Economy
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
October 21, 2018
I will be in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week as I am speaking to two groups, the Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America (IPANA) and the Reusable Industrial Packaging Association (RIPA). Member companies are producers and re-conditioners of a wide range of industrial packaging including steel, plastic and fiber drums, as well as intermediate bulk containers. I have been told that 90 percent of the non-bulk and intermediate bulk industrial packaging used in North America to transport hazardous materials is produced by members of these two groups. This event will be the largest gathering of industrial packaging producers and re-conditioners in the United States. I am looking forward to sharing my observations about the steel industry, including a few minutes on how I got to where I am today.
After this week’s speaking engagement, I will be in my office until Dec. 1 when I go to Austin, Texas, to speak to the steel council at the Heating, Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) annual meeting. Then I will be at our sold-out Steel 101 workshop in Toledo, Ohio, on Dec. 11-12.
I am also working with JSW Ohio to visit their facility once their electric arc furnace (EAF) is up and running. I expect that trip to come in late November or perhaps mid-December of this year. On Friday, Tim Triplett of Steel Market Update visited the JSW Baytown, Texas, facility.
I am working on seeing if we can move up the Columbus, Miss., Steel 101 workshop, which for the moment is scheduled for Feb. 26-27, 2019. I am trying to see if we can re-schedule to late January or early February, and I hope to have an answer yet this week. Once I get the answer, we will open registration for that workshop.
I am in my office on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Feel free to give me a call (800-432-3475) or shoot me an email if you have any questions, comments or suggestions (John@SteelMarketUpdate.com).
If you have customer service, renewal or general questions, please contact Paige Mayhair at 724-720-1012.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
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