Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
August 19, 2016
I expect the next seven days will be quite hectic in my life and those of our SMU team as we make final preparations for the 2016 Steel Summit Conference. I will actually be traveling to Georgia on Wednesday and will work from there until the conference has concluded. We do have a few spots open but the conference is about as close to being sold out as we can get. We are actually counting on a few people not showing up each day. If not, we will be standing room only…
I think it is important to recognize everyone who has been actively involved in making this our best conference ever. First, our speakers without whom our conference would be just another event. Thank you to: Mark Millett (Steel Dynamics), Roger Newport (AK Steel), Lourenco Goncalves (Cliffs Natural Resources), Mark Bula (Big River Steel), Alan Beaulieu (Institute for Trends Research, Christopher Oakley (Federal Research Bank of Atlanta), John Anton (IHS Global Insight), Tony Taccone (First River Consulting), Gaurav Chhibbar (Cargill Metals), John Farley (McNichols), John Ganem (Kloeckner Metals), Lawrence Kavanagh (Steel Market Development Institute), Lewis Leibowitz (The Law Office of Lewis E. Leibowitz), Lisa Reisman (MetalMiner), Thom Romer (Worthington), Jaynie Smith (Smart Advantage), Timna Tanners (Bank of America Merrill Lynch), Diane Thielfoldt (The Learning Cafe), Jeff Widenor (Precoat Metals).
Our sponsors and exhibitors: Pacesetter Steel, Mill Steel, Big River Steel, Tennessee Steel Haulers, Steel Dynamics, Nucor, Alliance Steel, Magic Coil Products, Cargill, Kenwal, MidWest Materials, ITR Economics, Association of Steel Distributors, Georgia Ports Authority and Smart Advantage.
And my staff: Ray Culley, Brett Linton, Diana Packard, Sandy Williams, Peter Wright, Mario Briccetti, Steve Painter, John Eckstein and our newest employee Alison LaLonde. Working with our staff is our website developer: K3 Tech.
Now the hard work begins as we head for the finish line. I hope we will see you in Atlanta. If not, don’t fear, there is always next year and the dates have been set: August 28-30, 2017 in Atlanta.
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
It’s once again A Tale of Two Cities in the steel market. Some are almost euphoric about Trump’s victory. Others, some rather bearish, are more focused on the day-to-day market between now and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Final Thoughts
One of the perhaps unintentional perks of being a trade journalist is the opportunity to travel and cover an array of industry conferences and events. Some I've attended have been at fun locations, like Palm Springs and Tampa, Fla. Others have been in more practical locations, like SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) meetings in Washington, D.C.
Final Thoughts
t this point in the game I think what we can say about Nippon Steel’s proposed buy of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel is that it will go through, it won’t go through, or the outcome will be something new and completely unexpected. Then again, I’m probably still missing a few options.
Final Thoughts
President-elect Donald Trump continues to send shockwaves through the political establishment (again). And steel markets and ferrous scrap markets continue to be, well, anything but shocking. As the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote in 1849, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." (I thought the quote might have been Yankees catcher Yogi Berra in 1949. Google taught me something new today.)
Final Thoughts
President-elect Donald Trump will officially retake the White House on Jan. 20. I’ve been getting questions about how his administration’s policies might reshape the steel industry and domestic manufacturing. I covered the tumult and norm busting of Trump's first term: Section 232, Section 301, USMCA - and that's just on the trade policy side of things. It's safe to say that we'll have no shortage of news in 2025 when it comes to trade and tariffs.