SMU Steel Summit: Monday's Agenda, Registrations Update

Let’s look at what is planned for Monday, Aug. 22, Day 1 of the conference.

Beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, we will host the following three workshops that we feel will provide important information on the following topics: carbon offsets, HRC and scrap futures, and cybersecurity.

9:00 a.m.: Introduction to Carbon Offsets – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

• Drew Lichter, VP Corporate Strategy and Development, Mobius Risk Group

• Bradley Clark, Director of Metal Bank, Flack Global Metals

Decarbonization is a theme that will be winding its way throughout the conference, and it is a subject that your company will need to deal with in the future. There are companies who are already selling “carbon neutral” steel. This program will give you more information about identifying your carbon footprint, liabilities, identification of the right carbon offsets, and the mechanics of how your company can do that.

10:00 a.m.: Managing Price Risk

• Speakers from the CME Group, OEMs and Service Centers, and SMU

Dealing with price volatility has been a key issue for companies for many years now. This program will attempt to look at how to use futures effectively in markets where prices are moving either higher or lower.

11:00 a.m.: Cyber Security – Steps To Protect Your Company

• Tony Barnes, Managing Principal, Crowe

• David Branscome, Global Partner Solutions, Cloud Security Architect, Microsoft

• Other speakers TBA

The instances of companies being hacked and, in some cases, taken offline have increased. This program will help your company to prepare to build a cybersecurity team, to analyze how to minimize the impact of an attack, and how to make security a core part of your company.

At noon we will serve lunch at the Georgia International Convention Center.

1:00 p.m.: Opening of the Conference

• John Packard, Founder of Steel Market Update

• Michael Cowden, Senior Editor, Steel Market Update

We will open with a “bang” (as we always do), and then we will provide insights from Steel Market Update’s proprietary products to put the beginning of the conference into perspective.

1:30 p.m.: Keynote Address – Issues Impacting Your Future Growth

• Gene Marks, CPA

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

Gene will set the stage for this year’s conference as he discusses inflation, labor, and political and legislative issues effecting your business now and into the future.

2:50 p.m.: The Meltdown and Reconstitution of the Global Steel Industry

• Johnny Sjöström, EVP, CEO of SSAB Special Steels, and President of SSAB EMEA

• Michael Setterdahl, Senior Advisor, GFG Alliance

• Panos Kotseras, Principal Analyst, CRU

• John Packard, Founder, Steel Market Update (moderator)

Covid, the war between Russia and Ukraine (and the involvement of the rest of the world), tariffs, decarbonization, and many other issues have transformed the global steel order. It is important to understand what has happened, what might happen going forward, and how these issues will impact the North American steel markets.

3:40 p.m.: Fireside Chat With Lourenco Goncalves of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

• Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President and CEO, Cleveland-Cliffs

• John Packard, Founder, Steel Market Update

As the leader of Cleveland-Cliffs, Lourenco Goncalves is well versed in iron ore, DRI, scrap, as well as flat-rolled and plate steelmaking. Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in the United States and the largest supplier to the automotive industry. Mr. Goncalves is known for being frank about the industry, and we look forward to his comments.

4:30 p.m.: Networking Cocktail Party

5:30 p.m.: NexGen Award Nominees and NexGen Metals Community Reception

Registrations to This Year’s Conference

Registrations have passed through 700 executives and are heading much higher. The following companies registered employees over the past few days (those with an * mean more than one executive is registered from that company): A2Mac1, ABB Inc, Ace Steel Supply Inc., ACM, Ag Growth International, AkzoNobel*, Algoma Steel Inc.*, American Alloy Steel*, ARKU, Inc.*, AZZ Inc.*, Behlen Mfg Co*, Bull Moose Tube*, CEMCO*, Central States Manufacturing, Inc., Chapel Steel, Commercial Steel Products*, Curtis Steel Company*, FAGOR ARRASATE*, Galvasid S.A. de C.V.*, Harsco Environmental, IntelliTrans, Jennmar*, John Deere, Macsteel International USA Corp*, Mauser Packaging Solutions*, Midmark Corporation*, Millerbernd, NIM Group, Nippon Steel Trading Americas, Inc., Perfiles LM, Precoat Metals*, Prime Metal Buildings and Components*, Service Steel & Pipe*, Spartanburg Steel, Tempel Steel Company, Terex*, Waelzholz North America, Wallner Expac, Inc., West Coast Metals*, Wick Buildings. On top of these companies one of the domestic mills advised SMU of their intention to send 20+ executives this year. You can join the anticipated 400+ companies and close to 1,200 executives by clicking here to register. If you have any questions, please send them to conferences@crugroup.com