Hans van den Berg

CEO
Tata Steel Nederland

Hans van den Berg (1962) is the current CEO of Tata Steel Netherlands (TSN) and Tata Steel IJmuiden, a position he has held since 2021. Before his directorship, Van den Berg had already worked for 31 years at Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known as Koninklijke Hoogovens. He trained as a physicist and earned his PhD degree in physics from Leiden University in 1989. In 1999, he completed a dual MBA program at Nyenrode University and the University of Rochester in New York.

At the steelworks in IJmuiden, he held various roles in departments such as Blast Furnaces, Research & Development, the Oxygen Steel Plant, the Cold Rolling Mill, and the Direct Sheet Plant. Since 2016, he has been part of the management team of TSN and the IJmuiden branch, where he became CEO in October 2021 following the separation from the British division and the dissolution of Tata Steel Europe.  

Together with the other members of the Board of Directors, a team of experts and all other employees of Tata Steel Nederland, Hans is working on the implementation of TSN’s Green Steel plans with the first step in 2030. In parallel, TSN is executing an extensive plan with measures that are taken to prevent all possible forms of nuisance/emissions in the environment. Besides all technological innovations, Hans gets the most satisfaction from contact with the people on the shopfloor. 

Mark Bula

CEO
Blastr Green Steel

As a 35-year steel industry veteran, Mark has played pivotal roles in six steel start-up projects on three continents.  He was instrumental in the go-to-market strategy and commercial negotiations as the Chief Commercial Officer for Swedish-based Stegra, helping raise €7.0B to build the world's first green steel plant.

While most of Mark's career was in heavy industry, he spent three years as the Managing Director of a boutique strategic consulting company and a Corporate Director of Marketing for a building products company.  He has an MBA from the University of Toledo, USA.  He splits his time between Helsinki and London.  

Jose Noldin

CEO
GravitHy

José Noldin is the CEO of GravitHy, an industrial company backed by a world-class international consortium with the mission to accelerate the decarbonization of the European steel industry. GravitHy is pioneering the production of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) using low-carbon hydrogen, with the unique value proposition of decoupling iron from steelmaking to bridge the competitiveness gap, support decarbonization, and reinforce Europe’s industrial sovereignty. Under Dr. Noldin’s leadership, the company is advancing a €2+ billion project in Fos-sur-Mer, France, to produce 2 million tonnes of DRI annually and create over 3,000 jobs (of which up to 500 direct jobs). GravitHy recently secured €60 million in funding and was named a Project of Major National Interest by the French government.

With a PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from PUC-Rio, Dr. Noldin is a recognized leader in the iron and steel industry, known for driving industrial innovation and sustainability. He frequently contributes to strategic policy dialogues at the French and European levels and currently serves as Chairman of AIST Europe. His work has earned him numerous awards, including the Thomas Medal, the Ironmaking Prize, and an AIST Presidential Citation, reflecting his impact across the global metals sector.

Gilles Mirol

Chief Commercial Officer
Hydnum Steel

Gilles Miron is the Chief Commercial Officer of Hydnum Steel. He is an experienced Manager of international sales teams in the steel industry for all flat carbon product in EMEA and NAFTA . Has a strong management sales record in term of sales numbers and improving margins but also maintaining customer satisfaction and building strong customer relationship finding their steel solutions .
Gilles has developed advanced skills in International Project Management, Marketing Management, Operations Management, International Business, and Sales Management.

Otto Gernandt

CFO
Stegra

Otto Gernandt is Chief Financial Officer at Stegra. He has more than 10 years of investment banking and investing experience. Prior to Stegra, Otto worked as an investment professional in London at Ventiga Capital Partners. Previous experiences include Goldman Sachs and Centerbridge Partners in London and New York, NY. Otto has a MSc in Business and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Uwe Hadwich

Global Director Procurement
Kirchhoff Automotive

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.

Simon Juul Toft

Head of Green Procurement
Ørsted A/S

Simon Juul Toft is the Head of Green Procurement at Ørsted.

With over 15 years’ experience within procurement and supply chain, and 10 years in the energy sector, Simon has gained deep insight into the mechanics of the energy value chain. During his four years with Ørsted, Simon has worked intensively on the decarbonisation of steel and has the profound belief that the value chain needs to collaborate closely to drive industry-wide decarbonisation.

Simon holds a M.Sc. in Applied Economics from Copenhagen Business School

Joachim von Scheele

Global Director Commercialization
Linde

Joachim von Schéele has been working with process and manufacturing industries, predominantly in steel, minerals, and metals production, but also in automotive, and chemical sectors, etc.

With a mix of metallurgical research and consultancy background, Joachim von Schéele joined the industrial gases industry in 1996. Since then, he has served in many different technical and commercial management roles at AGA, BOC, and Linde, and been actively doing business in more than 40 countries around the world. After a decade in Asia, first in India as VP for South Asia and then in China heading Application Development & Sales for Asia-Pacific, he is since 2020 based in Munich, Germany, pursuing his current role at Linde.

Focusing on decarbonisation including use of hydrogen, Joachim von Schéele is very much engaged in driving the sustainability agenda supporting steel, metals, mining, and other hard-to-abate industries to achieve measurable progress and success. Joachim von Schéele has published more than 200 papers, mainly on energy and emission conservation, recycling, and production, and authored chapters in five books, including on China in ‘Touching Hydrogen Future – Tour Around the Globe’. He has served as a member of more than 30 boards of companies, associations, and research and education organizations, and is included in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Engineering, and Who’s Who in Asia, and he holds seven patents related to metallurgical production.

Joachim von Schéele received his MS and PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and a BA from Stockholm University.