Agenda – All times indicated are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

Professor, Political Science & Legal Studies,  Hamline University
David Schultz is Hamline University Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Legal Studies. He is also a professor of law at the University of Minnesota. A three-time Fulbright scholar, David is the author of more than 35 books and 200+ articles on various aspects of American politics and law. Professor Schultz is regularly interviewed in publications including the Washington Post, NY TImes. Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio.

Senior Economist,  Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking
Sarah House is a director and senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, she covers the U.S. macro economy, including the labor market, inflation trends, and business investment. Sarah frequently speaks about the economy to the national media, including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and National Public Radio. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2010, Sarah worked as a research associate for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Sarah earned a B.A. in economics from Tulane University in New Orleans and M.Sc. in local economic development from the London School of Economics. She has co-authored two books, Economic and Business Forecasting (2014) and Economic Modeling in the Post Great Recession Era (2017), both published by Wiley. Sarah currently serves as president of the Charlotte Economics Club, the local chapter of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of NABE and has previously served as chair for the association’s healthcare industry committee.

Senior Analyst Ore and Ferroalloys,  CRU
Clare Hanna joined CRU in August 2019 and currently works as a Senior Analyst covering Manganese Ore and Ferroalloys and is Editor of the Bulk Ferroalloys Monitor.

Ms Hanna has over 30 years’ experience in the steel industry with British Steel, Tata Steel and Corus in a range of strategy, sales, marketing and procurement roles. Recent responsibilities include business development for wire rod and, prior to that,  lead buyer ferroalloys for Tata Steel Group.  

She holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and BA Honours degree in Economics from Leeds University. 

Analyst,  CRU
Nikki Ni joined CRU in February 2020, following six years in commodities trade, quantitative and industry research. She formerly worked in a few MNEs including Glencore where she gained a wide knowledge of commodities, steelmaking industry and international trade. Her responsibilities involve analysis of Chinese domestic steel and ferroalloy markets and contributing to CRU’s Monitors and Outlooks. Nikki holds a BA in Beijing Language and Culture University in China and an MSc in Economics and Management at KU Leuven in Belgium.

Analyst,  CRU
Devanshi Singh is a steel Raw Material Analyst for India from the Mumbai office of CRU. She has a graduated degree from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and has been working with CRU for the past 1.5 years.

Head of Steel Analysis, North America,  CRU
Josh Spoores Joined CRU in 2012. Mr Spoores is head of steel analysis in North America and editor of CRU’s market leading Steel Sheet Monitor and Steel Monitor. He also forecasts prices, demand, production and trade of sheet and plate products for both Canada and the US for CRU’s steel sheet and plate market outlooks. Prior to this role at CRU, he was a Senior Marketing Analyst at Severstal North America, founder of Steel Reality, a forward-looking market analysis firm using a models-based approach for flat rolled and plate steel. He was also the Market Research Manager at Majestic Steel USA, one of the largest flat rolled service centres in the USA. He has a BSc in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University.

Head of Steel Analysis, North America,  CRU
Josh Spoores Joined CRU in 2012. Mr Spoores is head of steel analysis in North America and editor of CRU’s market leading Steel Sheet Monitor and Steel Monitor. He also forecasts prices, demand, production and trade of sheet and plate products for both Canada and the US for CRU’s steel sheet and plate market outlooks. Prior to this role at CRU, he was a Senior Marketing Analyst at Severstal North America, founder of Steel Reality, a forward-looking market analysis firm using a models-based approach for flat rolled and plate steel. He was also the Market Research Manager at Majestic Steel USA, one of the largest flat rolled service centres in the USA. He has a BSc in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University.

Analyst,  CRU
Nikki Ni joined CRU in February 2020, following six years in commodities trade, quantitative and industry research. She formerly worked in a few MNEs including Glencore where she gained a wide knowledge of commodities, steelmaking industry and international trade. Her responsibilities involve analysis of Chinese domestic steel and ferroalloy markets and contributing to CRU’s Monitors and Outlooks. Nikki holds a BA in Beijing Language and Culture University in China and an MSc in Economics and Management at KU Leuven in Belgium.

Analyst,  CRU
Devanshi Singh is a steel Raw Material Analyst for India from the Mumbai office of CRU. She has a graduated degree from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and has been working with CRU for the past 1.5 years.

Senior Analyst Ore and Ferroalloys,  CRU
Clare Hanna joined CRU in August 2019 and currently works as a Senior Analyst covering Manganese Ore and Ferroalloys and is Editor of the Bulk Ferroalloys Monitor.

Ms Hanna has over 30 years’ experience in the steel industry with British Steel, Tata Steel and Corus in a range of strategy, sales, marketing and procurement roles. Recent responsibilities include business development for wire rod and, prior to that,  lead buyer ferroalloys for Tata Steel Group.  

She holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and BA Honours degree in Economics from Leeds University. 

Director,  Midhurst Downstream Consultants
Roberto Ulivieri has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy. 
Mr Ulivieri worked in Technical Services at the ENI oil refinery in Livorno and at MW Kellogg as Process Engineer of their refining group. While at Kellogg he spent six months in Nigeria for the commissioning of an LNG project. 
In 2000 Mr Ulivieri joined Purvin&Gertz, a consultancy specialized in the economics oil refining, and became a partner. He worked on a range of assignments, including feasibility studies, mergers, acquisitions, project finance and market studies. 
After the acquisition of Purvin&Gertz by IHS, Mr Ulivieri worked as a Managing Director of IHS, a consultancy specialized in the analysis of business environment. He then moved to Saudi Aramco in 2016, where he spent over 4 years working on many of downstream projects.
Mr Ulivieri has developed a strong knowledge of the downstream petroleum industry. He is currently working as an independent consultant specialized in refining economics and the analysis of the business environment for refining.

Analyst,  CRU
Tomislav Bucic currently works as CRU’s chrome analyst. Prior to joining CRU in February 2017, he worked at Asian Metal covering the ferroalloy markets in the EMEA alongside the Americas.

Tomislav is responsible for CRU’s Chrome research in the London office. He is author and editor of the Ferrochrome Monitor, Ferrochrome Market Outlook, and Ferrochrome Costs. He also contributes to other areas of the team including Stainless Steel. Before joining CRU’s analysis team Tomislav worked as a Pricing Analyst at CRU covering the ferroalloys sector.

He is multilingual, speaking Croat-Serb and has competed in Rowing for the borough of Wandsworth. He studied at the University of Greenwich, completing a degree in Business and Marketing Finance, graduating with a first class. Additionally, he has completed a MSc in Military Psychiatry & Psychology at Kings College London whilst working full time at CRU.

Senior Market Analyst,  ICDA
Victor Constant joined the International Chromium Development Association in 2017 as Market Research Analyst. Today, as Senior Market Analyst, he is in charge of market intelligence and analysis for the association. He produces annual and quarterly market analyses as well as expert reports for the chromium industry and presents regularly at major ferroalloys conferences about chromium and related markets. After a cursus in political science at McGill University and Paris 2 – Assas university, he graduated from the School of Economic Warfare (Ecole de Guerre Economique) in Paris, France, with an expertise in economic intelligence and strategy.

Market Analyst, Nickel & Cobalt,  Metal Trade Overseas, Nornickel
Alina Racu is a Nickel Market Analyst at Metal Trade Overseas, the Switzerland-based subsidiary of the leading producer Nornickel.She had previously worked for almost seven years at the market research company Steel & Metals Market Research (SMR) in Austria as a Market Analyst with focus on stainless steel.Alina holds a Master degree in Business Consultancy from the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt in Austria.

General Manager, Global Sales and Marketing,  Climax Molybdenum
Chris Gnann is the General Manager, Sales and Marketing. Chris joined Climax Molybdenum in 2007 following a 21-year career in the United States Air Force where he led several complex business organizations. He has held sales management, sales & operations planning, and commercial operations roles within Climax. Chris holds a Master of Science degree from Purdue University, a Master of Business Administration degree from Campbell University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Georgia.

President,  Ni-Met Metals Inc.
Anil Shah, a Chemical engineer by education & a metal trader at heart is President of Ni-Met Metals Inc., a company operational since 1990 in Toronto area in Ontario, Canada with an objective of sourcing vital industrial raw materials. As the name suggests, Ni-Met's primary focus is on Nickel and Nickel bearing Stainless raw materials for sales in to India and now in to Europe and USA. Currently Ni-Met trades monthly about 6-700 mt nickel units in different forms including scrap. Mr Shah started his business career in Mumbai, India and migrated to Canada in 1990. An avid Golfer, he lives in Canada and is involved in many charitable organizations. Currently, Mr Shah is National Convener for Canada India Foundation (www.canadaindiafoundation.com)  and has just finished his final term as a director on the Trillium Health Partner's Foundations board (www.trilliumhealthpartners.ca)

Principal Consultant,  CRU

Panos Kotseras is CRU’s lead stainless steel market analyst and Editor of Stainless Steel Flat Products Market Outlook and Stainless Steel Flat Products Monitor. Panos started his career in commercial roles with copper and aluminium fabricators in the 2000s. He joined CRU in 2008 as a copper demand and wire & cable analyst. Panos moved to CRU’s NiSSSA team (Nickel, Stainless Steel and Special Alloys) in 2011, assuming the lead analyst role for cobalt and molybdenum. In 2015, Panos moved on to Rio Tinto Copper focusing on marketing intelligence analysis in the space of copper by-products, especially molybdenum. He rejoined CRU in 2018. Panos holds a first degree in Economics, an MSc in Finance and Commodities, and an MBA.

Director, Economics and Statistics,  ISSF
Mr. Hasenclever has been the Director of Economics & Statistics and Long Products at the ISSF International Stainless Steel Forum in Brussels since 2014. He has more than 17 years of experience in stainless steel.

Having grown up in Germany, India, Taiwan, the USA and Brazil he started his professional career in 1995 in New York City at Ferrostaal Inc. in international steel and raw material trade and subsequently became a board member assistant in the German corporate headquarters of Ferrostaal AG. After working in the management of the metal market place www.steelscreen.com he joined ThyssenKrupp in 2001. There he held several senior management positions in ThyssenKrupp group companies, foremost at ThyssenKrupp Stainless AG with the focus on stainless steel project management, consultancy, strategy and raw material studies.

Mr. Hasenclever holds a MS in Geography, Sinology and Economics from the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

Market Analyst, Nickel & Cobalt,  Metal Trade Overseas, Nornickel
Alina Racu is a Nickel Market Analyst at Metal Trade Overseas, the Switzerland-based subsidiary of the leading producer Nornickel.She had previously worked for almost seven years at the market research company Steel & Metals Market Research (SMR) in Austria as a Market Analyst with focus on stainless steel.Alina holds a Master degree in Business Consultancy from the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt in Austria.

Senior Market Analyst,  ICDA
Victor Constant joined the International Chromium Development Association in 2017 as Market Research Analyst. Today, as Senior Market Analyst, he is in charge of market intelligence and analysis for the association. He produces annual and quarterly market analyses as well as expert reports for the chromium industry and presents regularly at major ferroalloys conferences about chromium and related markets. After a cursus in political science at McGill University and Paris 2 – Assas university, he graduated from the School of Economic Warfare (Ecole de Guerre Economique) in Paris, France, with an expertise in economic intelligence and strategy.

President,  Ni-Met Metals Inc.
Anil Shah, a Chemical engineer by education & a metal trader at heart is President of Ni-Met Metals Inc., a company operational since 1990 in Toronto area in Ontario, Canada with an objective of sourcing vital industrial raw materials. As the name suggests, Ni-Met's primary focus is on Nickel and Nickel bearing Stainless raw materials for sales in to India and now in to Europe and USA. Currently Ni-Met trades monthly about 6-700 mt nickel units in different forms including scrap. Mr Shah started his business career in Mumbai, India and migrated to Canada in 1990. An avid Golfer, he lives in Canada and is involved in many charitable organizations. Currently, Mr Shah is National Convener for Canada India Foundation (www.canadaindiafoundation.com)  and has just finished his final term as a director on the Trillium Health Partner's Foundations board (www.trilliumhealthpartners.ca)

Principal Consultant,  CRU

Panos Kotseras is CRU’s lead stainless steel market analyst and Editor of Stainless Steel Flat Products Market Outlook and Stainless Steel Flat Products Monitor. Panos started his career in commercial roles with copper and aluminium fabricators in the 2000s. He joined CRU in 2008 as a copper demand and wire & cable analyst. Panos moved to CRU’s NiSSSA team (Nickel, Stainless Steel and Special Alloys) in 2011, assuming the lead analyst role for cobalt and molybdenum. In 2015, Panos moved on to Rio Tinto Copper focusing on marketing intelligence analysis in the space of copper by-products, especially molybdenum. He rejoined CRU in 2018. Panos holds a first degree in Economics, an MSc in Finance and Commodities, and an MBA.

Principal Analyst,  CRU
Nikhil Shah is responsible for primary nickel analysis at CRU. Prior to this he has gained extensive experience in aluminium and through leadership of CRU’s research on alumina, bauxite, carbon and energy. He has previously been responsible for CRU’s aluminium analysis and contributed to the development of cost models. He also contributes to CRU’s single client work and regularly presents at major industry gatherings. He holds a Masters degree from University of London in Business Economics.

Senior Director, Corporate Ratings,  Fitch Ratings
Stephen Brown is a senior director in Fitch Ratings’ corporate finance group. He has lead analytical responsibility for Fitch’s coverage of North American auto manufacturers and suppliers. He also has secondary analytical responsibility for the transportation and environmental services sectors. Prior to joining Fitch in 2004, Stephen spent six years at United Airlines where he was responsible for the financial planning and analysis functions of the company’s marketing, sales, reservations, and North America divisions. He also worked in the airline’s capital planning group. Stephen began his finance career at General Motors’ Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems division, conducting financial analyses on the unit’s worldwide operations. Stephen earned a BS in speech from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School.

Consultant,  CRU
Willis Thomas joined CRU Consulting in February 2017. He has worked in the metals industry for more than five years, in pricing, sales, production, and procurement activities. Since joining he has worked with a range of commodities including Tin, Zinc, Potash, Phosphates, Pig Iron, and Wire and Cable. Previously, Willis was the Inside Sales and Production Manager at Kapp Alloy & Wire, Inc., a US-based manufacturer of solder and other non-ferrous wires. There he focused on daily metal pricing for raw and finished products, metals purchasing, and the management of production operations. Before this he worked in economic development with a focus on business outreach and retention. Willis holds an MS in Finance from Colorado State University and a BA in Political Science from Washington & Jefferson College.

Principal Analyst,  CRU
Nikhil Shah is responsible for primary nickel analysis at CRU. Prior to this he has gained extensive experience in aluminium and through leadership of CRU’s research on alumina, bauxite, carbon and energy. He has previously been responsible for CRU’s aluminium analysis and contributed to the development of cost models. He also contributes to CRU’s single client work and regularly presents at major industry gatherings. He holds a Masters degree from University of London in Business Economics.

Senior Analyst,  CRU
George Heppel joined CRU in 2017 as a Consultant within the Nickel, Stainless Steel and Special Alloys team. He is responsible for reporting on the Cobalt and Molybdenum markets, including annual market outlooks, quarterly updates and monthly monitors. George worked in pricing analysis and forecasting in the energy industry, focusing on sulphur and its end-use markets. After that, he moved into the minor metals trading sector with a primary focus on nickel-cobalt superalloys, as well as alloy addition elements (Re, Ta, Hf, W, Mo) and rare earth elements. George has experience working with minor metals in the USA and the UK, and his scientific background has been a particular benefit in analysing minor metal end-use markets. George has Masters in materials science from Oxford University.

AVP - Responsible Sourcing,  LME
Hugo Brodie works within the CEO office at the London Metal Exchange with a focus on responsible sourcing, warehouse reform and new strategic projects.  Prior to this he was driving the launch of warehousing initiatives and new product launches undertaken by the Exchange.  Hugo joined the LME in September 2015, having previously worked in Integrated Supply & Trading at BP in both trading and risk roles. 

Senior Analyst,  CRU
George Heppel joined CRU in 2017 as a Consultant within the Nickel, Stainless Steel and Special Alloys team. He is responsible for reporting on the Cobalt and Molybdenum markets, including annual market outlooks, quarterly updates and monthly monitors. George worked in pricing analysis and forecasting in the energy industry, focusing on sulphur and its end-use markets. After that, he moved into the minor metals trading sector with a primary focus on nickel-cobalt superalloys, as well as alloy addition elements (Re, Ta, Hf, W, Mo) and rare earth elements. George has experience working with minor metals in the USA and the UK, and his scientific background has been a particular benefit in analysing minor metal end-use markets. George has Masters in materials science from Oxford University.

Director of Sales,  Exotech Inc
Joel Nields is Director of Purchasing and Sales of Tantalum, Niobium, Hafnium, Zirconium, Molybdenum, Tungsten, Titanium, and Vanadium scrap for Exotech, Inc. He is an MMTA Board Director and a Member Company Delegate in the Tantalum and Niobium International Study Center

Director,  Maritime House
James Peer is a Director and owner of Maritime House Ltd, a UK based family owned chemical and metal trading business. Maritime House owns and operates a rhenium recycling plant in Napanee, Ontario and also supplies Nickel based super alloys from the UK into the IGT markets of Russia and China.

Managing Director,  Advance Alloys Services Ltd
Stephen Hall graduated with Materials Science and Engineering Honours Degree from University of Wales Swansea in 1998. After graduating, Stephen spent nine years in the heat treatment industry working for TTI Group Ltd. (now Hauck Heat Treatment). At the Cheltenham plant Stephen worked as Quality Manager and later as Plant Manager. Stephen then joined PCC for just under 10 years, firstly at Special Metals Wiggin Ltd., as Manufacturing Improvement Group Manager followed by Metals Manager. Stephen then moved over to sister company, Caledonian Alloys, holding positions of Commercial Director and then Director of Sales and Strategic Planning. Stephen joined Advanced Alloy Services Ltd. as Managing Director in September 2016 and in 2019 completed an MBO to become the owner of the business and has recently set-up Advanced Revert LLC, a Joint Venture business based in Virginia.

Senior Analyst,  CRU
George Heppel joined CRU in 2017 as a Consultant within the Nickel, Stainless Steel and Special Alloys team. He is responsible for reporting on the Cobalt and Molybdenum markets, including annual market outlooks, quarterly updates and monthly monitors. George worked in pricing analysis and forecasting in the energy industry, focusing on sulphur and its end-use markets. After that, he moved into the minor metals trading sector with a primary focus on nickel-cobalt superalloys, as well as alloy addition elements (Re, Ta, Hf, W, Mo) and rare earth elements. George has experience working with minor metals in the USA and the UK, and his scientific background has been a particular benefit in analysing minor metal end-use markets. George has Masters in materials science from Oxford University.

Head of Commodity Markets Strategy,  BOCI Global Commodities
Xiao Fu is the head of Commodity Markets Strategy at Bank of China International. Xiao’s team covers all commodity sectors ranging from energy, base metals, precious metals and agriculture. Her focus is to combine top-down global macro / financial drivers with fundamental analysis to provide investment advice.
She speaks regularly at global conferences and is frequently quoted by media including Bloomberg, Reuters, the FT and the Wall Street Journal. 
Before joining BOCI, Xiao worked as an economist and a commodity strategist at Deutsche Bank in London. She studied Economics at the London School of Economics and Harvard University. 

Marketing Manager,  PCC Metals Group
Molly Carter is the Director of Business and Market Analysis, for TIMET – Titanium Metals Corporation. In this role she is responsible for the forecasting and market intelligence for titanium end-use markets as well as strategies and analysis to optimize TIMET’s profitability and market share. She first joined TIMET, a PCC Company,  in 2012, and has served as the marketing manager for Special Metals Corporation and PCC Energy Group during her time at PCC. Molly holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from North Carolina State University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Drexel University. 

Partner,  Sidley Austin
Arnoud Willems leads the EU trade and customs team and co-founded Sidley’s office in Brussels. Mr Willems represents the interests of companies in high-profile trade matters and advises clients on strategies for solving market access problems and resolving other disputes that affect their business. With respect to the latter, he is a leading advocate of companies challenging EU anti-dumping regulations, with an exceptional success rate in such cases before the national and European Courts. Since 2000, Mr Willems has been continuously involved in anti-dumping cases concerning ferroalloys like silicon, ferrosilicon, ferrochrome and silicon manganese.

Partner,  Wiley Rein
Chris Weld represents clients on international trade law and policy matters, including antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, global trade policy and trade negotiations, export control regulations, and trade sanctions regulations. Chris also litigates before the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has developed significant expertise in metals and raw materials and has been instrumental in winning critical remedies for domestic steel producers.