Final Thoughts
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Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 14, 2020
We will begin our mid-February flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis at 8 a.m. on Monday. Currently we are inviting approximately 560 individuals to participate in the market questionnaire, which takes about 4-8 minutes to complete. If you receive an invitation, please take a few minutes to provide your insights as they are truly appreciated and provide important data for us regarding market sentiment, demand, inventories, price negotiations, steel prices and more. If you would like to be added to the invitation list, please contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com
On Thursday, we shared an overview of the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference agenda. If you did not see Thursday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update, you can find the agenda on our website. We also published some of the “keys” regarding this our 10th SMU Steel Summit Conference. Those were also published in Thursday’s newsletter and you can find them on our blog on our website.
As you can see by our agenda, we have an exceptional program covering market forecasts, price forecasts, global and North American economic forecasts, conversations with steel mill CEOs, a steel buyers’ perspective panel, hedging workshop, AI workshop, trade panel, mill costing and how the mills need to deal with CO2 emissions, how to attract and maintain young people into your company, what to make of the political landscape and how it will affect you and the economy, and more…
We are now over 200 registrations and counting… only 1,000 to go. You can register by clicking here or by going to the website address www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit.
We have a limited number of sponsorship slots for the SMU Steel Summit Conference available. If you would like your name associated with he largest flat rolled and plate steel conference, one that attracts close to 1,200 executives (most being decision makers) from manufacturing, distribution, steel mills, trading companies, toll processors and companies that supply products to those industries, please contact Jill Waldman at 303-570-6570 or by email: Jill@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Jill can also assist you if you would like to exhibit your company’s products. We do have a number of spots left for exhibitors as we have doubled the amount of exhibition space this year.
Our SMU Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshop which will be held on March 31 through April 1, 2020, in Merrillville, Ind., is about one-half full. We will tour the NLMK Portage steel mill as part of the steel making portion of the instruction. NLMK is a “mini” mill, which means they produce steel by melting ferrous scrap using an electric arc furnace. There is no better way to remember the classroom instruction in the morning than seeing a charge of an EAF in the afternoon. You can register for the conference by clicking here or by going to www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel101
I will be in my office all this week. I begin traveling again on March 27.
If you are looking to renew, upgrade or add more people to your existing SMU membership, or if you are new to Steel Market Update and would like information about Executive and Premium subscription options, please contact Paige Mayhair at 724-720-1012 or by email: Paige@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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John Packard
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Final thoughts
Sheet prices didn’t roar back after Labor Day. But steel market news sure came out of the gate strong (or maybe chaotically is the better way to put it). First, the nearly $15-billion proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel exploded into the news. And when I say exploded, I mean that all sides seem to be escalating things now.
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Final thoughts
Welcome back from Labor Day, from Steel Summit, and from whatever fun you might have had over the long weekend. Personally, I enjoyed camping with friends and family near Starved Rock. No one starved, there were no major injuries, and we enjoyed the many splendors of Mystical Fire. (Speaking of which, does that have industrial uses? But I digress.)
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/11/SMU-Steel-Summit.png)
Final thoughts
I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ from all of us at SMU to all of you (more than 1,500!) who attended Steel Summit this year. We appreciate you taking time out of busy schedules to join us – whether that was up on stage, submitting thoughtful questions, or catching up over a drink and bite to eat. Also, a bit shoutout to everyone at SMU and at CRU who made this event possible. It’s no understatement to say that we have a fantastic team.
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Final thoughts
Day one and two of SMU's Steel Summit 2024 are officially in the books. We covered a lot of ground, and the agenda sure did deliver.
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Final thoughts
The big show is just about here. SMU Steel Summit will be getting underway on Monday. Where does the networking begin? I’d say at the airport. So don’t forget your business cards. And it can't hurt to wear a company golf shirt.