AISTech 2004

AISTech 2004 was held 15–17 September 2004 in Nashville, Tenn., USA. The first international conference held by AIST as a newly formed organization, AISTech 2004 attracted more than 3,100 attendees over the two-and-a-half day program. The event featured 260 technical presentations, 221 exhibitors and a Town Hall Opening Session featuring ten of the industry’s top executives in a moderated panel discussion.

The panel, moderated by broadcaster John Callaway, expressed a sense of careful optimism over the seeming recovery of the steel industry after a string of bankruptcies, restructurings and consolidations. However, the panel raised concerns over China and dramatic increases in the price of raw materials. The panel included the following individuals: Keith E. Busse, president and chief executive officer (CEO), Steel Dynamics Inc.; Joseph Curtin, president and chief operating officer (COO), Tube City Inc.; Robert A. Derks, CEO, Carmeuse North America; John Ferriola, executive vice president, Nucor Corp.; V. John Goodwin, COO, International Steel Group Inc.; H. Avery Hilton Jr., executive vice president — mills, CMC Steel Group; Charles Messina, vice president, Praxair Metals Technologies; John P. Surma Jr., president and COO, United States Steel Corporation; David Sutherland, president and CEO, IPSCO Inc.; and Patrick G. Tatom, president and CEO, WCI Steel Inc.

On Thursday, 16 September, International Steel Group president and CEO Rodney B. Mott gave the President’s Award Breakfast Keynote Address entitled “The Dynamics of Our Industry: Changes, Challenges and Commitments.” The speech addressed the global and cultural changes that affected the steel industry from 2001-2004, the current economic upturn and the hurdles facing the industry in a state of recovery. Overall, Mott’s message was a positive one. “I do hope, as we go forward, rather than some of the gloom and doom of the recent years, and rather than the concern with some of the issues beyond our control, we’ll get out there and promote the idea that the steel industry in North America is a dynamic industry,” Mott said.

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