SMU Community Chat with Timna Tanners of Wolfe Research

Date/Time: June 11 2025, 11:00 am

Guests: Timna Tanners

Timna Tanners, managing director of equity research for Wolfe Research, was the featured speaker on SMU’s recent Community Chat webinar.

Tanners has coined the terms “Sheet Storm”, “Galv Galore”, and “Rebarmageddon”. Her forecasts and insights are always thought provoking. And she’s not afraid to speak her mind, so it’s no surprise that she’s always one of our most popular guests!

The big question

Start with a big dose of AD/CVDs, Section 232s, and other tariffs. Mix in Sheet Storm, Galv Galore, and Rebarmageddon. And the question that emerges is this: Does the US steel industry still need imports?

Here are some other topics we explored:

The state of steel. Newsflow is up. But prices have been grinding lower since “Liberation Day.” When does that dynamic change? Will there be a summer restock? And will demand improve in 2H?

Trade and tariffs. Some people are for tariffs, some people are against them – almost everyone is fed up with tariff uncertainty. How and when does tariff drama end?

New capacity. Nucor is building a sheet mill in W.Va. But that’s not the end of the new capacity story. South Korean steelmaker Hyundai plans to build a mill in Louisiana. Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel might build a new mill in the US as part of its deal for U.S. Steel. What does that mean not only for imports but also for older capacity?

Aluminum! We just launched an aluminum publication – Aluminum Market Update (AMU)! So nonferrous content is now welcome here.

And we took questions as well. So make sure to replay this lively webinar.