Steel Products

SMU Steel Summit: Wednesday Agenda
Written by John Packard
June 21, 2022
There are now two short months to go before we kick off the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference at the Georgia International Convention Center. As you prepare to join us in Atlanta on August 22-24 we want to give you more details regarding the program for Wednesday, August 24th. You can find more information about the complete conference, companies registered to attend, NexGen Leadership Award, speakers, costs to attend, and how to register here.
7:00 AM ET Registration/Doors Open
8:30 AM Opening Remarks
- John Packard, Founder, Steel Market Update
- Michael Cowden, Senior Editor, Steel Market Update
8:45 AM Service Center Panel: Supply Chain, Inflation & Other Issues Affecting Distribution
- John Ganem, CEO, Kloeckner Metals
- Pam Heglund, CEO, Mill Steel
- Edward, J. Lehner, President & CEO, Ryerson
- David Schollaert, Editor/Senior Analyst, Steel Market Update (moderator)
Supply chain issues, high inflation, new supply, changes in trade policies, decarbonization are all issues facing the steel distributors. This panel will hold a round table discussion on the most important topics affecting steel distributors today, and into the future.
9:45 AM Break
10:05 AM Keynote Address: ITR Economic Forecast
- Dr. Alan Beaulieu, President & Principal, ITR Economics
11:15 AM Fireside Chat with Alan Kestenbaum of Stelco
- Alan Kestenbaum, CEO, Stelco
- Michael Cowden, Senior Editor, Steel Market Update
This will be the first time Stelco’s CEO has spoken at the SMU Steel Summit Conference. Mr. Kestenbaum is known for his candor and for “telling it like it is.”
12:00 Noon Lunch
1:00 PM The New Carbon Frontier: Challenges & Opportunities
- Kevin Dempsey, President & CEO, American Iron and Steel Institute
- Philip K. Bell, President, Steel Manufacturers Association
- Matthew Perlman, CRU Group
- Michael Cowden, Senior Editor, Steel Market Update (moderator)
Europe has been leading the world when it comes to decarbonization policies and directives. It is important for the US to understand what Europe is doing, and then what will decarbonization mean for the domestic steel industry and ultimately the distributors and end users here in the United States?
1:45 PM Automotive and the Move to Electric Vehicles
- Speakers TBA
We are negotiating with several companies who can speak to what the move to electric vehicles (EVs) means for the automotive and steel industries. How are the supply chain issues affecting the move to electric? Will there be more steel in EVs than in fossil fuel cars?
2:30 PM Close of Conference
For more information, visit https://www.events.crugroup.com/smusteelsummit/home.

John Packard
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