Final Thoughts

Another hectic week in the flat rolled and plate steel markets. Buyers and sellers of steel are all waiting to see what calamity awaits when the clock ticks 12:01 AM on May 1. That is when the Section 232 country exclusions are set to expire, according to the deadline set by President Trump. What he decides to do from there is anyone’s guess. A manufacturing company provided me the quote of the day when he said, “…too many plates are spinning right now to try and peg a price direction. The wrong tweet at the wrong time could throw all your planning out the window.”

My personal opinion is President Trump is going to let some, if not all of the countries that are not involved in negotiations with the U.S., expire. That means Europe, for sure, as they have stated they will not negotiate anything until they are provided a full exclusion from the 232 tariffs. May 1 is but one week away…