This year we visited the beautiful city of Hong Kong for our annual SBB Steel Markets Asia Conference 2007, and with over 200 participants the conference was a great success.  Have a visit though the conference WebPages to learn more about this event.

Click here to see photos from the event!

Key Event Details:

Dates	6-7 November 2007
Price	$1500 / €1110 / £750

Programme Information:

SBB's Steel Asia markets conference is intended to give participants a snapshot of the state of the region's industry, as it moves towards 2010.  Though dominated by China, and to a lesser extent India and Japan, there are many other players also looking to expand.

We've chosen Hong Kong for this year's event, a centre of international  steel trade and a convenient location for producers, traders and analysts to explore key issues such as:

Day 1, Tuesday, 6th November

08:00 Registration

09:00 Welcome by SBB

09:10 Keynote Day 1: Ralph Oppenheimer, Chairman, Stemcor

09:40 Session 1: Asian Steel and Economic Overview
Chairman: Mr. Roger Manser, Managing Editor, SBB

Asia is home to 60% of the world’s population, the pulsing heart of the global economy with average GDP growth rates 7-8% in the last few years and a driver for the rest of the world. Asia now represents the majority of global steel production. For how long and at what rate will this continue and what does economic growth mean for steel demand – our panel of distinguished speakers will discuss and challenge you.

• "The growth of private mills" - Prof He, Beijing Iron & Steel University
• "Towards sustainability in the steel industry - competition versus cooperation" - Dirk Matthys, CEO, ArcelorMittal China
• "Steel making costs in China" - Dr. Haimin Liu, Vice President, CSDRI (CISA division)
• "The global steel value chain: how does China compare?" - Mr. Karel Eloot, Principal, McKinsey Shanghai
  

11:00 Coffee Break sponsored by LME

11:30 Session 2: Steel Price Risk Management and the Global Market
Chairman: Mr. Roger Manser, Managing Editor, SBB

Price volatility is the manifestation of market forces: Demand vs Supply. Price risk management tools do not attempt to solve that. They can’t. However there are opportunities to hedge either costs or sales revenues, for sellers and buyers of steel. How this would work will be discussed by the London Metal Exchange, which is soon to launch its billet contract.

• "London Metal Exchange: a new billet futures contract" - Mr. Martin Abbott, CEO / Ms. Liz Milan, Director Steel, LME
• "The EU import markets" - Mr. Wolfgang Schmitz, President, Nordic Intertrade
• "Global market outlook" - Mr. Mark Wiggett, Editor, SBB
  

13:30 Session 3: Raw Materials - Logistics - the vital ingredients
Chairman: Mr. Karel Eloot, Principal, Mckinsey & Co

The mining sector will see $50 billion in investments and projects in the next 3 years. But what will happen with the price of iron ore. Some say it will level off in 2009 and start falling after 2010. Others believe there are apparent are inherited constraints on resource availability and prices will continue to rise. The big question is what price will enable, or handicap, the regional producers to remain competitive globally.

• "Iron ore: the real price" - Mr. Anthony Bohnenn, Chairman, Grange Resources
• "Drybulk rollercoaster" - Mr. Sebastian Landerretche, Manager, Louis Dreyfus Commodities
• "Water and other non-core utilities" - Mr. Richard Warren, Regional Director China, Veolia Water
  

15:00 Coffee Break sponsored by LME

15:30 Session 4:  Steel M & A and Investment - where the money is going
Chairman: Mr. Karel Eloot, Principal, Mckinsey & Co

Each of the last 3 years has seen more than 100 million tonnes of new steel production. With an estimated $200 billion in steel investments in recent years, Asia is the market everyone is focusing on. China alone invested over $30 billion in 2006. For how long can this continue, and which companies are going to come out on top?

• "M or A? The consolidation in the Chinese steel industry" - Mr. Guoqing Dai, Director, Shougang
• "China steel industry 2: New projects vs closures" - Mr. Roger Manser, Managing Editor, SBB
• "Indian mill expansion in Asia and beyond" - Mr. Alain Davezac, Director, Essar Steel
• "Playing the stock market: steel shares goin up or down?" - Mr. Rajeev Das, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs LLC

19:00 Cocktail Reception Sponsored by Stemcor Holdings Limited

20:30 Gala Dinner sponsored by Ferrostaal Metals Group

Day 2, Wednesday, 7th November

09:00 Session 5: Asian Trade & Distribution
Chairman: Mr. Mark Wiggett, Editor, SBB

Stunning changes are underway in Asian Trade: in 2006 over 64mt of semi and finished steel products were traded to/from the region. This year, China alone is set to export over 65mt. Focus is also starting to turn to the distribution sector – will this be where the real money is to be made?

• "China's export strategy" - Mr Haoran Chen, Executive Director & Chairman, CCCMC
• "No more cheap steel from China: how steel trader and distributor react" - Mr. Qingping Ren, Chairman & General Manager, Shanghai Wubo Steel Structure co., Ltd
• "World trade flows" - Mr. Steve Mackrell, Director Operations, ISSB

10:15 Coffee Break sponsored by LME

10:45 Session 6: End-Use Developments in the region
Chairman: Mr. Mark Wiggett, Editor, SBB

What is it all being used to make? Find out about three of the key end-use sectors in the region, the rate that they are growing and some of the new quality initiatives being put into place.

• "Automotive growth in the region" - Mr. Kristopher Pinnow, Director, China Purchasing, Ford Motor Company
• "Construction 1: Hong Kong, Macau, and S. China" - Mr. Kenn Wong, President, Van Shung Chong Ltd
• "Construction 2: Quality rebar in construction" - Mr. Lee Brankley, Operations Manager, CARES UK

12:30 Lunch sponsored by LME

13:30 Session 7: Country Spotlight
Chairman: Mr. Andrew Goodwin, General Manager Asia, SBB

There is more to Asia than just China!. Korea is building a second integrated mill, Vietnam is outperforming Japan, and India is expected to move from brown-field to green-field investments. We will focus on India, Russia, Korea and Indonesia.

• "Prospects of going upstream for the Indonesian steel producer" - Mr. Fazwar Bujang, CEO, PT Krakatau Steel
• "Indian steel projects: A reality check" - Dr Firoz, President, Firoz & Associates
• "Russian steel on Asian market" - Dr Eldar Askerov, Chief Analyst, Evraz
• "Korea: In need of some restructuring?" - Mr. Hong Sik Kim, Head Researcher and Chief Editor, Steel & Steel Korea

14:30 Coffee Break sponsored by LME

15:00 SBB China Workshop - China the reality - Hosted by Mr Roger Manser, Editor-in-Chief SBB

You can debate or just listen during this round table session, where the topics for discussion will be numerous, and chosen by the participants.
 

More details:

More information will be uploaded to this website regularly, however if you have any urgent questions please do not hesitate to contact events@steelbb.com.