Agenda

Senior Analyst,  CRU
Greg Wittbecker is based in Pittsburgh. In this capacity he supports North American and Global fundamental aluminum analysis. Mr Wittbecker joined CRU in January 2018, following his retirement as Vice President, Industry Analysis, Alcoa. During his 14 years at Alcoa, he held director roles in analysis, logistics, recycling policy and corporate strategy. During 2016-2017, Mr Wittbecker was Managing Director of Alcoa China, Shanghai, where he led Alcoa’s comprehensive analysis of the Chinese upstream markets. Before joining Alcoa in 2003, he was Global Manager of Physical Metal Trading for Koch Supply & Trading. From 1988-2001, Mr Wittbecker served as Vice President, Wise Metals Group, responsible for risk management and primary metal trading. He began his career with Cargill Inc, holding a progression of operational and trading roles within grains, metals and ocean freight.

Consultant,  CRU

Jackie Wang is based in CRU's Beijing office. Ms Wang covers the whole aluminium value chain and focuses on aluminium market research. She joined CRU in 2014. Since then, Ms Wang has developed expertise across the industry. She visits refineries, smelters, downstream plants and warehouses on a regular basis and attends aluminium conferences and gives presentation. She is a major contributor to CRU reports, fortnightly, monitors and market outlook. Ms Wang holds a MA in Economics from State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY, Buffalo). Before CRU, she worked for Retention&Operation Group in US for three years as a Financial Analyst.

Head of Analysis,  CRU
Paul Williams is the Head of Aluminium, and Research Manager responsible for the research programme of the team. Mr Williams joined CRU in 1986 and for many years ran the Aluminium Semis and Downstream areas specialising in flat rolled product markets and demand analysis. A regular speaker at major aluminium events, he also contributes to aluminium association publications including those of the Aluminum Association. Mr Williams has a MSc in Economics, London School of Economics. BA in Economics, University of Swansea.

Head of Primary & Products, Aluminium,  CRU
Eoin Dinsmore joined CRU in 2011 after previously working for Nestle. He obtained an MSc. in Finance and Capital markets from Dublin City University in 2008 and holds a BA in Economics and History. Mr Dinsmore is a Principal Consultant in the Aluminium Primary and Products Team. His main areas of specialism include aluminium price forecasting, semis and primary demand and production analysis.

Analyst, Aluminium,  CRU
Henry Van is the editor of the Casthouse Shapes Market Outlook, and joined CRU in 2017. Mr Van provides analysis on primary aluminium and downstream products. Prior to joining CRU, he worked at S&P Global Platts as an aluminium pricing specialist. Mr Van holds an MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School and a BSc in Financial Management from the University of Warwick.

Managing Consultant, Aluminium,  CRU
Kelly Driscoll has been with CRU in London since 1995, following a ten-year career as a process metallurgist working with Kaiser Aluminum in the US and with Johnson Matthey in London. Mr Driscoll’s current main responsibility is for the development and improvement of CRU’s aluminium industry cost models, and for the technical development of CRU’s Aluminium products and services. He holds a BSc in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. in Metallurgy from Cambridge University.

Research Analyst, Aluminium,  CRU
Benjamin Thomas joined the CRU Aluminium team in September 2016. Working as a Research Analyst in Aluminium costs he works across the full spectrum of Aluminium products. Mr Thomas works on the development and improvement of the cost models produced by the team. He is responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions aspects of Aluminium costs models and reports, ensuring that the team and products are up to date with the latest emissions policy and legislation affecting the industry. He studied at Imperial College London for four years graduating in 2016 with a BSc in Geophysics and an MSc in Environmental Technology. Ben's Master's project involved technical analysis of potential carbon capture schemes.

Secretary General,  International Aluminium Institute
Ron Knapp was appointed Secretary General of the International Aluminium Institute, London in December 2008. Prior to this, Mr Knapp was Executive Director of the Australian Aluminium Council from 2002 to 2008 – and earlier roles include the World Coal Institute (London) and the Minerals Council of Australia. The International Aluminium Institute is the global forum of the world's aluminium industry. Through the Institute, the aluminium industry aims to promote a wider understanding of its value and that of its products to society – and seeks to demonstrate its responsibility in relation to all key sustainability issues . . . environmental, health, safety and recycling.

Head of Analysis,  CRU
Paul Williams is the Head of Aluminium, and Research Manager responsible for the research programme of the team. Mr Williams joined CRU in 1986 and for many years ran the Aluminium Semis and Downstream areas specialising in flat rolled product markets and demand analysis. A regular speaker at major aluminium events, he also contributes to aluminium association publications including those of the Aluminum Association. Mr Williams has a MSc in Economics, London School of Economics. BA in Economics, University of Swansea.

Senior Vice President,  Chalco
Mr Yinggang Jiang, born in May 1963, is currently Executive Director, VP and Chief Safety Officer of Chalco. Mr Jiang is a professor-grade senior engineer and holds a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering from China’s Central South University.

Vice President, Sales and Marketing,  Rio Tinto Aluminium
Tolga Egrilmezer is a global executive with extensive experience in the aluminium industry. He has recently joined Rio Tinto and is currently leading Rio Tinto Aluminium’s bauxite, alumina and aluminium sales & marketing teams globally. He is part of Rio Tinto Aluminium Executive Committee and has recently been elected to the ASI Board of Directors (Aluminium Stewardship Initiative). Mr Egrilmezer’s most recent experience was for the Sapa Group, a world leader in aluminium solutions. He joined Sapa Group in 2002 and held increasingly senior executive roles reflecting his breadth of experience in commercial, business transformation and innovation, culminating in his appointment as a member of the Sapa Executive Board in 2011. His experience includes serving as President of Sapa Asia based in Shanghai, with responsibility for Sapa's P&L in China, Vietnam and India as well as its’ sales network in South Korea and Japan. Mr Egrilmezer also served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors in Sapa Group’s joint venture in China with Chinalco 2011 – 2015.

CEO,  ALBA
Tim Murray has been Chief Executive Officer of Alba since October 2012. Mr Murray has been with Alba since 2007 when he joined as General Manager of Finance. During his time at Alba he has held the roles of Chief Finance & Supply Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. Mr Murray holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University where he graduated Beta Gamma Sigma. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Susquehanna University. Mr Murray is a CPA and member of the American Institute of CPAs. He has attended various Executive Management Programs at Wharton and University of Chicago.

CEO,  Liberty House Group

Douglas Dawson is a prominent British business leader with a 30-year track record of achievement and success within the UK and international engineering, manufacturing and industrial sectors. Currently Chief Executive of Liberty Industries Group, he is also a member of the Strategic Board of the $13bn a year Gupta Family Alliance.

Head of Analysis,  CRU
Paul Williams is the Head of Aluminium, and Research Manager responsible for the research programme of the team. Mr Williams joined CRU in 1986 and for many years ran the Aluminium Semis and Downstream areas specialising in flat rolled product markets and demand analysis. A regular speaker at major aluminium events, he also contributes to aluminium association publications including those of the Aluminum Association. Mr Williams has a MSc in Economics, London School of Economics. BA in Economics, University of Swansea.

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer,  Braidy Industries
Having built three billion-dollar metals companies in 10 years, and after winning three hostile takeovers, Craig Bouchard will build the first Greenfield aluminum rolling mill in the United States in generations. Mr Bouchard is a New York Times Best Selling author. “The Caterpillar Way. Lessons in Leadership, Growth and Shareholder Value” reached #1 on the Barnes & Noble Best Seller List, and #8 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Mr Bouchard’s “The Adventures of Ai” was one of the world’s most popular children’s book projects of 2014-2017. The book, music and accompanying video game achieved 300,000 downloads on Apple iTunes, Kindle, Samsung, and Google Play. www.craigbouchard.com

Senior Analyst,  CRU
Greg Wittbecker is based in Pittsburgh. In this capacity he supports North American and Global fundamental aluminum analysis. Mr Wittbecker joined CRU in January 2018, following his retirement as Vice President, Industry Analysis, Alcoa. During his 14 years at Alcoa, he held director roles in analysis, logistics, recycling policy and corporate strategy. During 2016-2017, Mr Wittbecker was Managing Director of Alcoa China, Shanghai, where he led Alcoa’s comprehensive analysis of the Chinese upstream markets. Before joining Alcoa in 2003, he was Global Manager of Physical Metal Trading for Koch Supply & Trading. From 1988-2001, Mr Wittbecker served as Vice President, Wise Metals Group, responsible for risk management and primary metal trading. He began his career with Cargill Inc, holding a progression of operational and trading roles within grains, metals and ocean freight.

Executive Vice President,  Century Aluminum
Jesse Gary, 38, is the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Century Aluminum Company. Mr Gary joined Century in 2010 after practicing corporate law at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York. He received his B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.

President & CEO,  The Aluminum Association
Heidi Biggs Brock joined the Aluminum Association as President in October 2011 and became CEO in October 2013. Ms Brock employs her experience from the private and public sectors to lead the association, which represents 80 percent of all forms of aluminum production in North America. Before joining the association, she was Vice-President of Federal and International Affairs leading the Washington DC office of Weyerhaeuser, a Fortune 500 company. Ms Brock worked previously on the staffs of former U.S. Senators Dan Evans and Slade Gorton. She and her husband, the Reverend Charles Brock, have a son Samuel and live in Arlington, Virginia.

Head of North America Aluminum,  CRU
Doug Hilderhoff joined CRU as the Head of North American Aluminum Analysis in 2017. He is based in CRU's Pittsburgh office and his responsibilities encompass the entire aluminium value chain. Mr Hilderhoff provides key insights into the North American aluminum market and contributes to many of CRU's aluminum publications. Prior to joining CRU, he spent 11 years at Alcoa, most recently as the Sr. Manager of Global Market Intelligence where he led a team of analysts focused primarily on refining, smelting, and casting raw materials. Mr Hilderhoff holds an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from the Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Analyst,  CRU
Henry Van is the editor of the Casthouse Shapes Market Outlook, and joined CRU in 2017. Mr Van provides analysis on primary aluminium and downstream products. Prior to joining CRU, he worked at S&P Global Platts as an aluminium pricing specialist. Mr Van holds an MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School and a BSc in Financial Management from the University of Warwick.

Senior Vice President Research & Innovation,  Gränges

Kent Schölin has an MSc in Material Science from Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (1988). After graduation Mr Schölin joined Gränges’ research centre in Finspång, Sweden as a research engineer specializing in aluminium flat rolled products for brazed heat exchangers. He has held a number of R&D and operations positions within Gränges. After a seven-year period outside Gränges, Mr Schölin returned as president for European operations between 2012 and 2017. Since spring 2017, he has been Senior Vice President Research & Innovation with global responsibility for Gränges research and development.

CEO & Managing Partner,  Hammerer Aluminium Industries
Rob van Gils is the CEO and Managing Partner of HAI Group. HAI is one of the biggest family owned businesses within the European Aluminium Industry and covers the whole value chain from recycling, billet production, extrusions and aluminium components for B&C, Industrial Applications and Transportation Industry. Mr van Gils holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of applied Sciences in Deggendorf, Germany and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Louisville.

Head of Primary & Products, Aluminium,  CRU
Eoin Dinsmore joined CRU in 2011 after previously working for Nestle. He obtained an MSc. in Finance and Capital markets from Dublin City University in 2008 and holds a BA in Economics and History. Mr Dinsmore is a Principal Consultant in the Aluminium Primary and Products Team. His main areas of specialism include aluminium price forecasting, semis and primary demand and production analysis.

Analyst,  CRU
Henry Van is the editor of the Casthouse Shapes Market Outlook, and joined CRU in 2017. Mr Van provides analysis on primary aluminium and downstream products. Prior to joining CRU, he worked at S&P Global Platts as an aluminium pricing specialist. Mr Van holds an MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School and a BSc in Financial Management from the University of Warwick.

Principal Consultant, Head of China Aluminium Market and Cost,  CRU
Dr Yanchen Wang is the leader of China aluminium market research. Dr Yanchen Wang joined CRU in June 2006, after obtaining his doctoral degree in Engineering from Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is responsible for Chinese aluminium market research and the development and improvement of CRU’s aluminium cost analysis, including Primary Aluminium Costs, Alumina Costs, Bauxite Costs and Aluminium power tariff Costs. Dr Wang also contributes to single-client reports and market analysis for other CRU products. He is also an expert in the technology of aluminium industry. Dr Wang regularly attends aluminium market and technology conferences and gives presentations. He has visited more than 100 bauxite mines, alumina refineries, aluminium smelters and downstream plants around the world, in China, Russia, Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the USA.

Analyst,  CRU
Henry Van is the editor of the Casthouse Shapes Market Outlook, and joined CRU in 2017. Mr Van provides analysis on primary aluminium and downstream products. Prior to joining CRU, he worked at S&P Global Platts as an aluminium pricing specialist. Mr Van holds an MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School and a BSc in Financial Management from the University of Warwick.

Managing Director,  Auryce Advisory House

Amir Mirchi is the Managing Director of Auryce, an international senior advisory firm offering services in metal & minerals and wide range of commodities around investment, M&A transaction, project and commercial. Prior to being the Managing Director at Auryce, Mr Mirchi was Regional Vice President at Rio Tinto for the Middle East and North Africa. Throughout of his professional career with Alcan and Rio Tinto he served several other leading positions with also international assignments. A Canadian citizen, Mr Mirchi holds a Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees from Belgium.

Deputy Minister & President,  IMIDRO

Business Development Director,  Liberty Aluminium Group

Director of Learning,  Aluminium Stewardship Initiative

Krista West joined ASI in early 2017 as an advisor. With a background in social auditing in a natural resource management context, Ms West specializes in the establishment and delivery of certification services for environmental and social standards systems. She was responsible for establishing a certification system that would ensure assessments against the Cornerstone Standard Council’s (a Canadian sustainability standard focusing on aggregate extraction) Standards was consistent, impartial, transparent, rigorous and accessible to all. While with Rainforest Alliance Ms West oversaw a certification program that included over 40 million hectares of FSC certified forests and 400 FSC Chain of Custody certificates. She is a respected auditor trainer and has managed training events across Canada as well as in China and Australia. Ms West has a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and a Masters of Public Administration

Vice President Europe and Asia, Sales,  Alcoa

Manager Sustainability & Economic Data,  European Aluminium
Djibril René joined European Aluminium in 2012 after previously working 3 years as a consultant in Paris and Brussels on environmental footprint and waste management. Mr René holds a master of engineering in agronomy from ENSAIA (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires) and a Master of Business Administration from the IAE (Institut d’Administration des Entreprises) Nancy. He is Manager Sustainability & Economic Data. Mr René has developed expertise on all of the parts of the aluminium value chain. His main areas of specialism include sustainability, life cycle assessment and aluminium market analysis.

Senior Reporter, Energy and Commodities,  Bloomberg

Consultant,  CRU

Jackie Wang is based in CRU's Beijing office. Ms Wang covers the whole aluminium value chain and focuses on aluminium market research. She joined CRU in 2014. Since then, Ms Wang has developed expertise across the industry. She visits refineries, smelters, downstream plants and warehouses on a regular basis and attends aluminium conferences and gives presentation. She is a major contributor to CRU reports, fortnightly, monitors and market outlook. Ms Wang holds a MA in Economics from State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY, Buffalo). Before CRU, she worked for Retention&Operation Group in US for three years as a Financial Analyst.

Head of Metals Research,  Societe Generale

Commodities Strategist,  ING

Head of Primary & Products, Aluminium,  CRU
Eoin Dinsmore joined CRU in 2011 after previously working for Nestle. He obtained an MSc. in Finance and Capital markets from Dublin City University in 2008 and holds a BA in Economics and History. Mr Dinsmore is a Principal Consultant in the Aluminium Primary and Products Team. His main areas of specialism include aluminium price forecasting, semis and primary demand and production analysis.

Head of Analysis,  CRU
Paul Williams is the Head of Aluminium, and Research Manager responsible for the research programme of the team. Mr Williams joined CRU in 1986 and for many years ran the Aluminium Semis and Downstream areas specialising in flat rolled product markets and demand analysis. A regular speaker at major aluminium events, he also contributes to aluminium association publications including those of the Aluminum Association. Mr Williams has a MSc in Economics, London School of Economics. BA in Economics, University of Swansea.

Executive Vice President, Extruded Solutions,  Hydro

Since October 2017, Egil Hogna holds the position as Executive Vice President, Hydro Extruded Solutions, prior to which he held the position as President and CEO of Sapa from September 2015. Sapa was in October 2017 acquired and is now 100% part of Norsk Hydro ASA. Mr Hogna comes from a position as Head of Downstream and Member of the Executive Board (2009-2015) in Yara. In Yara he earlier held the position as CFO (2008-2009), Business Unit Manager Mediterranean (2006-2008) and Head of IR (2004-2006). Before joining Yara Mr Hogna worked in Hydro, as VP of Hydro Aluminum Metal Products, responsible for Supply Chain & Performance Management (2001–03) and Corporate Controller Hydro Agri (1999–2001). Prior to Norsk Hydro, he was a consultant with McKinsey (1994–1999). Mr Holga holds an MSc in Industrial Management from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) and an MBA from INSEAD.

Head of North America Aluminum,  CRU
Doug Hilderhoff joined CRU as the Head of North American Aluminum Analysis in 2017. He is based in CRU's Pittsburgh office and his responsibilities encompass the entire aluminium value chain. Mr Hilderhoff provides key insights into the North American aluminum market and contributes to many of CRU's aluminum publications. Prior to joining CRU, he spent 11 years at Alcoa, most recently as the Sr. Manager of Global Market Intelligence where he led a team of analysts focused primarily on refining, smelting, and casting raw materials. Mr Hilderhoff holds an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from the Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Chairman,  Sunstone Development. Co. Ltd
Guanghui Lang, professorate senior engineer, Chairman of Board of Sunstone Development Co., Ltd., Off-Campus supervisor of Hunan University, University of Science and Technology Beijing & University of international Business and Economics. Mr Lang has Won the first prize of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Science and Technology, and is the first TMS Application to Practice Award winner of China.

Global Carbon Consultant,  

Robert Dickie has been an Independent Carbon Consultant to the Global Primary Aluminium Industry and the Calcined Petroleum Coke Industry since 2009. Mr Dickie previously was Director and Vice President of Sales at Oxbow Carbon and Great lakes Carbon (GLC) since 1992 prior to its sale to Oxbow in 2007. He was Plant manager at GLC’s Oklahoma calciner from 1989 to 1992. Prior to joining GLC, Mr Dickie spent 16 years in the aluminium industry with Alumax at their smelters in Maryland and South Carolina, where he held various positions in Environmental, Technical, and Carbon operations. Mr Dickie holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of Pittsburgh and completed MS studies in Business management at Frostburg State University. He has previously presented at CRU conferences and has visited over 87 smelters worldwide.

Coke Business Development Manager,  BP

 

Chief Commercial Officer, General Director,  RÜTGERS

Kris Vanherbergen 

Chief Commercial Officer 

General Director 

RÜTGERS  NV

Head of North America Aluminum,  CRU
Doug Hilderhoff joined CRU as the Head of North American Aluminum Analysis in 2017. He is based in CRU's Pittsburgh office and his responsibilities encompass the entire aluminium value chain. Mr Hilderhoff provides key insights into the North American aluminum market and contributes to many of CRU's aluminum publications. Prior to joining CRU, he spent 11 years at Alcoa, most recently as the Sr. Manager of Global Market Intelligence where he led a team of analysts focused primarily on refining, smelting, and casting raw materials. Mr Hilderhoff holds an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from the Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Secretary,  International Bauxite, Alumina and Aluminium Society
Ashok Nandi, Secretary, International Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium Society (IBAAS), is actively involved in evaluation of various bauxite-alumina projects in the world. Dr Nandi is one of the founder members of IBAAS. During 2007-2012 period, he worked as Senior Geological Consultant to BHP Billiton in Australia and Guinea. Presently he is consultant to Sierra Minerals Holding Ltd./VIMETCO, SBG, Guinea, SierraMin, Alufer and Rio Tinto Alcan. Dr Nandi has about 40 years experience of working in bauxite-alumina industry, research and development and industrial minerals fields.

Senior Consultant,  CRU
Anthony Everiss is a Senior Analyst in the Aluminium Raw Materials Team and is editor of the Bauxite and Alumina Market Outlook, Monitor and Long Term Market Outlook. His main areas of specialism include market fundamental analysis, price forecasting and the creation of CRU’s Alumina Price Index and CRU’s Bauxite Price Index. Mr Everiss holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Warwick.

Senior Analyst,  CRU
Greg Wittbecker is based in Pittsburgh. In this capacity he supports North American and Global fundamental aluminum analysis. Mr Wittbecker joined CRU in January 2018, following his retirement as Vice President, Industry Analysis, Alcoa. During his 14 years at Alcoa, he held director roles in analysis, logistics, recycling policy and corporate strategy. During 2016-2017, Mr Wittbecker was Managing Director of Alcoa China, Shanghai, where he led Alcoa’s comprehensive analysis of the Chinese upstream markets. Before joining Alcoa in 2003, he was Global Manager of Physical Metal Trading for Koch Supply & Trading. From 1988-2001, Mr Wittbecker served as Vice President, Wise Metals Group, responsible for risk management and primary metal trading. He began his career with Cargill Inc, holding a progression of operational and trading roles within grains, metals and ocean freight.

Head of Market Development,  LME

Senior Analyst,  CRU
Greg Wittbecker is based in Pittsburgh. In this capacity he supports North American and Global fundamental aluminum analysis. Mr Wittbecker joined CRU in January 2018, following his retirement as Vice President, Industry Analysis, Alcoa. During his 14 years at Alcoa, he held director roles in analysis, logistics, recycling policy and corporate strategy. During 2016-2017, Mr Wittbecker was Managing Director of Alcoa China, Shanghai, where he led Alcoa’s comprehensive analysis of the Chinese upstream markets. Before joining Alcoa in 2003, he was Global Manager of Physical Metal Trading for Koch Supply & Trading. From 1988-2001, Mr Wittbecker served as Vice President, Wise Metals Group, responsible for risk management and primary metal trading. He began his career with Cargill Inc, holding a progression of operational and trading roles within grains, metals and ocean freight.

Chief Scientific Officer,  Innoval Technology
Geoff Scamans is the Chief Scientific Officer at Innoval Technology and is a Professor of Metallurgy at Brunel University. His expertise is in light metals and their applications in the automotive and aerospace industries, and in knowledge transfer from the research base to industry. His main interests are in developing higher performance aluminium alloys and in the closed loop recycling of aluminium alloys as an alternative to primary production in order to transform the aluminium industry from packaging based products into transport based products (“Cans to Cars”).

Senior Analyst,  CRU
Greg Wittbecker is based in Pittsburgh. In this capacity he supports North American and Global fundamental aluminum analysis. Mr Wittbecker joined CRU in January 2018, following his retirement as Vice President, Industry Analysis, Alcoa. During his 14 years at Alcoa, he held director roles in analysis, logistics, recycling policy and corporate strategy. During 2016-2017, Mr Wittbecker was Managing Director of Alcoa China, Shanghai, where he led Alcoa’s comprehensive analysis of the Chinese upstream markets. Before joining Alcoa in 2003, he was Global Manager of Physical Metal Trading for Koch Supply & Trading. From 1988-2001, Mr Wittbecker served as Vice President, Wise Metals Group, responsible for risk management and primary metal trading. He began his career with Cargill Inc, holding a progression of operational and trading roles within grains, metals and ocean freight.

Head of Project Management Submerged Arc Furnaces and Smelting Units Dep. MEFP,  SMS Group

Martin Köneke studied non-ferrous metallurgy at the Technical University in Aachen, Germany, and qualified as Dipl.-Ing. in 1997. Mr Köneke worked for 5 years as a scientific assistant in the department of Non Ferrous Process Metallurgy of the university. In 2002 he changed to Lurgi Metallurgy GmbH and Outokumpu Technology as a lead process engineer. There, Mr Köneke worked on numerous projects in hydro- and pyrometallurgy including commissioning of the related plants. In 2007 he changed to SMS Demag (now SMS group) and worked in different positions as project manager in sales as well as project execution for submerged arc furneces (SAF). At present he is Head of Project Management Submerged Arc Furnaces and is responsible for SAF and Smelting Units of the SMS Group GmbH.

Senior Sales Manager – Digital Smelter,  GE Power
Nearly 30 years in the Aluminium Industry in many regions and positions spanning all continents, except Antartica, Mr Al-Hindawi has had a possibly unique insight into the industry in having been a supplier, producer and customer within the industry both in the primary and secondary sectors. Currently based in Dubai and leading the GE Digital Smelter CoE he is applying this knowledge into the product management, development, execution and expansion of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) into the global Aluminium Industry.

Principal Consultant,  CRU
Zaid Aljanabi joined CRU’s aluminium and copper consulting desk in January 2017, bringing an extensive experience in the aluminium and nonferrous metals industry. Prior to CRU, Mr Aljanabi spent more than six years in the Middle East working for Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), where he led the market research unit and held various positions within marketing and sales, corporate strategy and finance. Before EGA, Mr Aljanabi worked in London for a number of commodity focused consultants, including Thomson Reuters, as an analyst and he also managed the precious and base metals research unit at Diapason Commodities Management. He began his commodities research career in 2002 as a global energy economist with AUPEC, an oil and gas consultancy firm. Mr Aljanabi holds an MA with honours in economic science from the University of Aberdeen and an MSc in economics from the University of Amsterdam. He also spent a year studying economics at the Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris. Zaid speaks Arabic and French.

Head of Primary & Products, Aluminium,  CRU
Eoin Dinsmore joined CRU in 2011 after previously working for Nestle. He obtained an MSc. in Finance and Capital markets from Dublin City University in 2008 and holds a BA in Economics and History. Mr Dinsmore is a Principal Consultant in the Aluminium Primary and Products Team. His main areas of specialism include aluminium price forecasting, semis and primary demand and production analysis.

Director, Metals Research Analyst,  Deutsche Bank

,

Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Global Aluminium Business,  Vedanta Limited

Jean-Baptiste Lucas has over 20 years of international experience in the aluminium upstream and downstream. He has held a number of executive positions with global industry leaders. He has been based in the Middle-East for the last 6 years where he was most recently CEO of GARMCO (2015- March 2017) and Chief Marketing Officer of Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA) where he was responsible for cast houses operations, operational excellence, metallurgy as well as worldwide sales and marketing. Previously, he was a Managing Director at Alcan Aluminium Valais in Switzerland, where he headed the aerospace, transport and industrial division. Other roles included Director of Sales & Marketing at Alcan Specialty Sheet, in Germany and France and various assignments in strategy and business development at Pechiney rolled products.

Managing Director, Head of EMEA Commodities Research,  Citi
Maximilian J.R. Layton is the Head of Citi Commodities Research in EMEA. His focus is on cross commodity and cross asset strategies involving commodities and he has oversight over global commodities research in metals and bulk commodities. Mr Layton is widely recognized as a leading world class analyst of metals and bulk commodities. He was previously a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he facilitated the build-out of Goldman’s metals platform. Mr Layton has also held positions as Deputy Head of Commodities Research at Macquarie Bank and as the commodities economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. He received his bachelor’s degree in finance at Macquarie University followed by a first class honors degree in economics.

Head of Commodity Markets Strategy,  BOCI Global Commodities