Final Thoughts

October 25, 2017

We are three months away from our Mobile, Ala., Steel 101 workshop and we are sold out. Having said that, I would recommend that if you want to attend, add your name to our wait-list. You can do that on our website by clicking on the registration link; after you are advised that the workshop is sold out it will offer you the opportunity to add your name to the list. SSAB advised that they may not use all of their spots and, if they don’t, we will be able to add one or two more people.

We are in the process of moving the Steel 101 workshop that is scheduled to follow Mobile up in the calendar. We are working with NLMK USA and their Portage, Ind., facility for a March 2017 workshop. As 2018 progresses, we plan on holding workshops during the months of May, July/August and October. Stay tuned for exact dates and for the mills we will be working with.

Some of our readers were “disappointed” with comments made by Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves, who spoke negatively about service centers (Goncalves is the former CEO of the Metals USA service center group) along with his comments about North Korean steel. Someone sent us a note pointing out the North Koreans had only exported $350,000 of iron and steel products to the entire world from October 2016 through May 2017. In comparison, the Chinese exported $60 billion worth of iron and steel products during calendar year 2016. Steel Market Update will look into this issue further in a coming edition.

I know companies are making out their budgets for 2018 right about now. Don’t forget to budget monies to attend our 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center on Aug. 27-29.

We have begun to send out sponsorship and exhibitor brochures for the 2018 conference. We recommend claiming your spot early as we expect to sell out the limited number of sponsorship and exhibition spaces we have available. If you need any more information or would like a brochure, please send an email to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com and we will get you all the information you need.

As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, Publisher