC, Heidtman Steel Products, Inc., Heritage Capital Group, Inc,, Holt Logistics Corp., Host Terminals – Avondale, HTI Logistics, Huntington Business Credit, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Institute for Supply Management, ITW, Ivy Terra North America, J.P. Morgan, Jacksonville Port Authority, Janus International Group, LLC, JFE Shoji America LLC, Jindal Tubular USA, JIT Warehousing & Logistics, JLG, JMS Russel Metals Corp, John S. Connor, Journal of Commerce, JSW Steel USA Inc., KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc, Kloeckner Metals Corp., Koike Aronson, Lafayette Steel and Aluminum, Lapham Hickey Steel, Lichtgitter USA, Lockton, Logistic Services, Inc./SSA Marine, LSA, Macsteel International USA Corp, Magic Coil Products LLC, Magswitch Technology Inc., Majestic Steel, Marian Shipping Ltd., Marquette Transportation Company, Marubeni-Itochu Steel America (MISA), Matter USA, McNeilus Steel, Inc., Medtrade, Inc., Mercury Group, Metal Edge Partners LLC, METAL LEADS, Metal Master, Metal One America Inc., Metrading International AG, MID-SHIP Logistics, MISA, Misetal Trading Solutions, Mitsui & Co. (USA), Inc., Modern Metals Magazine, National Material Company, NAVEX ASIA, Nelson Mullins, Newgate Global Resources, Nippon Steel North America, NLMK, NN, Inc., Noramco Transport Corp, TPG Noramco LLC, Norbec, North Carolina Ports, North Star BlueScope Steel, Nova Steel Inc., Nova Tube & Steel, NSNA, Nucor Steel, Nucor Tubular Products, Odyssey Logistics, O’Hagin, Ohio Pickling & Processing, Olympic Steel, Inc., Omnimax, LLC, Operbus, Opta Group, Optimus Steel, LLC, Oshkosh Corporation, Owen Holdings, Co., Owen Metals Group, Pacesetter Steel, Pacific Metals Trading, Inc., PADNOS Recycling, Painted Metal Products, Parker Towing, Peak Metals Inc., Pennsylvania Steel Company, Inc., Penta Equipment Inc., Petrosmith Equipment LP, PGT Services, PGT Trucking Northside Terminal, PGT Trucking, Inc., Phillips Manufacturing, Phoenix Steel Service, Inc., PISEC GROUP AMERICA LLC, Pisec Group USA, PlayPower, PLS Logistics Services, Port of Lake Charles, Port of Mobile, Port of Ohio at Pier 48, Port of Port Arthur, Port Tampa Bay, Ports America, POSCO, POSCO America Corporation, Princeton TMX, ProDriven Brands, Promet Steel, Inc., PS Logistics, PWCM, QSL America, Quality Metal Stamping, Ram Steel Framing, Ratner Steel Supply Company, Red Bud Industries, Reibus, Reynolds Services, Inc., Rheem, Road & Rail Services, Rukert Terminals Corporation, Russel Metals, Ryerson, S&P Global-Platts, Savage, Seametal US LLC, Seaport Manatee, Second City Metals, Service Steel & Pipe, Shivom Steel LLC, SIMS Metal Management, Smart Steel Technologies Inc., SMS Group Inc., South Jersey Port Corporation, Southern Coil Solutions LLC, Southwark Metal, SSAB Americas, StaalX LLC, State Plate LLC, State Steel Supply Company, Statesman Business Advisors, Steel and Pipe Supply, Steel Dynamics Inc, Steel Manufacturers Association, Steel Market Update, Steel Technologies, Steel Warehouse, Steelholder, SteelSummit-Tennessee, Stonebriar Commercial Finance, Sukup Mfg, Summit Global Trading, Superior Steel Supply LLC, SurvTech Solutions, Tampa Bay Steel, LLC, Target Steel, Tata International Metals Ltd, Teijin Automotive Technologies, Terminal Shipping / John S. Connor, Terravest Industries, Texas Iron and Steel, The Bradbury Group, The SAFE Foundation, thyssenkrupp Materials Trading NA, Thyssenkrupp Steel North America, Toplift North America, Tri County Metals, Trinity Industries, TRINITYRAIL, Triple-S Steel Holdings, U.S. Steel, Ulbrich, Valley National Bank, Voestalpine USA LLC, Volvo Construction Equipment, Wastequip, Watco Logistics, Webco Industries, Wheeling-Nippon Steel, Inc., Wiley Rein LLP, Wisconsin Steel & Tube Corporation, Wolfe Research, Worthington Enterprises, Worthington Steel, Xsteel USA LLC,

    We hope you’ll join us there!

    David Schollaert

    David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

    Read more from David Schollaert

    Latest in Analysis

    Steel market chatter this week

    Steel market chatter this week Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to tariffs, imports, and evolving market events. We are sharing a selection of the comments we received below, in each buyer’s own words. Before diving in, we reviewed all of the responses collected and compiled these key takeaways: • Most buyers continue to expect higher prices in the near future and report that demand is stable to improving. • Inventories are moving faster than they were this time last year for most respondents, attributed to limited availability and leaner supply chains. • Imports are attractive for many buyers on both price and availability, though quotas, long lead times, and quality concerns continue to limit their appeal. • Buyers were split on whether tariff policies are helping their businesses, while a slight majority reported some evidence of manufacturing reshoring, though many said it is still too early to tell. Want to share your thoughts? Contact david@steelmarketupdate.com to be included in our market questionnaires. How do you expect prices to trend over the next three months? “I expect prices to rise at a fairly rapid pace for at least the next two to three months because inventories will continue to decrease.” “Upward, capacity remains tight.” “Climbing for several months.” “Trending toward $1,300/st HRC, only because one small player is driving prices up with no one else selling spot.” “Higher, the Q1 bump is not showing in the futures market.” “We expect things to keep going up from here. Next year could get ugly, but we're not there yet.” “Still trending up. There are some soft spots getting softer, but still steady demand and a shortage of supply.” “Continue to rise slowly.” “Slow increases like they have been doing.” “Upward due to continued demand and mill maintenance outages.” “Will remain high but steady due to demand and tariff implications.” “Plate prices most likely will be flat to up over the next three months.” Is demand improving, declining or stable? “Demand is stable (if anything, overstated), with inventories so lean, late mill deliveries, and contract prices increasing next year.” “Demand is fairly consistent with the rest of the year.” “Stable, but very strong for our products.” “Stable as many projects are trying to get ahead of potential additional price increases.” “Stable due to the ‘slow season’ in our market.” “Plate demand is stable to improving.” “Demand is good to improving. We'll take it!” “Improving, but still not to 100% capacity.” Is inventory moving faster or slower than this time last year? “Faster... once it arrives (late), it goes right back out.” “Faster due to lack of availability and bullwhip buying.” “Inventory is moving faster this year than last because demand is stronger than last year and many of our competitors don't have as much steel to offer.” “Inventory is moving faster with supply chains so lean.” “Inventory is moving at a good clip. Just based on costs/spends, we're stocking less sheet, coil and plate though.” “Plate inventory is moving at a much faster pace year over year due to several factors.” “Faster due to a shortage of supply plus added demand.” “About the same.” Are President Trump's tariff policies helping your business? Buyers were split this week, with 44% believing the tariffs are helping their business and 44% saying they are not. The remaining 11% were unsure how the policies will impact them. Comments included: “Yes for now. Prices are very high, which causes people to buy before prices get higher.” “Yes, I credit Trump's policies and data centers for improving demand.” “Yes, inventory values continue to go up.” “They are helping on the sell side and hurting on the buy side.” “No, they are creating shortages and increasing the cost of steel.” Are you seeing evidence of manufacturing reshoring to the US because of Trump's tariffs? The slight majority of respondents (39%) reported they have seen some evidence of reshoring, a higher rate compared to recent surveys. A third said it is too early to say, and 28% answered they are not seeing any signs of reshoring. Comments included: “Yes. Perhaps reshoring has added to the increased demand in 2026.” “Yes, with machining and turning.” “Yes, capacity versus demand in North America is creating pressure to reshore products.” “Too early to say. There have been a lot of announcements, but steel availability has limited immediate moves.” Are imports more attractive than domestic material? “Imports are more attractive on a pricing front and an availability standpoint, but lead times are extended.” “Imports are attractive in both price and because they offer additional availability. Whether or not they show up and or as offered is another issue.” “Imports are certainly attractive. They're coming in in earnest, so this run will peter out early next year.” “Attractive due to price and availability.” “Attractive, domestic tons are unavailable.” “Yes on light gauge painted.” “Without quotas, yes, the price is more attractive. But if you get caught with the quota, pricing is very high.” “Not to us, but we are hearing more about affordable imports.” “Plate imports are only slightly more attractive than domestically produced plate.” “Not yet, shipping lag is still too large.” “No due to tariffs.” What's something that's going on in the market that nobody is talking about? “What is the latest on SDI/BlueScope? I had heard it was back on the ‘front burner’ but all is quiet now. Maybe that means a deal is getting close?” “Will the US bring a trade case against South Korea over imports spiking?” “Busheling scrap prices are flat, while hot roll continues to rise. The scrap gap is increasing.” “How will the next administration handle tariffs that have so limited our steel supply?” “Mill discipline in production capacity.” “Coke pricing levels due to demand and supply.” “Shipbuilding.”