Final Thoughts

So, the question of the week is – will the $20 per ton price increase announced by most of the mills, first, be followed by those who have not yet announced, and second, will the mills even attempt to make it stick. A $20 per ton increase does not represent strong, confident steel producers. Usually at this time of year we see increases in the $30-$50 per ton range. Although in fairness to the mills, pricing this year has not been that volatile and when markets as relatively stable $20 per ton may be all that the doctor ordered (especially when scrap is poised to drop $20 to $30 per ton).

When I made the original commitment to attend the Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) Fall Conference in Las Vegas I did not think about what weekend they had picked – Halloween. As you can imagine Halloween is a bit of a production in Las Vegas. So, in keeping with the tradition of Halloween I had to come up with something unique for a costume. My thought process was Las Vegas is known for Elvis Presley and I know that everyone has been wondering what did Elvis wear when he went out for Halloween?