Final Thoughts

As I said, I am working on an article to try to better understand the issues behind pricing decisions in markets that are rising like we have seen over the past six months. I spoke to HARDI wholesalers earlier this week and one of the topics they wanted to discuss was if their suppliers of manufactured products (such as furnace pipe, boilers, etc.) were all raising prices or if there was resistance by some companies not wanting to risk market share or for some other reason. If your company is a manufacturing firm and this is an ongoing issue for your company and you don’t mind sharing some of the decision making process with me, I would be very appreciative. You can reach me at: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com.

We have almost 200 people registered to attend our Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. Registrations are running about 80-100 people ahead of last year’s pace. We are asking the hotel to raise our room block. Even if we are successful in raising the block we anticipate there will be some who miss out on our special rate. Now is the time to make your plans – good airfares, great venue that is easy to get to, excellent networking opportunity whether you are in sales, purchasing or management and, of course, we have an exceptional program.

We got the following comment from someone we saw last week who attended Steel Success Strategies, “By the way, during the course of the AMM/WSD conference, I overheard a couple of conversations where people believe that your conference has surpassed AMM/WSD.  Yours is fresh, relevant and continuing to get even better and they are stagnant….”

I got another email this morning from someone who attended last year’s conference, “I am sure [company name deleted] people will be there; many people will attend I know very well. I was able to use much of what I learned at the show in day to day business.” It is that last sentence that signals we are doing things right. This year we will have a wide array of speakers and topics. Not all of them are solely related to the steel industry. We think that this year’s conference will add even more value to our attendees and I encourage those who are planning on registering, as well as those who have already registered, to make time to stay for the programs located at the end of each day. I think you will find them entertaining, interesting and having the kind of value that you can take back to your office and use in your day to day business.

You can register through our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com (single registrant link or multiple person registration link) or by contacting our office at: 800-432-3475 or info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.

I also want to mention that our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop is open for registration. You can do so on our website or by clicking on this link. The workshop will be held in downtown Memphis. It is rare that we get to host a conference in a major city because most steel mills tend to be located in the hinterland away from the city. This time we are in Memphis because our mill tour will be at Big River Steel and there are virtually no hotels that could host us anywhere near the mill. This will be a unique and exciting opportunity to literally see a mill just as it is coming to life. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me in my office: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475.

For those of you who are not yet full members (on a trial) I cordially invite you to become our newest member company and to enjoy the benefits that come with membership such as discounts on all workshops and conferences for anyone at your company. Details are on our website or you can contact info@SteelMarketUpdate.com with any specific questions you might have about either of our membership levels: Premium or Executive.

A quick note about our office hours over the 4th of July Holiday. We will produce all of our newsletters next week as normal. Our office will be open every day from 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM ET. On Sunday, July 3rd we will not publish a newsletter and our offices will be closed on Monday, July 4th. We will resume operations on Tuesday, July 5th although I expect our issue that night might be a little “lighter” than normal.

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

John Packard, Publisher