Steel Products

SMU Events Update for 2020

Written by John Packard


I have been extremely busy working on the keynote speakers for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. Based on the moves I am making right now, I believe we will have the strongest program ever – especially on the final day of the conference. I don’t want to totally tip my hand quite yet as all of the negotiations are not yet complete, but I highly recommend you arrive early and plan on staying to the end of the conference (make your return flights for 3 p.m. ET or later on Wednesday, Aug. 26).

Steel SummitThe steel industry is undergoing a transformation and that will be the theme of the 2020 conference. We will return to a strong forecasting conference with special attention placed on how buyers and sellers of steel deal with an industry that is reinventing itself before our eyes. This will include speaking directly to the steel mill CEOs, taking a look at the technology, costs and carbon footprint of the industry, industry inputs, economic forecasts, manufacturing panel, main market segments panel and an eye on the politics of the day and what you need to do no matter what happens in November 2020.

Registration for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference is now open. If you were an attendee from the 2019 conference, you should have already received a link for hotel registrations. We have added a brand-new hotel, which is under construction right now but should be ready well before our conference begins. The hotel is an AC Hotel, which is part of the Marriott group of hotels. This brings the number of hotels up to five for 2020: The Gateway Hotels – Atlanta Marriott Gateway, Renaissance Gateway, SpringHill Suites Gateway, AC Hotel Gateway – and then the Atlanta Airport Marriott Hotel located about one mile from the convention center. When you register you will receive links for hotel registration in your confirmation email.

We have received more registrations for the first SMU Steel 101 workshop of the New Year, which will be held in Ontario, Calif. We will be cutting off registrations for that workshop at the end of the business day tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 20). From that point it will be on an inquire-only basis.

The next Steel 101 workshop in 2020 will be held in Merrillville, Ind. (outside of Chicago) and will include a tour of the NLMK Portage, Ind., EAF mill. We hope to have registration for that workshop up on our website soon. If you have any questions about this workshop, please contact Events@SteelMarketUpdate.com

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

John Packard, President & CEO

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