Final Thoughts
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/media/k2/items/src/be6fdae85dd43e9f68cd211aaf3a1de3.jpg)
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 5, 2018
Another note regarding our SMU Service Center Flat Rolled Steel Inventories report. This information is provided first to those companies who supply data. So, if you are a service center or wholesaler selling prime flat rolled and/or plate products and you would like to participate as a confidential data provider, please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
We are producing two separate reports from the data being collected from service centers. We have a “Flash” Report, which you have seen in this evening’s issue. The “Flash” Report is generated from approximately half of the qualified distributors registered to provide inventory information. The purpose of the “Flash” Report is to provide some form of guidance to those actively buying and selling steel, as well as those in the financial community. In a few days, we will produce a second more detailed report, which comes from the full data collection.
These reports are still new to Steel Market Update. The data being shared for the month of January is the seventh produced by SMU. Our goal is to expand the number of companies canvassed and to ultimately be able to break into specific products (hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, etc.). We are also actively looking to expand to include a separate report for plate inventories as we add new plate service centers.
If your service center inventories plate products and you would like to be added to the confidential list of data providers, please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
Registrations for both events currently are being sold on the website: March 28-29 SMU Steel 101 workshop and August 27-29 SMU Steel Summit Conference have been active this week. We expect our Steel 101 workshop to sell out before the end of the month of February (perhaps sooner) as we have about 5-7 spots left in the March class. Our SMU Steel Summit Conference registrations are way ahead of where we were one year ago when we became the largest steel conference in North America with 677 registrations (actual attendance was 650 due to the Houston flooding – we returned all of the monies from those who could not attend our 2017 event due to the flooding). You can register online for both programs or you are welcome to contact Diana or Alison at 772-932-7538 and they can take care of any special needs you might have including sending invoices or taking payments over the phone.
If you have any questions about the program (which we have been keeping tight to our vest) you are welcome to contact me. I can be reached at 800-432-3475 or by email at the address shown above. We are working very hard to provide a unique and timely agenda that is both packed with information as well as being entertaining.
Our conference is also the best networking opportunity you are going to find in North America. We are planning on 750+ manufacturing, service center, wholesaler, steel mill, trading company, toll processors and suppliers to the industry (such as trucking companies, paint companies, financial institutions, analysts, etc.) to be at this year’s conference. We highly recommend you register early and make your hotel reservations early. We are not able to block 750 rooms, so the hotels with the lowest rates are there on a first come, first served basis. We sold out the hotels around the convention center by early June last year….
We do have a few sponsor slots left and a small number of exhibition slots. If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, you can contact either me or Jill Waldman (Jill@SteelMarketUpdate.com) and we will answer your questions.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/john-packard.png)
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/gears.png)
Final thoughts
SMU has heard from some larger buyers who have stepped back into the market to buy at prices that, if not at a bottom, they assess to be close to one. Is it enough to stretch out lead times and send prices upward again? Or do we continue to scrape along the mid-$600s per short ton (st) as we have been doing for most of the last month?
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/gears.png)
Final thoughts
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves had some insightful things to say today about the steel market and about a conference we suspect might be Steel Summit.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/gears.png)
Final thoughts
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, when you add in some commentary from respected peers in the steel industry to those pictures, that may shoot you up to five thousand words, at least. In that spirit, we’ve added some snapshots from our market survey this week, along with some comments from market participants.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/gears.png)
Final thoughts
I thought we’d have more clarity this week on Section 232, Mexico, and a potential carve-out for steel melted and poured in Brazil. As of right now, the only official comment I have is from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/SMU-Steel-Summit.png)
Final thoughts
There are just 40 days left until the 2024 SMU Steel Summit gets underway on Aug. 26 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. And I’m pleased to announce that it's official now: More than 1,000 people have registered to at attend! Another big development: The desktop version of the networking app for the event has officially launched!