Alexander Chumakov

Born in 1963, Alex graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985 with BS Economics (Wharton) and BA Political Science (CAS), later followed by an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business 2001. He commenced working in fertilizer trade with International Raw Materials of Philadelphia in 1985, before joining Toepfer International Asia Pte Ltd Singapore as a trader in the fertilizer department in 1991 where he went on to hold various senior management roles in Europe and Asia. Alex joined Ameropa in 2008, establishing Ameropa Asia Pte Ltd. In 2014, he took on the additional role of Chief Trader Fertilizers with the responsibility of managing the groups global fertilizer trade. In 2015, he was appointed COO of the Fertilizer Group.

Eduardo de Souza Monteiro

Luiz Fustaino

Mr. Fustaino works in the petrochemical and commodities sector since 2010, in areas such as Corporate Strategy, Market Intelligence, Treasury and Investor Relations.

He rejoined Unigel in 2020 as Investor Relations Officer and is currently also responsible for Treasury and Communications. Prior to that, he worked for companies such as Nexa Resources  and Braskem.

He holds a degree in Economics from Universidade de São Paulo and in Social Communications from Faculdade Cásper Líbero. He also holds an executive MBA in finance from Insper.

Gordon McKenzie

J. Gordon (Gord) McKenzie was appointed President and CEO of Canpotex Limited (Canpotex) in January 2020.Gord is a proven leader with a strong track record of success achieved over 25 years in a variety of senior global sales and marketing positions in the fertilizer sector. Prior to joining Canpotex, he worked at The Mosaic Company since its inception in 2004, working in progressively senior roles, most recently as Vice President, Global Sales, responsible for global phosphate and North American potash sales and marketing. Gord also held numerous sales, marketing and management positions within Cargill Crop Nutrition from 1994-2004.Born in Brandon, Manitoba Canada, Gord holds a B.S. Degree in Agriculture Economics from the University of Manitoba (1992), and in May 2013, he became a graduate of the Harvard Business School (GMP14).

Chaitanya Kosaraju

Jose Francisco da Cunha

José Francisco da Cunha is an agronomist who graduated from ESALQ/USP in 1976. He is SPECIALIZE at FIIB in MARKETING (1988) and FINANCIAL (1989) MANAGEMENT. SPECIALIZATION in GEOPROCESSING, SENAC-SP (2008). Accumulating a long experience in the area of fertility, plant nutrition and fertilizers since 1979, working in companies that have been highlighted in this period. In 1997 I founded TEC FERTIL AGROCONSULTORIA, a consulting and business company for the agricultural sector. The company performs fertility and fertilizer related work involving fertilizer use, market research, product development, quality and production of NPK, micronutrients, foliar and organic fertilizers. It works in cost evaluation and support for commercial purchase or sale policies, research and product evaluations, consulting for farmers, institutions and companies. I have also made a wide contribution in the scientific area and knowledge dissemination with numerous lectures, articles and books related to his area of expertise.

Mauricio Medici

Mr. Medici has a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Cordoba, Argentina. After graduation Mr. Medici started working as Operations Engineer in Industrial facilities, achieving Operations Managing positions in Petrochemical/Fertilizer Plants, leading Production and Inspection departments in Petrobras Argentina. In 2014 Mr. Medici joined Stamicarbon holding the role of Area Sales Manager for Latin America and since 2018 was appointed as Licensing Manager. Within this position Mr. Medici is responsible for the acquisition, management and development of Stamicarbon’s urea and nitric acid technologies in the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. As of May 2021 assumed the role of New Business Development Manger to focus on the development of Stami Green Ammonia business. In addition to his regular activities, Mr. Medici has an active participation at Met-Dev supporting the Project Development activities of the group, pursing the development of Fertilizers and Green Ammonia Project projects within the Americas and Sub-Saharan regions.

Armelle Gruère

Armelle Gruère is the Fertilizer Demand Program Manager within IFA's Market Intelligence Service. Ms Gruère is in charge of fertilizer demand statistics and analysis. Before joining IFA in 2015, she managed global cotton supply and use statistics at the International Cotton Advisory Committee for eight years and was a project manager at the French Livestock Institute for two years. She holds a M.Sc. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis, and a M.Sc. in Agronomic and Life Sciences Engineering from AgroParisTech.

Stan Bharti

Mr. Bharti is a businessman, financier, entrepreneur, a registered Professional Engineer ( P. Eng ) and Founder and Executive Chairman of Forbes&Manhattan, Inc, an international merchant bank with offices in Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto, and London. The Bank specializes in funding and managing public and private companies in the resource, clean energy and technology sectors. The collective value of transactions over the last decade have exceeded ten billion dollars. Born in India, Mr. Bharti was awarded a unique scholarship by the Indian Government to study in Russia ( then Soviet Union ) , where he completed his Masters in Engineering. He also holds a second Masters in Engineering from the University of London, England. After working as a professional engineer and senior executive for several resource companies in Canada, the US and Africa, he founded Forbes&Manhattan, Inc and was the CEO for several large public and private companies which were part of the Forbes&Manhattan Group. Mr. Bharti is a member of several international social, golf and business private clubs in Canada and the US including Wiltshire Golf and Country Club in Los Angeles, Granite Club in Toronto, Donalda Golf Club in Toronto, Oviinbyrd Golf Club in Muskoka (Canada), and National Business Club in Toronto. He is also one of the long time member of the Young Presidents Organization ( YPO ) and is the Honorary Counsel General for Kazakhstan in Canada. The Bharti Charitable Foundation, founded over ten years ago, has worked and funded several programs for children, nature and wildlife in Africa and Brazil and in North America. The Foundation is particularly proud of the large program we are launching for the Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil, in conjunction with the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil. The Bharti Family has sponsored the Bharti School of Engineering at one of the top universities, the Laurentian University, in Sudbury, Canada. The Foundation has also worked closely with several large charities and foundations in the US, notably the Leo DiCaprio Foundation in Los Angeles and the Larry King Heart Foundation in Florida. Mr. Bharti has been married to his university sweetheart for over 40 years and has three grown up boys and seven grandchildren. The family resides between Toronto, Los Angeles and more recently, Miami.

María Fernanda Gonzalez Sanjuan

Ingeniera Agrónoma, Especialista en Fertilidad de Suelos y Uso de Fertilizantes de la Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad de Buenos Aires de la República Argentina. En sus comienzos como profesional fue Responsable del Proyecto de Valorización Agrícola de Biosólidos (barros cloacales) en la Empresa Aguas Argentinas, luego se desempeñó como Gerente de Marketing y Comunicaciones de la Asociación de Semilleros Argentinos y desde el 2008 hasta hoy es Gerente Ejecutiva de Fertilizar Asociación Civil. Realizó diversas publicaciones, jornadas y seminarios, relacionados con la temática como autor y coautor. Fue distinguida con el Premio “Testimonio” por su trabajo en Desarrollo Institucional. Es consejera del CPIA (Consejo Profesional de Ingeniería Agronómica) y miembro de la AACS (Asociación Argentina de las Ciencias del Suelo). También, forma parte de la Red de Mujeres Rurales Argentina.

Enrique Hahn Villalba

Miguel A. Taboada

Degrees: Agronomist (1979) and Master of Soil Sciences (1991) University of Buenos Aires. Doctor in Eco- and Agro-systems L’ Institut Nacional Superieur de Toulouse, France (2006). Positions held: Director of the Soil Institute since 2010, and Principal Investigator of CONICET (National Research Council). Head Professor Edaphology College of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires. Expert of the Intergovernmental Technical Group of Soils of the Global Soil Partnership of FAO (ITPS-GSP-FAO) (2013-2018) Author of more than t0 publications in scientific journals, and more than 40 among book chapters and books. Areas of interest: physical properties of soils, management of saline-sodic soils, and climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture.

Bruno Caligaris

Bruno Caligaris coordinated the group that conceived the Brazilian Fertilizer Plan during 2021. As the National Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Council’s Vice-President (CONFERT), Caligaris has been leading the group in charge to implement the Plan. With almost 10 years working for the government, before joining the Strategic Affairs Secretariat, Bruno was the Special Secretary for Institutional Relations at the Presidency of Brazil, the Undersecretary for Planning and Budget of the Ministry of Public Security and an Analyst of exchange of international tax and customs information at the Brazilian Revenue Services. Before working for the Brazilian Government, Caligaris was a M&A and International Tax Consultant at KPMG Brazil.

Nico Pinkowski

Nico Pinkowski is co-founder and CEO of Nitricity, a company electrifying and distributing the production of fertilizer. As it is done today, fertilizer emits as much as 5-7%/yr of total global GHG emissions. Nitricity and Nico have been awarded numerous awards and grants from Stanford, MIT, Caltech, ASU, Forbes 30 under 30, NSF, USDA, and ARPA-e SBIR, and a recent $20M venture finance round. Prior to Nitricity, Nico received a PhD in Mechanical engineering from Stanford.

Claudio Nascimento

Claudio Nascimento is an industrial executive with over two decades of international experience in business and operations management and metallurgical and chemical processes improvement. He is a General Manager for CF Industries, a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for clean energy, emissions abatement, fertilizer, and other industrial applications, acting as executive manager at CF Verdigris, Oklahoma, one of the largest nitrogen plants in North America. Mr. Nascimento is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and a Metallurgical/Industrial Engineer graduate of University Federal Fluminense. He holds an MBA in Industrial Strategy and Business Management and, a MSc in Metallurgical Engineering and Process Simulation from the same university. Mr. Nascimento is a member of the Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority Board, Tulsa Regional Chamber Advisory Board and Oklahoma – DOT Waterways Advisory Board. Before joining CF Industries, he worked on different senior management and technical expert roles with Gerdau and Praxair.

Luís I. Prochnow

- Undergrad in Agronomy by the University of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, in 1985. - Soil and Plant Analysis lab coordinator from 1985 to 1992. - Master by the Center of Nuclear Energy in Agriculture of the University of São Paulo (USP) in 1992, with research focusing sulfur availability in Brazilian soils. - Ph.D. by USP in 1996, with research focusing the agronomic effectiveness of phosphate fertilizers. - Professor at the Soil Science Department at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, from 1992 to 2007. - Visiting scientist at IFDC, USA, from 1999 to 2001, with research related to optimizing the use of phosphate rock in agriculture. - Brazil General Program Director of the International Plant Nutrition Institute from 2007 to 2019. - General Director of the Company Plant Nutrition Science & Technology since April of 2019. - More than 80 scientific papers published in prestigious Journals. - Editor and author of several book chapters related to Plant Nutrition and Agriculture in Brazil. - Specialist in Brazilian agriculture. - Specialist in Soil Fertility and Fertilizers. - Specialist in Phosphorus (P) Reaction in soils and P as a nutrient for commercial crops.

José Firmo

José Firmo took over as Port of Açu’s CEO in November 2019. With more than 30 years of experience in the Energy area, Firmo has built a solid international career in several companies of the sector. Previously, he was president of Seadrill Brasil and later Senior Vice President for Western Hemisphere at Seadrill in Houston. He also dedicated 22 years for Schlumberger as Managing Director of the company's operations in Brazil and as VP for Latin America. He also developed relevant institutional roles as CEO of the Brazilian Association of Oil Service Companies (ABESPETRO) and President of the Brazilian Petroleum, Gás and Biofuel Institute (IBP), position he held until October 2019.

Ramiro Samaniego Montiel

Born in Asuncion, Paraguay, with 39 years old. Agronomist with a M.S degree (Soil Science) from the Universadade Federal de San Maria (Brasil), with a vast experience in agriculture. Former Vice Minister of Industry of Paraguay, as well as researcher and teacher in the agriculture university of Paraguay. Currently working in the Fertilizer and agribusiness industries. CEO and Founder of the company “ORGANITEC FERTILIZANTES” first industry in Paraguay of granulate organic minerals fertilizers.

Patricio Gutierrez

Mario Suffriti

Agricultural Production Engineer graduated from the Argentine Catholic University. Respectively between 2016 and 2018 he held the position of President and Vice President of Fertilizar and since 2018 he has been appointed Ambassador for Argentina at IFA, where in turn he has become part of the international sustainability group. Before joining Profertil in 2016, he worked at Agroservicios Pampeanos S.A. (formerly Nutrien) since January 1997 as Plant Manager, being in charge of the commercial operation. Then in March 2001 he held the position of Project Manager in the functional implementation of the J.D. Edwards software. As of July 2005 he fulfilled functions as Manager of Argentina Logistics and Private Brands and, since August 2007, as Supply and Logistics Manager for Argentina and Uruguay. Since 2011 he had been the Manager of a fertilizer granulating plant and an agrochemical formulation plant (formerly Dupont) until he joined Profertil. Between 1993 and until he joined Agroservicios Pampeanos S.A. he served as Zonal Sales Manager at Cargill S.A.C.I., Animal Nutrition Division.

Augusto Meneses

Serving as Vice President LatAm and Vice President of International Specialty Strategy for Verdesian Life Sciences U.S. LLC, Augusto Meneses leads sales activities and business acquisition integration, international specialty sales strategies, plant regulatory and product development programs, marketing campaigns and accompanying sales tactics in these markets. In this position, Augusto recruits Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Peninsula and all the international geography based account managers to achieve regional sales objectives in the agriculture market. With 25 years in the AG business, Augusto possesses specialized knowledge in crop protection and plant nutrition products, particularly in fresh fruit, vegetables, tropical, industrial and row crops. His career includes manager in various roles at Copeval Chile, Northeast Sales Manager at SQM Mexico (Mexican subsidiary of SQM Chile), Director of Fertilizers at Ducor Mexico (a DuPont company), and Plant Nutrition Product & Market Manager at Gowan Mexicana and Gowan Company in Yuma, AZ. Augusto is a graduate of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, where he earned his Bachelor's in Agronomy and his Agricultural Engineering.

Jonas Hipolito

Maurício Fortuna

Maurício joined CRU in January 2021 as an analyst with the phosphate team, working on phosphate rock and fertilizer. Based in our London office, He arrives with an MA in International Political Economy from King’s College London, where his research interest focused on Brazilian agricultural production and development. Prior to that, he studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bath.

Jennifer Willis-Jones

Jennifer joined CRU's Fertilizer Week team in 2013. She became Fertilizer Week Senior Markets Editor in 2014 and Fertilizer Week Head of Nitrogen in 2019. Jennifer joined from Informa where she was Deputy Editor of FOODNEWS food commodity magazine. She is fluent in Spanish and conversational Portuguese.

Shruti Kashyap

Shruti has joined CRU as Analysis Lead – Nitrogen responsible for spearheading nitrogen analysis at CRU. She brings extensive experience in the field of industry research, analysis and consulting across various sectors including chemicals and commodities. She has spent more than ten years with leading organisations such as Peabody, Anglo American and Ernst & Young with exposure to varied projects including demand/supply modelling, price forecasting, cost curve analysis, financial modelling and due diligence. Shruti has worked internationally in Singapore and London with her latest stint at Peabody’s head office in the US. Shruti has Bachelors and Masters in Economics from Delhi University, India along with professional courses from Oxford University, London and Gordon Institute of Business Sciences, South Africa.

Logan Collins

Logan is responsible for Potash market coverage in Fertilizer Week. He graduated from Kingston University with a BA Honours degree in Journalism and International Relations, and joined CRU shortly afterwards in 2015. Logan moved to the UK from Canada, where he worked at the Edmonton Sun, the daily newspaper in Alberta.

Gustavo Branco

Gustavo Branco has 25 years of solid experience in the development, deployment and management in Commercial Areas, Marketing, International Administration, development of new products and processes, acquiring business strategic vision, strong strategic planning, and business management, focusing since 2008 on plant nutrition. He is graduated in aeronautic engineering and holds MBA in marketing, currently working as General Director in Haifa South America, and being vice president of ABISOLO – most important special fertilizer association in Brazil.

Kelly Johnson

Kelly Johnson leads business development for IFC’s investments in the Fertilizers, Chemicals & Textile sectors in the Latin American and Caribbean region. IFC (International Finance Corporation) is the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group with a global portfolio of over US$60 billion. Kelly has led negotiations and structured projects for over US$2 billion in financing for many of IFC’s loan and equity investments in refining, fertilizer, oil & gas and light manufacturing projects in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia. He has been with IFC for nearly 20 years.

Bruno Fonseca

Bruno Fonseca is an agronomist who graduated from ESALQ/USP and currently, he is a Senior economic analyst at Rabobank Brazil, focused on developing sectoral analysis for the farm input market. Previously, he was a senior ag commodities analyst at Cargill. He worked, between 2014 and 2019, at Alvean as a specialist in Trading Intelligence. Bruno is also a specialist in Agro-Energy by ESALQ/USP.

John Sinden

Fabio Vale

Agronomist with 33 years of experience in soil fertility, plant nutrition, fertilizers, and fertilization. Has developing activities related to research, extension, teaching and training, performing activities in laboratory, greenhouse and field, with the purpose of evaluating the effect of mineral nutrition on crop yield and quality. Experience of 27 years in agribusiness companies, working in the development of new technologies for fertilization. Is working at ICL South America as Senior Agronomist and serving International Potash Institute (IPI) as Coordinator for Latin American.

Matías Ruffo

Matias Ruffo is responsible for providing agronomic support to Koch Agronomic Services’ customers in Latin America and Southern Africa, particularly for enhanced efficiency products. Prior to working with Koch he provided agronomic support for premium phosphate and potash products globally and later on worked in the seed industry. Matias holds a PhD in Crop Science from the University of Illinois.

Carlos Vilhena

Carlos Vilhena is a partner at the law firm of Pinheiro Neto Advogados, in Brasilia, Brazil, where he leads the firm's mining and government relations practices. For many years he has given legal advice for various clients, such as governments, industry associations, major and junior mining companies, multilateral and commercial banks, in all areas related to the mineral resources sector, including regulatory, permitting, M&A, land, community and government relations, infrastructure, indigenous populations, processing, sales, tax, environment, power, contracts, corporate, financing, litigation legislative process, risk assessment and policy. Mr. Vilhena has repeatedly been appointed as one of the top mining law and government relations practitioners in Brazil by several publications, including the Who's Who Legal, Latin Lawyer, Chambers and Legal 500. He is the Publication Officer of the Section for Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure Law of the International Bar Association, and the Secretary of The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (formerly the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation). Mr. Vilhena is a director of TriStar Gold Inc. He holds an LLM in Natural Resources Law from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum, and Mineral Law and Policy of the University of Dundee, Scotland, and an LLB from the University of Brasilia Law School.

Cassidy Million

Cassidy Million serves as the Director of Ag Science for Heliae® Agriculture and is responsible for overseeing agronomy training and product performance trials. Before joining Heliae® Agriculture, Million served as the Senior Agriculture Research Scientist at Monty’s Plant Food Co. Before this role she held a postdoctoral position with the USDA ARS Crop Production and Pest Control Research Division where she researched non-host resistance in wheat and barley. Prior, she performed research in the Integrated Plant Protection Unit of (SLU’s) Swedish University of the Agricultural Sciences’ Plant Protection Biology Department. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Indiana University Southeast and continued to earn her master’s and doctorate degree in Plant Pathology from Ohio State University.