Community Events
December 9, 2025
Join SMU and AMU for a Community Chat with Wells Fargo Managing Director Timna Tanners
Written by Michael Cowden
SMU and AMU are pleased to announced that Wells Fargo Managing Director Timna Tanners will be joining us for a Community Chat webinar next Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 11 am ET.
The live webinar is free for anyone to attend. You can register here. (Editor’s note: A recording and the accompanying slide decks will be available only to SMU and AMU subscribers.)
Tanners earned fame (and some notoriety) for her “Sheet Storm” hypothesis. All that capacity she warned about – whether hot-rolled (HR) coil or galvanized (remember “Galv Galore“?) – has arrived or is on its way.
Yet Tanners predicted at Steel Summit in August that sheet prices would be higher in Q4 and that hot-rolled (HR) coil could end the year around $900 per short ton (st). Her call has proven to be spot on: SMU’s HR price now stands at $895/st on average.
So what changed? In a nutshell, TACO (“Trump Always Chickens Out”) doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to tariffs on imported steel. And, it turns out, “No Steel Taco” trumps “Sheet Storm”.
Tanners will discuss why that is, and what her forecast is for 2026.
We’ll talk about aluminum too. Section 232 tariffs caused Midwest premium to spike to unheard of levels. So what happens if there is no aluminum TACO either?
We’ll in addition discuss the the battle for market share between steel and aluminum in automotive. Could the skyrocketing price for aluminum drive more automakers and parts suppliers to switch back to steel in a big way, or will any gains be more measured?
And we’ll of course take your questions too. So don’t forget to bring some good ones to the Q&A.
