BIOGRAPHY

Chris is Head of Steel, leading a global team of over 50 analysts and prices assessors providing timely, topical and insightful research on the steel industry.

He oversees a portfolio of services covering the key points along the steel value chain, including prices, supply and demand dynamics, and costs. Previously, Chris was the Analysis Lead for CRU’s global research in crude steel and ferrous metallics, and was editor of CRU's Crude Steel Market Outlook and Metallics Market Outlook. Chris joined CRU in April 2014 after having worked in the steel industry for 14 years across a range of strategy, supply chain and operational roles.

Chris has a Master of Business Administration from a leading Australian University, the Australian Graduate School of Business (AGSM) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Materials) from the University of Wollongong. Chris is based in CRU's London office. 

BIOGRAPHY

Chris is Head of Steel, leading a global team of over 50 analysts and prices assessors providing timely, topical and insightful research on the steel industry.

He oversees a portfolio of services covering the key points along the steel value chain, including prices, supply and demand dynamics, and costs. Previously, Chris was the Analysis Lead for CRU’s global research in crude steel and ferrous metallics, and was editor of CRU's Crude Steel Market Outlook and Metallics Market Outlook. Chris joined CRU in April 2014 after having worked in the steel industry for 14 years across a range of strategy, supply chain and operational roles.

Chris has a Master of Business Administration from a leading Australian University, the Australian Graduate School of Business (AGSM) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Materials) from the University of Wollongong. Chris is based in CRU's London office. 

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Adam is Vice President of Tata Steel, President of Eurofer and Chairman of Tata Steel Netherlands Holding. He also chairs the Steel Institute VDEh in Germany. He provides a vast experience in the steel industry, including production, sales, marketing and leadership roles outside the company i.e. at WorldAutoSteel. Dr. Adam joined Tata Steel in 2011 as Chief Commercial Officer for the Tata Steel Europe, following his tenure as CEO of ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel and various roles at ThyssenKrupp before. Born in Essen, Germany, he holds a mechanical engineering degree and specializes in automotive engineering and materials application. Dr. Adam's career began in 1991 in vehicle safety technologies, later advancing to Managing Director of a German engineering consultancy. His contributions have shaped the industry's direction, emphasizing innovation and excellence in steel manufacturing.

BIOGRAPHY

José Noldin is the CEO of GravitHy, a company launched by a world-class and international industrial consortium that aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the global steel industry by producing direct reduced iron (DRI) from low-carbon hydrogen. He oversees the development of the company, including its first project in Fos-sur-Mer (south of France), which will require 2.2 billion euros of investment and is expected to create over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. For over 20 years, José Noldin has impacted the iron and steel industry by leading successful and innovative industrial ventures, with special focus in business impact and decarbonization.

BIOGRAPHY

Martin Pei has a bachelor of science in ferrous metallurgy from Northeastern University, Shenyang, China and a doctorate in process metallurgy from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Mr. Pei started his working experience in 1994 at Danieli and since 2001 he has been with SSAB, Sweden.

Since 2007, he has served as executive vice president and CTO at SSAB. During 2010 and 2014, he also served as head of SSAB Business Area APAC. Mr. Pei is the initiator of the HYBRIT initiative, a cooperation between SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall and served as the first-term chairman of board for Hybrit Development AB. He is currently chairman of board for SWERIM—the Swedish Research Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Metals Research. Mr. Pei is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy for Engineering Sciences.

BIOGRAPHY

Stéphane TONDO, General Manager of ArcelorMittal is currently head of climate change - governmental affairs and in that function, he contributes to the decarbonization roadmap of European entities and its financing. Stéphane joined Sollac, a former company of ArcelorMittal in the automotive sales division in 1998 where he held several positions, from market development engineer, through key account manager and finally heading an automotive sales area. Since 2013, he has been Chief Marketing Officer in charge of Packaging, Oil and gas, and Electrical Steel segments within ArcelorMittal Europe Flat Products. Additionally, in March 2020, he took the role of Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal Avelino & Canossa in Italy. Stéphane holds a degree as sales engineer from the Esidec business school in Metz (France).

BIOGRAPHY

Paul moved to CRU's newly-formed Sustainability team in August 2021 where he is working closely with clients and internally on carbon market and energy transition issues. Paul joined CRU in 2012 and, latterly, was responsible for CRU's analysis across the whole steel value chain, from raw materials through to finished steel, as well as CRU's Steel cost services, a comprehensive suite of cost models covering iron ore mining, coal mining, steelmaking and ferroalloys operations worldwide.

Paul has 31 years' experience in the steel industry, having worked for Tata Steel, Corus, British Steel and the International Iron and Steel Institute (now the WorldSteel Association) in a range of environmental, strategic, business development, planning and technical roles.

Paul holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, a Ph.D in Theoretical Chemistry and a BSc. Honours Chemistry degree from Manchester University. He is a Chartered Chemist and Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (CChem MRSC). Paul is based in CRU's Singapore office.

BIOGRAPHY

Currently lead the corporate business development at Vattenfall. Our main focus is to realise the vision "Fossilfree Industry". Vattenfall can support heavy industry to shift away from fossil fuels and instead use fossilfree electricity and hydrogen. Previous experience include corporate strategy development at Vattenfall, Boston Consulting Group and Ericsson.

BIOGRAPHY

Anna Ekdahl is a visionary leader in the energy sector, with a rich background in strategic business development, project management, and innovation. At Ramboll, she spearheads initiatives aiding industries through their energy transition, providing solutions that ensure security of supply, affordability, and sustainability. She drives business opportunities, leveraging advanced technologies in heat recovery, electrification and conversion projects, carbon capture and P2X.

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Aysemin started her professional career as a Project Assistant at a research center conducting projects in the field of aviation. Then, in 2019, she started working as a Product Development Engineer at Ford Otosan in different vehicle programs. Since 2022, she has been conducting sustainable material applications such as recycled and renewable plastics, biopolymers, bio-fillers, green steel, etc., following regulatory demands, contributing to the company's sustainability goals, leading and supporting funded projects related to sustainable material applications. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Materials Engineering.

BIOGRAPHY

Annie has spent 30 years in sustainability. Most recently she spent nine years shaping ArcelorMittal’s sustainability agenda, leading on stakeholder engagement, reporting, and investor relations. Before this, she worked with global renewable energy firm RES Group in their zero emissions head office, establishing their environmental education programme and initiating their sustainability programme as the company developed large- and small-scale wind, solar and biomass projects.  

Annie graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford. She has completed several CPD courses in renewable energy, corporate social responsibility, human rights, and steelmaking.

BIOGRAPHY

Frank joined CRU Sustainability in June 2021 as an external Consultant. He has over 20 years of experience as an economist working in both the private and public sectors. He has worked in the UK, Germany and the United States. Prior to joining CRU, Frank was Senior Advisor at the Bank of England. Frank started his career at the Economist Intelligence Unit. From there he moved on to HM Treasury, the UK's finance ministry, where he worked on fiscal frameworks and helped establish the UK's assessment of fiscal sustainability. He also worked at the German Federal Finance Ministry and helped set up a thought leadership programme at Pension Corporation.

Frank joined the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department in 2011. He was involved in the IMF's Romania programme and co-led on pension reforms. Frank is interested in the intersection between the real economy and capital markets, and how green finance can help the transition to a low carbon economy. Frank holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics. Find out more about CRU’s services CRU's unique services are the product of both our in-depth understanding of the markets and close contact with our customers. We want to hear from you. Get in touchHead office1st Floor, MidCity Place71 High HolbornLondonWC1V 6EAUnited KingdomT: +44 20 7903 2000LinkedInTwitter

BIOGRAPHY

James has over 25 years steel industry experience in a variety of market-focused roles. He heads CRU’s finished steel analysis team, providing thought leadership and guidance across flat products, long products and industry decarbonisation, including green steel.Prior to joining CRU, James worked for Tata Steel where he fulfilled a number of commercial roles in the UK and the Netherlands.

As well as being a member of the UK strip products commercial management team, James has worked in both strategic and operational marketing roles. Industry experience includes managing market insight, price policy, forecasting and strategy.James joined CRU in 2017 and managed CRU’s sheet steel and long products forecast services before moving to his current role.He holds a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry from Aston University and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK.

BIOGRAPHY

Jamie Mcleod is a Senior Manager in Crowe UK’s dedicated Customs team, advising and supporting clients from a broad range of sectors on managing their cross-border trade activities. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has become an increasing area of focus for the team, supporting UK exporters and EU importers alike with understanding their CBAM obligations and developing management processes, with a particular focus on the steel industry. The team are also actively engaged in the plans for development of UK CBAM, which is due to be implemented in 2027.

BIOGRAPHY

Max Menzel holds a doctorate degree in Materials Engineering from RWTH Aachen University. His career started within Research & Development, focusing on the development of new products and processing routes. After being responsible for Outokumpu’s Product Management team he is currently in a commercial role and responsible for the team of Sustainability & Technical Customer Service. Clear priority on shaping a greener future for the stainless steel industry.

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Göran is a past Executive Vice President Marketing and Technology at Ovako, now working half time as Senior Advisor. Göran is also a partner of FerroSilva AB, a start-up for producing fossil-free sponge iron energy-efficiently. Göran was 24 years with Sandvik in Group VP positions in the Business Areas of steel, mining and construction, as well as tooling. Göran holds a Master of Science in Materials Physics from Uppsala University in Sweden and has also studied Business Administration at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

BIOGRAPHY

Mark Broderick is the Global Head of Procurement at Kingspan Group. He has extensive Global Procurement experience, working for multi-national companies across different industries and has also held Senior General Management roles. Mark leads the Kingspan Group steel decarbonisation agenda as part of Kingspan’s Planet Passionate programme. In 2021 he was appointed to the H2 Green Steel investment advisory board following Kingspan’s investment.

BIOGRAPHY

Matthew Watkins is CRU's European flat Steel analyst and the Editor of the Global Steel Trade Service and Steel Plate Market Outlook. In the early 2000s he spent five years at CRU, initially working across commodities in the Consulting team and subsequently joining the Steel team as an analyst.

Following that he moved to Rio Tinto and worked there for over six years in a number of business development and marketing roles, focused primarily on products within the global iron and steel sector. After a period as a freelance metals and mining consultant he re-joined CRU in 2015.Matthew holds a BSc in Geology from the University of Durham, and an MSc in Mineral Exploration from Imperial College, London.

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Thomas Hörnfeldt is Vice President Sustainable Business at SSAB. He has an MBA from Uppsala University and an MSc from KTH in Stockholm. He has vast experience in general management & sales, market intelligence as well as sustainability. He has been Managing Director of Ruukki Sverige, Senior Vice President Special Steels & International Sales at Ruukki Metals Ltd, Vice President at Atlas Copco Dynapac and Vice President Corporate Marketing & Sales at steel provider Ovako. The career started at ABB, which he left as Vice President in 2004, after almost 13 years of management positions in the metals industry activities. He has unique insights into the incorporation of sustainability into the business model of the organization.

BIOGRAPHY

After finishing my engineering studies with a Master’s Degree, I started with a procurement job in the automotive industry 30 years ago. At the beginning I started with steel components as fasteners, tubular products, forgings and others while later I became responsible for the flat steel and aluminium procurement on a global base, which is also my current responsibility. During my professional life I also gained international experience and stayed some years in Brasil, Italy and China. Currently my main topics besides the standard procurement activities is the green transition, which comes with lots of topics like the CBAM, supplier and customer targets for decarbonisation, increasing trade barriers, setting up our own plan for the decarbonisation and concluding agreements to make it happen.

BIOGRAPHY

Christophe Roux has more than 30 years' experience financing and advising natural resources production and transformation projects and has worked in Frankfurt, Singapore, Paris and London.he has led SG's Batteries, Mining and Industries team in CEMA region since 2017 and has more particularly drove the shift of the team's focus towards investments into the energy transition and supervised the execution of several large multisource advisory and arranging mandates, many of whom were to support investments in low carbon metallurgy.

BIOGRAPHY

Erik heads ING's Frankfurt based Metals, Mining & Fertilizers sector coverage team. He has over 10 years of experience in covering the metals sector for ING. In this time, he has structured, coordinated, and executed a wide range of financial solutions for clients across the industry. In addition, Erik acts as Global Steel Lead within ING. As such he is responsible for setting the banks commercial strategy towards the sector.

It was in this responsibility that he led the development of the Sustainable Steel Principles, which were launched in the fall of 2022 and for which he acts as chair of the related association. The Sustainable Steel Principles are the first climate aligned finance agreement for the steel sector. This landmark agreement comprises a methodology for banks to report the carbon intensity of their steel portfolio, as well as engagement tools to facilitate client engagement to further decarbonization in the sector.

BIOGRAPHY

Matthew has over 20 years of experience working in both consulting and the global steel industry.Prior to joining CRU in 2016, Matthew held a number of senior management positions within Tata Steel in Europe and its predecessor companies. These included Strategy Director for the Long Products Division and more recently Head of Portfolio Development across all Divisions. Matthew also spent five years living and working in France whilst working within the then Corus Rail business unit.

Since joining CRU as Head of Steel and Steel Raw Materials Consulting, he has led assignments across for a number of leading international companies within the steel value chain in Europe, China, the Middle East, Australia, Japan and SE Asia. In 2018, Matthew moved to Singapore to head up CRU Consulting’s APAC regional teams in Sydney, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore alongside his steel role.

Since returning to the UK at the end of 2021, Matthew works as an Associate Managing Consultant for CRU Consulting, continuing to work on and develop major client accounts throughout the steel value chain and across the globe as well as further developing CRU Consulting’s offer in this ‘space’, especially in the area of decarbonisation and related ESG matters.

Matthew has a First Class Honours degree in Engineering from Loughborough University and a post-graduate diploma in Manufacturing and Management from Cambridge University. He holds an MBA from the ENPC School of International Business, Paris. He is a Sainsbury Management Fellow.

BIOGRAPHY

William joined Citi over 10 year ago. He now runs the Global M&M Corporate Banking team out of London after running the European business. William has 25 years of banking experience focused on Corporate Finance to Natural Resources companies across Capital Structuring Advisory, Acquisition financing, Bonds, Loans transactions in both Developed and Emerging Markets William has been providing capital structuring advice to the worlds largest Metals and Mining companies for several decades and can offer advice on optimal capital structures as well as ESG strategies

BIOGRAPHY

Gareth has over 20 years of experience working in businesses focused on the production and processing of steel. Before joining CRU Consulting, he held several senior leadership positions within British Steel, Tata Steel Europe and its predecessor companies, including strategy development, sales and marketing and supply chain director roles.Gareth has spoken at industry events, such as Eurometal World Steel Distribution Summit, sat on various UK Steel and Eurofer product committees and worked with UK governments on public procurement guidelines for steel.Gareth has recently joined the CRU Consulting team

BIOGRAPHY

Madalina Ivanica is Acting Head of Unit in the European Commission - Unit on Energy Intensive Industries and Raw Materials of the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs since December 2022. She previously worked in the Directorate-General for Environment in the area of enlargement and accession negotiations and EU inter-institutional relations. Ms. Ivanica served also as Advisor to the Romanian Chief Negotiator for accession to the European Union and was Director of Studies and an Associate Professor in European Studies at the Maastricht University. Ms. Ivanica received a Ph.D. in economics and holds a B.Sc. (Honours) in Psychology.

BIOGRAPHY

Matthew has over 20 years of experience working in both consulting and the global steel industry.Prior to joining CRU in 2016, Matthew held a number of senior management positions within Tata Steel in Europe and its predecessor companies. These included Strategy Director for the Long Products Division and more recently Head of Portfolio Development across all Divisions. Matthew also spent five years living and working in France whilst working within the then Corus Rail business unit.

Since joining CRU as Head of Steel and Steel Raw Materials Consulting, he has led assignments across for a number of leading international companies within the steel value chain in Europe, China, the Middle East, Australia, Japan and SE Asia. In 2018, Matthew moved to Singapore to head up CRU Consulting’s APAC regional teams in Sydney, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore alongside his steel role.

Since returning to the UK at the end of 2021, Matthew works as an Associate Managing Consultant for CRU Consulting, continuing to work on and develop major client accounts throughout the steel value chain and across the globe as well as further developing CRU Consulting’s offer in this ‘space’, especially in the area of decarbonisation and related ESG matters.

Matthew has a First Class Honours degree in Engineering from Loughborough University and a post-graduate diploma in Manufacturing and Management from Cambridge University. He holds an MBA from the ENPC School of International Business, Paris. He is a Sainsbury Management Fellow.

BIOGRAPHY

Rutger Gyllenram is a Swedish process metallurgist focusing on resource conservation and decarbonisation. He is the founder of Kobolde & Partners AB, a company working on raw material assessment and optimisation, and co-founder of FerroSilva AB, an industrial project on producing DRI from pellets with a reduction gas from gasified biomass followed by CCUS of the biogenic CO2 to produce ship fuel.

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Thais joined CRU in August 2015 and is the editor of CRU's Crude Steel Market Outlook and Metallics Market Outlook. Thais has over 13 years' experience in commodities research.

Prior to joining CRU, she worked at Nexa Resources, a Brazilian mining and metals producer, where she was responsible for the analysis of base metals markets. She holds a Business Administration degree from Fundação Getúlio Vargas and is based in CRU's Santiago office.

BIOGRAPHY

Erik Hedborg is the editor of CRU’s Iron Ore Market Outlook and joined CRU in 2017.

He previously worked as an analyst in the iron ore industry with special focus on the pellet market and China. Erik speaks fluent Chinese and holds a MSc from the Lulea University of Technology in Sweden and an MA from the Berlin School of Economics and Law.

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Christer Lundqvist has been the CEO of GrangeX since 2020, he studied mining engineering and was previously Chairman of the Board at Copperstone Resources AB and CEO of Nordic Iron Ore AB

BIOGRAPHY

Ronne Hamerslag has previously held a managerial roles within Boliden’s raw materials supply and the procurement organization. Prior to that, he has held a number of operational and business leadership roles in international operations. Ronne also has experience from several start-up companies and board positions. He also holds a M.Sc in Metallurgy and Materials Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm

BIOGRAPHY

Thais joined CRU in August 2015 and is the editor of CRU's Crude Steel Market Outlook and Metallics Market Outlook. Thais has over 13 years' experience in commodities research.

Prior to joining CRU, she worked at Nexa Resources, a Brazilian mining and metals producer, where she was responsible for the analysis of base metals markets. She holds a Business Administration degree from Fundação Getúlio Vargas and is based in CRU's Santiago office.

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

James has over 25 years steel industry experience in a variety of market-focused roles. He heads CRU’s finished steel analysis team, providing thought leadership and guidance across flat products, long products and industry decarbonisation, including green steel.Prior to joining CRU, James worked for Tata Steel where he fulfilled a number of commercial roles in the UK and the Netherlands.

As well as being a member of the UK strip products commercial management team, James has worked in both strategic and operational marketing roles. Industry experience includes managing market insight, price policy, forecasting and strategy.James joined CRU in 2017 and managed CRU’s sheet steel and long products forecast services before moving to his current role.He holds a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry from Aston University and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK.

BIOGRAPHY

Kostiantyn joined CRU Consulting in October 2018 as an associate consultant, based in Ukraine but working as part of the London team, where he manages a diverse set of projects in steel and ferrous raw materials with a focus on market feasibility studies, long term scenario evaluation, market segmentation and product strategies.Kostiantyn specialises in the CIS region and also provides support in other commodities such as aluminium and fertilizers.   

Kostiantyn has 15 years of experience in the industry ranging from steel and steel products to iron ore and manganese ferroalloys, having worked at Metinvest and Interpipe in a range of strategic analysis, business development and marketing roles based in Ukraine and in Europe, as well as in equity research in investment banking as a metals and mining analyst. Kostiantyn earned a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from the International Institute of Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland (2014). He also holds a bachelor’s degree in International Economics from Dnipro National University in Ukraine.

BIOGRAPHY

Thomas Koch Blank is Managing Director of the Climate-Aligned Industries program at RMI, where he leads initiatives promoting green hydrogen adoption in heavy industry. Previously, he helped build consultancy McKinsey & Company’s Sustainability and Resource Productivity practice, advising the world’s largest companies in the decarbonization of production and supply chains, and serving as a senior advisor to national governments drafting and implementing sustainability strategies. He holds a Master of Science degree in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Janjua holds PhD in Material Sciences from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. He joined the steel industry in 2002 and has been involved in process technology, energy efficiency, process yield and asset reliability. He is Head of Technology at World Steel Association and is responsible for leading worldsteel’s activities in the field of technology, energy efficiency, and CO2 breakthrough. He is secretary to the worldsteel Technology Committee (TECO), CO2 Breakthrough Programme and leads the ‘StepUp’ programme which is aimed at improvements in mill operations to efficiency levels commensurate with the steel industry’s top performers for emissions and energy intensity using existing proven installed technology and best practices. He led the flagship project “Premature Wear of Copper Staves in Blast Furnaces” investigating ways of extending campaign-life of Blast Furnaces by minimising stave wear – the outcomes are highly acclaimed and frequently cited in publications. He has represented the steel industry in technical discussions on energy and climate change at IEA, IRENA and OECD and reviewed several technical reports.

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Peter Samuelsson is founder and chairman of the board of FerroSilva AB.  Samuelsson has a PhD in Metallurgical Process Science, and is Docent in Production technology – steel and metals industry, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He has some 35 years of experience from both Swedish and international steel- and engineering industry. Samuelsson has been CTO & VP of Sandvik Materials Technology. SVP R&D at Outokumpu, as well as various senior business-, production- and logistics management positions.

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