President Trump has announced that he intends to increase the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese finished goods to the full 25 percent by the end of this week (current rate on first batch is 10 percent). He also intends to increase the number of products to be hit. His statement was the Chinese were dragging […]
U.S. Steel announced a major $1.2 billion investment in new thin-slab casting technology, a new rolling mill and a co-gen power plant at its Mon Valley Works complex. This investment is not adding new steelmaking capacity to USS Mon Valley, which is rated at 2.9 million net tons. In a note to her clients, Bank […]
Another exciting week in the steel industry… A couple of reminders: With four months yet to go we are marching toward 400 registered executives for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held in Atlanta on Aug. 26-28. This is THE premier networking event for the steel industry during the calendar year. Here […]
I thought I would depart from my usual routine and talk about something a little different in my final thoughts this evening. Time, and time management, have always been big issues in my life. It seemed natural for me to work 80-hour weeks and to think nothing of it. It brought me success in my […]
Non-coated flat rolled and plate prices are under pressure and there is worry coming from steel buyers about the second half of this calendar year. I am hearing mixed results regarding actual demand. The weather has finally broken in the north and products such as the metal building industry are seeing significant gains. We also […]
First, please be aware that Sunday is Easter and Steel Market Update will not publish an issue on Sunday evening. Our next issue will be on Tuesday, April 23. We have been receiving calls and getting comments associated with our release of the SMU Service Center Inventories Analysis in Sunday evening’s issue where we showed […]
I am making the following comments in my Final Thoughts section for a reason. My Final Thoughts is the area where I will sometimes provide my opinion or make comments regarding conversations that I am having about the market that I haven’t been able to totally put my finger on yet. I know that may […]
For all of you golf fanatics, it was fun to see Tiger Woods win after a 14-year drought at the Masters, and after his serious back injuries that made it look doubtful if he would ever be able to play again, never mind win a Masters Championship. I don’t have the exact count of current […]
Registrations continue to pour in for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. Here are a few of the latest registrations from this week (those with an * mean more than one person registered from that company): Ryerson*, Whirlpool, Rheem*, JFE Shoji Trade America, Wallner Expac*, Ram Steel Framing, Oshkosh Corporation*, JSW Steel USA* and Midrex […]
A comment from a steel buyer today as we discussed steel prices, “That’s what I like about the steel business, there is always a new dynamic.” Put another way by one of my trading mentors a number of years back, in the steel industry prices are either going up or they are going down, there […]
I’m going to give you more than advertisements in tonight’s Final Thoughts. I have been struggling with our SMU Price Momentum Indicator. It appears that each product has a life of its own, and I need to do a deeper analysis of each to determine where my Momentum Indicator needs to be. Right now, I […]
President Trump gave the Mexican government one year for them to stop the migration of immigrants, most from Central and South American countries, as well as illegal drug smuggling into the United States. The stick he is waving is not closing the border (which would decimate the U.S. economy), but instead threatening tariffs on automobiles […]
We stuck in a couple of Premium level articles in tonight’s issue to give our Executive members an opportunity to review the level of detail we put into Premium products. With our new pricing we have exceptional membership levels on both Premium and Executive products, especially for those of you who would like to share […]
I am going to be in the office for the next couple of weeks. My next trip is not until the 15th of April. We have quite a bit going on with a new flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis (survey) starting first thing Monday morning. If you receive an invitation, please take […]
I want to make sure that all of you thinking of attending this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference are aware of some of changes, so you can plan your schedules accordingly. First, the CME Group will be hosting a Price Risk Management Workshop in the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway Hotel (next to GICC) from 10:30 […]
After traveling for the past eight days and arriving back in Florida at 1 a.m. this morning, I am back in my office. I expect to be in the office for the next two weeks before traveling to Orlando to speak to the Air Distribution Institute. Registrations for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference have […]
There were a number of comments connected to the article we did on Thursday regarding Timna Tanners “Steelmageddon” opinion. Most of the comments in last week’s survey were against the Steelmageddon thought process which calls for the collapse of steel prices in a couple of years when the new capacity comes online. As you can […]
I am traveling this week. I have been in Monterrey, Mexico, where I visited the Roberto Rocca Industrial School in Pesqueria in the state of Nuevo Leon (just outside of Monterrey). I also visited the Ternium Industrial Center, which is already a major rolling facility and where Ternium is expanding capacities dramatically so the mill […]
On my way back to the USA following a good meeting with the folks at Ternium in Mexico. More to follow later. We think the information Steel Market Update provides is important and we want to make it readily available to more individuals within each subscribing company. We want to encourage employees in sales, purchasing, […]
I will be traveling all week as I head to Monterrey, Mexico, to tour the Ternium training facilities and steel mill. I will also be meeting with Cesar Jimenez, the CEO for Ternium Mexico, to discuss the new capacity they have coming onstream over the next 12-24 months. We are also working with Ternium to […]
There are reports about a myriad of meetings between the USTR, Mexico and Canada as the sides try to come to some form of resolution regarding the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. I continue to hear that the move is to not reduce the traditional level of imports from these two countries. In […]
I have been very pleased with the response we have received for the SMU Steel Summit Conference agenda, which we rolled out earlier this week. I have received multiple comments about the quality of the program and speakers. Brian Robbins of MidWest Materials told me, “It’s good!!!! If not exhausting… I am thinking of bringing […]
We live in a time when nothing is as it seems and uncertainty rules the roost. This can make for a daunting task when considering when, what and how much steel you need to purchase at any point in time. It appears the second price increase announcement out of Nucor moved some of the end […]
Some notes that I made to myself during the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association meeting in Nashville this week. There is no panic amongst the attendees. Uncertainty reigns supreme, and uncertainty is difficult to live with. No one with whom I spoke was predicting prices to go crazy. Most felt there would be a modest uptick, […]
Good evening from Nashville, Tenn., and the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association annual meeting. It was a beautiful sunny day today, but a bit on the chilly side for my Florida bones… I enjoyed the two speakers that I saw this afternoon. Dr. Chris Kuehl is back in good voice and humor. He entertained the audience […]
First, a warm thank you to Tim Triplett, Sandy Williams and Brett Linton for filling in for me as I took a few days off to attend a Board of Trustees meeting in Minnesota (I left Florida to go to Minnesota?). Since I have been out of pocket for the past four days, I will […]
(Editor’s note: John Packard is traveling.) Just as it appears steel prices have finally turned the corner the pressure is on to get final approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trade officials in Canada and Mexico have stated in various press reports that they will not pass the new North American free trade agreement with the […]
The Bureau of Industry and Security today denied the exclusion exemptions for two mills: California Steel Industries and Evraz. At this point, we are expecting the NLMK USA and JSW USA exclusion requests to be denied as well. However, a trade attorney (not Lewis) suggested that we not move too fast with any proclamations. There […]
It’s Oscar night. I will try to keep my final thoughts brief. President Trump has delayed the increase in the Section 301 tariffs against China. The deadline was March 2, 2019. No new deadline has been set. However, President Xi of China will meet with President Trump in Florida in the later part of March. […]
A few weeks back I was having a conversation with the head of commercial for one of the domestic steel mills. The conversation centered around the influence Steel Market Update was having on their order book. In particular, the discussion focused on the SMU Price Momentum Indicator. I was told when our indicator moves to […]