Steel Products

SMU Steel Summit Conference: Tuesday Highlights

August 23, 2020

After knocking it out of the park during the first day of our conference, we are going to shift into cruise mode as we hit on the economy and the major end-use segments affecting the industry. We have two “new” mill CEO’s joining our conference for the first time. The Nucor and U.S. Steel exec’s will go one-on-one with SMU CEO John Packard.

On Tuesday the platform will begin in earnest at 8:45 AM ET.

Pre-Summit Presentation: Two Years of Digital Transformation in Two Months – How the Steel Industry is Prioritizing Technology in the Midst of a Pandemic. This will be followed by Q&A.

Conference Opens: John Packard discusses the results of the polling from Monday. In 2016 our SMU Steel Summit Conference poll correctly predicted a Trump presidency. What will this year bring?

Keynote Address: Dr. Alan Beaulieu, Managing Director, ITR Economics – We Will Survive & Prosper – Economic Forecast, followed by Q&A. One of our most popular speakers, Dr. Beaulieu will discuss the economy, where companies are in the business cycle and what they need to be doing now to prepare for 2021 and beyond.

Vignette: Leon Topalian, President & CEO, Nucor Steel. There will not be Q&A after this vignette presentation. John Packard speaks one-on-one with the new Nucor CEO.

Industry Forecasts: Automotive, Construction, Pipe & Tube/Energy. AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson along with automotive expert Stephen Brown from Fitch Ratings and Rick Preckel from Preston Pipe discuss the three major flat rolled steel-using segments of the economy and what 2021 looks like.

Fireside Chat: One-on-One with David Burritt, President & CEO, U.S. Steel. There will not be Q&A after this session. They are in a joint venture with Big River Steel and are investing heavily in new equipment. This is the first time U.S. Steel has spoken at an SMU Steel Summit Conference.

Special Presentation: U.S. Cost Dynamics and Decarbonization with Ryan Smith, CRU Steel and Cost Analyst, all the way from Australia. There will be live Q&A after this presentation. He was one of the speakers whose presentation was discussed for weeks after last year’s conference. He has some observations about the U.S. steel industry that you will want to hear.

Industry Presentation: Flat Rolled Capacity Utilization in a Post COVID-19 World. Paul Lowrey has spoken at our conference on a number of occasions and always has a perspective based on his consulting experience working with steel mills.

Keynote Presentation: Jeff Butler discusses Building an Effective Multi-Generational Workplace. There will be Q&A after this presentation. He is the first speaker in our youth program. We will have more speakers on youth topics on Wednesday afternoon.

End of Day Two