Final Thoughts

I have had a number of conversations with steel mills and steel buyers regarding when the next flat rolled steel price increase would be announced by the domestic mills? My opinion is the mills will use the new ferrous scrap settlement prices combined with stronger order books as the reasons for going out after perhaps another $30 per ton price hike. We should learn more about scrap negotiations over the weekend and into next week. Right now SMU sources are reporting some sales up $20 to as much as up $35 depending on the product and region of the country. The market right now is still very fluid and it will take a couple/few days to get a good sense as to where scrap will be trading during the month of November. Although there does seem to be a consensus that the direction is up…

One of the conversion mills told us this morning, “…today is even zanier than yesterday. Market is close to being on fire. Smoldering at the very least!” A second conversion mill told us they only had 5,000 tons of spot left for the last week of December and then they were sold out for the year. The first mill told us, “We have given the final warning to those tier 1 accounts for the first dibs on remaining Nov/Dec line-time, but spot is now up $30 and based on this week’s action I am confident that we will sell whatever holes are left to spot market. I don’t want to price our customers out of the market relative to imports that are still arriving, so we are taking measured steps…but it is time to close out 2016, take a breather, and see what happens next. Trump? Vietnam case? Cost stabilization? Demand? Accil and Big River?”

Steel buyers need to be aware of real lead times and the level of spot (and contract) activity being placed on their source mills. Those buying from service centers need to understand their supplier’s inventory levels and in-flow of material.

SMU will be working with the service centers and wholesalers in the coming days to better understand their spot pricing and momentum.

I want to reach out and advise that Steel Market Update is looking for part-time and full time employees to cover a number of areas as our company expands. We are early in our search but thought that our readers may well be the best way to get the word out as you already have a good idea of what we do and you may have some ideas as to people who could help us grow.

We have a need for an economist/analysts/marketing expert or college student studying economics who can work with us to report on, refine and develop data from multiple sources impacting the domestic steel industry.

We are also looking for an IT person who can assist us with webinars, video editing for commercials and educational programs. The IT person would also interface with our website developers as we begin the work on building a new website (and mobile app). The IT person would have to live or relocate to our main office in Hobe Sound, Florida (Hobe Sound is located north of West Palm Beach and Jupiter, FL).

We are looking for an experienced writer/analyst who can work directly with me to expand our universe and coverage of the steel industry. I would consider someone who has steel experience and would like to branch off from buying/selling and become a writer/analyst.

I am looking for a college student working toward a sales/marketing degree to handle/assist in newsletter subscriptions as well as events and our conference organization/registration/marketing process. This would begin as a part-time job and could become full-time for the right candidate. We would prefer that the student be from our area (although we are willing to look at options) which is Hobe Sound, Florida.

I am very early in this process but thought that our readers may know someone to recommend. If you are interested or know of someone who is interested please send a resume and letter of introduction to me at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.

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John Packard, Publisher