Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
July 13, 2018
Last night for me in Maine. It’s been a wonderful long weekend to escape some of the heat of Florida for a few days. I will be traveling most of the day tomorrow and I will be back in my office on Tuesday for the balance of the week before leaving for Minnesota.
We will be sending out a very detailed look at our 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference agenda and what we are expecting out of our speakers/panelists. We will begin the conference on Monday afternoon, Aug. 27, at 1:30 PM. The conference will be held in its entirety in the Georgia International Convention Center as there is remodeling work being done to the meeting facilities at the Marriott Gateway hotel next to the GICC. This means our two networking/cocktail parties will be held in the convention center from 4 PM to 5:30 PM on Monday (sponsored by SDI) and Tuesday (sponsored by Heidtman). There will be plenty of time to go to the networking events and then make it to your dinner reservation in downtown or Midtown Atlanta.
If you have not yet booked your hotel, I highly recommend that you book the Atlanta Airport Marriott Hotel (not the Marriott Gateway Hotel). We will be providing a shuttle to and from the convention center from this hotel, which is located about one mile from the convention center. I believe the SMU rate is $159 per night. The Gateway hotel room blocks are sold out. If you are having any hotel issues, please contact Jill Waldman at Jill@SteelMarketUpdate.com
I was speaking to one of our members on Friday about our training workshops. It happened that this head of purchasing had attended one of our Steel 101 workshops. As we discussed what we have coming up for steel training workshops, he realized he would benefit from our Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels workshop (as would most buyers or salespeople who have any automotive or critical part exposure). The workshop will be held on Sept. 11 & 12, 2018, in Middletown, Ohio.
This is the first Steel 201 workshop for SMU. We are working with AK Steel and are excited at what we will be offering to our attendees. The workshop will be conducted at the AK Steel Research and Innovation Center (RIC) instead of a hotel conference room. We will get to tour the Research and Innovation Center on Tuesday and then tour the AK Steel Middletown fully integrated steel mill on Wednesday, Sept. 12. You can learn more about the workshop agenda, instructors, etc., on our website www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel-201 or by contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone at 800-432-3475.
We will be sending out the mid-July survey on Monday at 8 AM ET. If you receive an invitation to participate, please take a few minutes to answer the first question at the end of the invitation, which will then take you to the rest of the survey.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Despite some scary headlines lately (especially about Trump potentially firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell) this is not October 2008 (financial crisis) or March 2020 (onset of the pandemic). But it sure seems like we’ve taken a relatively strong economy and poured a thick sauce of uncertainty over it.
Final Thoughts
I put some of our survey data through ChatGpt, with interesting results.
Final Thoughts
Nearly 50% of respondents to our latest survey thought hot-rolled coil prices have already peaked. And where will those prices be two months from now? Responses were decidedly split on that question.
Final Thoughts
A modest week-to-week change in HR price understates a huge swing in expectations.
Final Thoughts
What happens when ChatGPT meets SMU's Market Chatter? No, this is not an idea for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Then again, with what Hollywood is putting out these days, Chatter Meets Chat might just turn out to be a hit. Rather, it’s that old idea of putting theory into practice. Recently, I conducted an interview with Doug Schrock, managing principal of AI at public accounting and consulting firm Crowe. He gave some tips on how to implement AI into your business.