Steel Products

SMU Steel Summit Conference Agenda: Day 1

April 12, 2022

Steel Market Update has been working on the agenda for the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held in Atlanta on August 22-24. This year’s conference will address many of the issues affecting the flat-rolled and plate steel markets. Over the next few issues, we will roll out our conference program, many of the speakers who are confirmed, and introduce some of the new items we will be highlighting at this year’s event.

As always, the SMU Steel Summit Conference will be the best networking event of the year because decision makers from hundreds of companies will be in attendance. We expect attendance to reach 1,200 executives this year from around North America because pandemic restrictions have eased. If you would like to register, you can do so by going to https://events.crugroup.com/smusteelsummit/home

SMU Steel Summit 2022 Conference Agenda: Day 1 – Monday, August 22, 2022

Pre-Summit Conference: Risks Your Company is Facing

If the past eighteen months has taught us anything, it is that there is risk all around us that we need to deal with quickly. There are supply chain snarls, commodity shortages and price surges. On top of that are inventory challenges and price risks associated with volatility from events beyond our control. And we increasingly have to contend with cyberattackes – with forces, often outside of North America, probing our computer systems and looking for ways to interrupt or cease our operations.

The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference will begin by dealing with some of these issues on Monday morning with three “Pre-Summit Workshops.”

9:00am Commodity Focused Workshop

9:45am Break: Sponsored by Ranger Steel

10:00am Managing Price Risk

There are many risks associated with the supply chain. This includes risks to commodity prices, which in turn impact steel prices. And, of course, steel prices themselves are inherently volatile. We are working with the CME Group to host a discussion about supply chain risks and how to better protect your company from the volatility associated with commodity, scrap, and steel prices.

10:45 Break: Sponsored by Ranger Steel

11:00 Cyber Security: Steps to Protect Your Company – Sponsored by Crowe

Recently, the president of a mid-sized manufacturing company informed Steel Market Update of the hacking of their company’s computer systems. The hack effectively shut down their operations. Fortunately for this company, they were able to get back up and running without paying the hackers.

With the war between Russia and Ukraine – and the positions taken by the United States, Canada, and most of the rest of the world – the risks associated with cybersecurity are growing and cannot be ignored. We are working with Crowe to provide some answers to the questions you might have about how to protect your company fromthose wishing to harm or destroy your company’s systems.

Preparation (how to build a cybersecurity team)
Mitigation (how to minimize the impact of an attack and manage the process)
Continuous Improvement (how to make security a core part of your company)

12:00 Lunch: Sponsored by PSI Metals

1:00pm Beginning of Conference – SMU Data Opening

We will open this year’s conference discussing some of the key proprietary data collected by Steel Market Update. This will include our Service Center Inventories & Shipment Analysis, Pricing Indices on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate products, and more.

John Packard, Founder and former President & CEO – Steel Market Update
Michael Cowden, Senior Editor – Steel Market Update

1:30pm Gene Marks: Issues Impacting Your Growth Over the Next Few Years

A well-known keynote speaker, Gene Marks, CPA, is an author of five books on business management specifically geared toward small- and medium-sized companies. He is also a columnist for The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine and The Guardian. He in addition appears regularly on MSNBC, Fox News, The John Batchelor Show and SiriusXM’s Wharton Business Channel.

Gene will set the stage for this year’s conference as he discusses inflation, labor, political and legislative topics, and other issues that will affect your business now and in the future.

2:30pm Break: Sponsored by Acero Prime

2:50pm The Meltdown and Reconstitution of the Global Steel Industry

Michael Setterdahl, Senior Advisor – GFG Alliance
Johnny Sjöström, Executive Vice President and Head of Special Steel Division – SSAB
Speaker TBA

3:40pm Fireside Chat with Lorenco Goncalves, Chairman, President & CEO – Cleveland Cliffs

4:30pm Networking Reception: Sponsored by Heidtman Steel

5:30pm NexGen Community and NexGen Leadership Award Reception

This will be the first meeting of the SMU NexGen Community, an organization dedicated to those 40 or younger who are associated with the greater steel, metals and manufacturing industries. Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President & CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, will address those attending.

Membership in the SMU NexGen Community will be free for those 40 years or younger. We will be rolling out more about the NexGen Community in the coming days.

The SMU NexGen Leadership Award nomination process is now open. This award is for someone from the greater industry who is 35 or younger. You can learn more about the award, past recipients, and how to nominate yourself or someone from your company by going to https://events.crugroup.com/smusteelsummit/awards

SMU will provide details about the agenda for Tuesday, August 23, in our Thursday issue. We will also provide the full agenda next Tuesday. (We are not publishing on Sunday because of Easter and Passover.) The full agenda will also be available on the conference website: https://events.crugroup.com/smusteelsummit/home

If you would like to register for the conference click here.