Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 20, 2017
This is the last “official” issue of Steel Market Update for the 2017 calendar year.
The Steel Market Update team is looking forward to taking a week off to relax with family and friends and to reflect on what 2017 has meant to them. We hope that you will have a quiet moment to do the same and to appreciate the joys in life and put the trials and tribulations behind you as we look ahead to an exceptional 2018.
On behalf of my team, I want to thank each and every one of you for making this a very good year for SMU. We sold out all of our workshops, we sold out our SMU Steel Summit Conference and our newsletter continues to grow. Thank you.
We don’t have a sales team, so much of our success is due to the words of encouragment and support that we get from you, our members. Thank you, and keep spreading the word.
Much of what we write and many of the speakers selected for our conference come from recommendations by our members. For our business to be one of mutual respect, we need quality customers like you. Thank you.
We continue to build a solid team so that we can produce the highest quality market intelligence, training workshops and conference in North America. Thank you.
We believe that this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference was the largest steel conference in North America. Thank you, and we are looking forward to next year.
Our team continues to grow, and I want to welcome the newest members added this year: Tim Triplett (Executive Editor), Jill Waldman (SMU Steel Summit Assistant), Steve Murphy (Steel 101 instructor) and Laura Remington (market specialist/writer). They join the rest of the SMU team: Diana Packard (CFO), Brett Linton (Data Specialist and my right-hand man), Ray Culley (SMU Steel Summit Coordinator), Sandy Williams (editor and writer), John Eckstein (Steel 101 instructor), Steve Painter (Steel 101 instructor), Mario Briccetti (Steel 101 instructor), Peter Wright (Steel 101 instructor, market specialist, writer) and Alison LaLonde (accounting).
There are others who help write articles including Jack Marshall, Andre Marshall and David Feldstein (HRC Futures), Paul Lowrey (Industry Consultant) and Lewis Leibowitz (Trade Attorney). Thank you all for your help.
From all of us here at Steel Market Update, we wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
John Packard, President, CEO and Publisher, Steel Market Update
John Packard
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Sheet prices didn’t roar back after Labor Day. But steel market news sure came out of the gate strong (or maybe chaotically is the better way to put it). First, the nearly $15-billion proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel exploded into the news. And when I say exploded, I mean that all sides seem to be escalating things now.
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Welcome back from Labor Day, from Steel Summit, and from whatever fun you might have had over the long weekend. Personally, I enjoyed camping with friends and family near Starved Rock. No one starved, there were no major injuries, and we enjoyed the many splendors of Mystical Fire. (Speaking of which, does that have industrial uses? But I digress.)
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I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ from all of us at SMU to all of you (more than 1,500!) who attended Steel Summit this year. We appreciate you taking time out of busy schedules to join us – whether that was up on stage, submitting thoughtful questions, or catching up over a drink and bite to eat. Also, a bit shoutout to everyone at SMU and at CRU who made this event possible. It’s no understatement to say that we have a fantastic team.
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Day one and two of SMU's Steel Summit 2024 are officially in the books. We covered a lot of ground, and the agenda sure did deliver.