Written by: John Packard, Publisher

Steel Market Update (SMU) has been conducting our Steel 101 workshop for a couple of years now. With the addition of Tony Bonavita and Peter Wright we decided to utilize their experience and expand our program to include market fundamentals as well as the steelmaking and rolling processes for both flat rolled and long products

Throughout the 35 years I have been associated with the steel industry I never received any “formal” training regarding the steelmaking process and even less on “the market” within which I was suppose to sell steel. Training at many companies was by osmosis – you absorb what you can as quickly as possible. Training was also through the baptism of fire – let your mistakes teach you what to do and not to do in the future. My training, as it were, consisted of both.

Over the years those buying and selling steel have had to become experts in their field in order to be successful. Even the most basic of industries expect those servicing their accounts to have enough information so they can at least answer basic technical questions and at the same time know what an index is and how it is derived (never mind trying to understand hedging strategies).

Our Steel 101: Introduction to the Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop is meant to provide a solid foundation from which the attendee and their company can build upon. Part of our program is a workbook each attendee takes back to the office after the workshop is over. Osmosis should become a little easier to digest and retain – the baptism of fire should be less about extinguishing the flames and more about shortening the learning curve.

Our instructors are solid experienced steel people: John Eckstein, Metallurgist, Severstal; Steve Painter, former regional sales manager for Severstal; Peter Wright, Metallurgist/Marketing Manager/Consultant for Gerdau; Tony Bonavita, Head of Metals Purchasing & Inventory Management, NB Handy Co.; John Packard, Publisher of Steel Market Update with 31 years of Service Center, Trading Company and Mill sales and management experience. The goal is to teach – to share – what we know and have experienced during our steel careers.

Our workshop is excellent for those within your company who are: new to the industry, those in sales, purchasing, customer service and management functions dealing directly with steel issues or customers. We recommend it for those within the financial or investment community that are associated with or trying to understand the steel industry. Having been exposed to the brokers and those associated with the HR Futures markets and exchanges we highly recommend our program as a way to learn how to relate to those within the steel industry. We recommend our program to new managers or those who have transferred from one section of an organization to another. We also recommend it to any manager who desires a refresher course about the steelmaking process and fundamentals about the market.

I will write more about our revised program in the weeks ahead. You can visit our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com and learn more about our program, instructor backgrounds and how to register. Click on the Events tab and Steel 101 in the drop-down screen or, just click on the Steel 101 banner when it comes up at the top of the website. Early bird registration and the $100 per person discount are available until March 24, 2012. The workshop will be held on April 24-25, 2012 at the Dearborn Inn in Dearborn, Michigan and will include a tour of the Severstal Dearborn steel mill.

You are also welcome to contact our offices and ask any questions you might have: 800-432-3475 or, 706-216-5440.