Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
December 30, 2017
Happy New Year and welcome back to work. For the first time in many years, I was able to get away and not concentrate all of my time and effort on the steel industry. If you have been trying to reach us between Christmas and New Years, you may have had an issue in locating someone to speak to. I closed the offices for the week as many of our employees weren’t taking all of their vacation time, so I decided it was a good time to force the team to get some rest, as I expect 2018 to be a significant year for the industry and for Steel Market Update.
A couple of quick notes: Our January Steel 101 workshop in Mobile is sold out. Our March Steel 101 workshop, which will be held in Merrillville, Ind., on March 28-29, is about 50 percent sold. The Merrillville workshop will include a tour of the NLMK USA steel mill, which is located in Portage, Ind. You can learn more about the workshop on our website. You are also welcome to call our office at 800-432-3475 or you can contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
We have been hard at work on our 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference since before the doors closed on our 2017 conference. The location will be the same, although we are expanding our footprint in the Georgia International Convention Center. We will begin the conference on Monday afternoon Aug. 27 and it will run through Wednesday mid-afternoon Aug. 29. We will begin accepting registrations later this month. We have a number of speakers lined up, but I am going to hold off on announcements until we get closer to releasing the event for registration. Past attendees will be pleased with the quality of our speakers as will those who have never attended an SMU Steel Summit Conference in the past. Our conference is THE event to be seen and to network with others in the industry.
We have only a few sponsor spots left for the 2018 conference. We have plenty of exhibition spaces available. You can inquire about what is available by contacting Jill Waldman at Jill@SteelMarketUpdate.com or me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
I am looking forward to another exciting year in the steel industry.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
I’m not sure how many different ways I can write that it’s been a quiet market ahead of Independence Day. There are variations on that theme. I’ve heard everything from the ominous “eerily quiet” to "getting better" and even the occasional “blissfully unaware” (because I’m enjoying my vacation).
Final Thoughts
What's going to be the next big thing in steel?
Final Thoughts
Based on the amount of ‘out of office’ replies we’ve been receiving and the results of this week’s steel buyers’ survey, those pesky summer doldrums have arrived for the steel industry.
Final Thoughts
Maybe some of this uncertainty will get ironed out ahead of Liberation Day tariffs resetting higher rates on July 9. But if I had to place a wager, it would be on more drama and last-minute brinksmanship - whether it comes to the Liberation Day tariffs or the various Section 232s that are in the works.
Final Thoughts
What should you keep your eye on, considering the latest geopolitical events?