Final Thoughts

Our next Steel 101 workshop will be in May 2019. We will be working with SSAB (thank you). More details will come out, hopefully, later this week.

This evening we are releasing a large portion of the agenda for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We want those who have attended in the past to get a quick look at the quality of the speakers selected and confirmed to date. We have Mark Millett – CEO of Steel Dynamics; John Hritz – CEO of JSW USA; and Ladd Hall – Executive Vice President, Flat Rolled, for Nucor. We have a strong service center/processing panel with Eddie Lehner – CEO of Ryerson; John Reid – CEO of Russel Metals; and Kurt Russel – President & COO of Precoat.

As you go through the agenda you will (hopefully) start to see some of the major themes for this year’s conference. We want to understand what the new steel capacities being announced are, where they will be located and what markets they will be after. A little later in the program we will have a panel discussing what the new capacities mean for the markets from a non-mill perspective.

We will be spending more time discussing plate than we have in the past. With JSW Baytown, Russel Metals and Ryerson (as well as Nucor, which has announced a new plate mill for the Midwest) discussing the plate markets, we’ll learn how they see the future for the energy markets, barges, railroads and other large equipment that uses plate steels.

Speaking of railroads, and transportation in general, we have two great speakers who will discuss the issues affecting trucking and rail and what is being done to resolve those issues, both from a short-term and long-term perspective.

As usual, the back end of our program will be as strong as the beginning. We have confirmed Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President Bush, as a speaker as we head full force into the 2020 political campaign, deal with trade issues with China and the rest of the world and whatever else comes up between now and then.

We will begin the conference at 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26, with Chris Houlden and Josh Spoores of CRU joining me as we discuss some of the proprietary products being developing for Steel Market Update, and we will kick off the conference with CRU’s forecast for the balance 2019 and into 2020. You will want to arrive into Atlanta in the morning of the 26th.

You will notice there are a few “gaps” in the agenda. These are there on purpose. We still have a few surprises to spring. You won’t want to miss a minute.

The best networking of any steel conference. The most relevant agenda of any steel conference. The best quality speakers representing the industry.

Registration is open and we are already hearing of one hotel that may be filling up… Make your plans now for Aug. 26 and don’t leave until the late afternoon/early evening of Aug. 28.

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

John Packard, President & CEO