Steel prices - Yikes!

[radios1]

We make about 4K pounds of aluminum chips and turnings every month. Aluminum is up 80 cents this year a pound for new and we get a whopping 2 cents over what we were being paid last year when it was almost a dollar cheaper. Our scrap buyer said that since china has stopped importation of scrap, we now make more than the foundries can process and it is just piling up looking for a buyer. Starting to feel like five years ago when steel turnings got down to a penny a pound and often we just gave them away to get them out. Nobody wins in a trade war.

the U.S.A. will win in a trade war, since we will open the closed foundries and make our own steel and aluminum!. depending on China was absurd from the beginning!.. we have to depend on ourselves now.. greed got us into this mess in the beginning!.. we will eventually have much higher quality products than we could ever get from imports!.. by replacing junk with high quality products!.. employing our workers right here will be a good thing..

 

[strantor]

I skimmed all 7 pages of this thread and saw scrap prices mentioned a couple of times, but it was just in terms of current scrap price (hasn't gone up proportionally with steel price). Please excuse me if it's already been addressed and I missed it, but...

Any speculation on the future of scrap prices? I have an old broken forklift in my driveway, and I'm wondering if I should hold on to it a while or go ahead and try to scrap it now. I'm going to take the engine and transmission and hydraulics out, so it should be pretty straightforward 3-4 tons of scrap iron by the time I turn it in.

 

[cdb2]

the U.S.A. will win in a trade war, since we will open the closed foundries and make our own steel and aluminum!. depending on China was absurd from the beginning!.. we have to depend on ourselves now.. greed got us into this mess in the beginning!.. we will eventually have much higher quality products than we could ever get from imports!.. by replacing junk with high quality products!.. employing our workers right here will be a good thing..

What does winning the trade war mean to you? Is re-opening unprofitable foundries that will fail again as soon as their trade protections are dropped really winning? In twenty years when a future administration has cancelled the tariffs and the foundries are closed again and we've nothing to show for it except billions of dollars of wasted capital and drastically higher prices for everything you buy at a store, will that still be winning?

As always, consumers here and abroad are going to bear the cost of gov interference through increased prices and the corresponding decrease in quality of life.

 

[radios1]

What does winning the trade war mean to you? Is re-opening unprofitable foundries that will fail again as soon as their trade protections are dropped really winning? In twenty years when a future administration has cancelled the tariffs and the foundries are closed again and we've nothing to show for it except billions of dollars of wasted capital and drastically higher prices for everything you buy at a store, will that still be winning?

As always, consumers here and abroad are going to bear the cost of gov interference through increased prices and the corresponding decrease in quality of life.

MY Country is the U.S.A.! and I have faith that we can do fine without an evil nanny!. just like we have done for hundreds of years!. it's GREED that fed our downfall.. but MY Country can rise up again, and do itself good!..

 

[ArlyA]

You got that right. I just completed reading a book on the history of steel. The US steel corporations kept on building more integrated mills until it caught up with them in the 70's. Mini mills and other corporations concentrated on building BOFs* and making them as efficient as possible. And that includes other nations. We still have a good steel industry here and no shock, its the most efficient ones who remain.

*basic oxygen furnace or Basic oxygen steelmaking - Wikipedia

What does winning the trade war mean to you? Is re-opening unprofitable foundries that will fail again as soon as their trade protections are dropped really winning? In twenty years when a future administration has cancelled the tariffs and the foundries are closed again and we've nothing to show for it except billions of dollars of wasted capital and drastically higher prices for everything you buy at a store, will that still be winning?

As always, consumers here and abroad are going to bear the cost of gov interference through increased prices and the corresponding decrease in quality of life.

 

[cdb2]

MY Country is the U.S.A.! and I have faith that we can do fine without an evil nanny!. just like we have done for hundreds of years!. it's GREED that fed our downfall.. but MY Country can rise up again, and do itself good!..

I do not think I understand this argument. Who is the evil nanny? Who were the greedy ones that fed our downfall?

Most importantly, what is different today that will make the failed foundries profitable once the government protections are removed?

 

[Ritothebull]

It's not just steel prices that are rising, just bought some cat litter and prices are up 30% and it's not imported, I'm seeing prices rising on different things everywhere I look and many are manufactured here.

 

[radios1]

I do not think I understand this argument. Who is the evil nanny? Who were the greedy ones that fed our downfall?

Most importantly, what is different today that will make the failed foundries profitable once the government protections are removed?

removing protections would be Treason, as it would be devastating to our economy, and our workers!.. the evil nanny's are the Countries we let take over our manufacturing, they are looking out for themselves, but to some, it appears they are bailing us out, but that is far from true.. the greedy one's that fed our downfall are the U.S.A. based Companies that allowed foreign Companies to take over our manufacturing, seeing large profits in the short term was more important to them!.. Americans suffer from that!..

 

[airbiscuit]

Joe Biden has often said "It's never a good bet to bet against the U.S." I agree with that statement. We win when we innovate and outcompete the rest of the world. Lashing out with tariffs and protectionism sounds tough, but it isn't smart.

Businesses are thriving when they invest in technology, and individuals thrive when they invest in their education and skills (for the 21st century). Hoping you can make it at the old school business where your old man worked and the old man before him worked is like hoping 8 track tapes will make a comeback.

 

[dragoneggs]

Joe Biden has often said "It's never a good bet to bet against the U.S." I agree with that statement. We win when we innovate and outcompete the rest of the world. Lashing out with tariffs and protectionism sounds tough, but it isn't smart.

Businesses are thriving when they invest in technology, and individuals thrive when they invest in their education and skills (for the 21st century). Hoping you can make it at the old school business where your old man worked and the old man before him worked is like hoping 8 track tapes will make a comeback.

I think (I hope) the tariffs are part of a larger plan to balance trade between China and the US. Sure it is going to hurt some, help others but hopefully down the road our net import/export dollars will balance out a bit.