Final Thoughts

Hello from Chicago, home of our first Managing Price Risk II: Strategies & Execution workshop. We have an excellent group in attendance and the program is going well. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is day 2 when we provide an opportunity to our attendees to do simulated trading based on profiles and directives that they have to meet in order to meet their (pretend) company objectives. It should prove to be an interesting and educational day.

One of the things we are learning, as I speak to buyers and sellers of steel on a daily basis, one of the things I am finding out is our Steel Summit program is exactly what people are looking for, covering the topics that seem to be on the minds of everyone and at a time that will be critical to 2015 contract negotiations and forecasts. We have added a program on steel index methodology with Josh Spoores speaking on behalf of CRU. We also have a program on a subject that has been plaguing the industry this year – logistics: truck, rail and ship (remember the ice…). We have a program on China and their move to a consumer driven economy, their impact on commodities and steel pricing and how those of us in North America need to be aware of their futures markets. Timna Tanners of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and John Anton of IHS Global Insight will return for their 4th attempt at forecasting steel prices and related commodities. I will let them debate which one has been more accurate during the past three tries. We will look at automotive, construction and energy forecasts and their potential impact on the economy in 2015. Dr. Chris Kuehl of Armada Corporate Intelligence will speak about the global economy and risks that North American companies need to be aware of. Plus we have John Ferriola of Nucor and Saikat Dey of Severstal (interesting timing) as keynote speakers along with Dr. Kuehl. Plus we have a pre-Summit program on “light-weighting” using advanced high strength steels led by Ron Krupitzer of the Steel Market Development Institute. More to come.