Commercial Agenda

Head of Fertilizer,  CRU
Chris Lawson is manager of the CRU fertilizer analysis team, but also leads the phosphate market coverage. This includes overseeing the full portfolio of market outlook, cost of production services and niche market reports for the phosphate industry. Prior to this Mr Lawson was the fertilizer demand analyst, having joined CRU in 2014. Before this he was a market analyst at the International Grains Council and an agricultural research scientist in South Australia. Mr Lawson has a background in agriculture and holds a BSc in Agricultural Science from the University of Adelaide.

Senior Vice President - Phosphates,  The Mosaic Group
Bruce Bodine was named Senior Vice President—Phosphates in January 2019. Previously, Bodine led the Potash business unit as Senior Vice President—Potash.
Bodine began his career with Mosaic in 1999 as part of a predecessor company, holding engineering leadership and plant management positions in the Phosphates business segment before taking on the role of Vice President—Operations for Mosaic’s Esterhazy and Colonsay potash production facilities. Bodine also served as Vice President—Supply Chain, responsible for the movement of raw materials and finished production, and strategic sourcing activities for Mosaic’s North American phosphate and potash segments; additionally, he oversaw fertilizer production in South America and China.
Bodine holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Director of Agronomy,  Nutrien

Dr. Robert Mullen is the Director of Agronomy with Nutrien.  He has been in the fertilizer industry since 2011.

Prior to joining the industry, he was an Associate Professor of Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management at Ohio State University. Dr. Mullen received his B.S. in Ag Business at in 1998. He earned his M.S. in Plant and Soil Science and Ph.D. in Soil Science from Oklahoma State University in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

Dr. Mullen has nutrient research experience in a multitude of crops across the Great Plains, the Southeast, and the Midwest.

Head of Fertilizers,  CRU

Executive Vice President Strategy & Corporate Development,  OCP Group

 

Marouane Ameziane, Executive Vice President Strategy & Corporate Development, is a graduate of the Ecole des Mines de Paris and of the Said Business School, University of Oxford. He started his career in Washington DC as analyst in the Africa Transport department of the World Bank, where he worked on large transport infrastructure projects in several sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania). Thereafter, he joined KPMG Corporate Finance in Paris, where he served as a financial advisor on consortium sponsorship for transport and utilities infrastructure projects throughout the world and with more than 500 million Euros of investment. He has advised, among others, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (France), Barclays Private Equity (UK), Nakheel (Dubai) and Gulf Finance House (Bahrein). Marouane Ameziane joined the OCP Group in September 2009, as Special Assistant to the CEO based in Paris, before being appointed Chief of Staff to the CEO between January 2012 and June 2014, where he run a team of 20 people forming the Chairman’s Office. Since June 2014, Marouane Ameziane took over as Executive Vice President in charge of Strategy and Corporate Development, where he covers 4 departments including Group Strategy, M&A, Corporate Development. He is a member of OCP’s Executive Committee and is a Director in several boards of the Group’s subsidiaries.

VP, Commercial,  Itafos
Sarvin Patel is a senior executive with 17+ years of principal investing, business development, M&A, portfolio analysis, and risk management experience globally. Prior to Itafos, he worked in senior roles at CarVal Investors and Cargill. At CarVal, Cargill's proprietary trading desk, Mr. Patel was responsible for portfolio analysis and investment activities related to Emerging Markets platform. At Cargill, Mr. Patel worked in business development and finance within the food ingredients platform. Mr. Patel holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Florida State University, Masters in Environmental Engineering from University of Florida, and an MBA from University of Michigan.

Vice President, Market and Strategic Analysis,  The Mosaic Company
Andy Jung joined The Mosaic Company in June 2013 to provide analysis supporting the short-term operating and raw materials sourcing decisions of the company, as well as identifying and evaluating long term growth opportunities. Mr Jung’s role includes providing analysis of strategic initiatives, as well as being a member of Mosaic’s Commercial Leadership Team. Prior to joining Mosaic, he served as a consultant at CRU for 10 years, where he held various positions, including management of the group's phosphate research program and leading a wide range of strategic consulting assignments across the agriculture, crop nutrient and raw materials sectors.

Head of Marketing – Europe,  PhosAgro Trading SA
Juan von Gernet started his career in a boutique wealth management firm in London, before moving to CRU in 2007. In 2012, he took up full time responsibility for the company’s research into phosphates. Mr von Gernet since joined PhosAgro’s Marketing & Development Department in 2016, with a focus on Europe, Africa and the Americas. He holds a Bachelors of Commerce from Stellenbosch University’s Business and Economics faculty. Mr von Gernet has also been a member of the TFI Economics Council and participated in IFA’s demand committee.

Head of Fertilizer and Chemicals, Consulting,  CRU
Peter Heffernan has more than 30 years of experience in economic analysis, market research, strategic planning and corporate development. Mr Heffernan provides senior input into all consulting projects in the fertilizer chemicals business. Prior to joining CRU, he led the research and development programs at the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC). Mr Heffernan held several director-level positions with Bunge North America, covering agribusiness development, planning and analysis for the company’s oilseed processing division and corporate strategic planning. He also worked for IMC Global Inc. as director of market and industry analysis and for IMC-Agrico as director of market analysis and product planning. Mr Heffernan began his career as an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He holds a doctorate and master’s degree in agricultural economics from Ohio State University. Mr Heffernan earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and business economics from Rutgers University.

Professor, Extension Soil Specialist,  North Dakota State University
Dr David Franzen is Professor Soil Science and Extension Soil Specialist at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. Dr Franzen received his BS, MS and PhD from the University of Illinois in 1975, 1976 and 1993 respectively. Between 1976 and 1994, he was an agronomist and manager for a string of independent fertilizer outlets for a top 100 company in Illinois. Dr Franzen’s research focus has been in site-specific nutrient management and basic fertilizer recommendations to support modern crop production. He maintains ties to the fertilizer industry because of the economic basis of most North Dakota fertilizer recommendations, and maintains ties to farmers and industry through his numerous face-to-face contacts each year.

CEO,  JFK Industries LLC

Juan-Fernando Martínez-de-los-Reyes González has extensive experience working in the fertilizer industry, as well as agrobusiness, mainly for Mexico and Latin America with different positions within various companies over the past nineteen years. From 1998 – 2007 he worked in the private sector with positions in FYPA, LAMAGER, AGROMEX and FYPA – TEPEYAC. Thorough this work, he gained broad knowledge and experience of fertilizer markets. From 2007 to 2017, he led ANACOFER - Fertilizer Producers & Retailers Mexican National Association. His current role is CEO of JFK Industries LLC.

Vice President, Supply Chain and Procurement,  JR Simplot Company

Richard joined JR Simplot in October 2018 in the role of Vice President - Supply Chain and Procurement. Prior to joining JR Simplot he worked for Cargill, Mosaic and Koch Industries in a variety of leadership roles from trading, procurement, marketing, supply chain and general management. His career has covered the global markets in agriculture, food and fertilizers. He has spent over twenty years working in the US. having previously been based in Europe.

Fertilizer Product Market Analyst,  IFA - International Fertilizer Industry Association

Fertilizer Costs Analyst,  CRU
Alex Derricott is currently the cost analyst in the fertilizer analysis team, working on a diverse range of fertilizer cost reports. Mr Derricott has also worked in the phosphate fertilizer team that produces the Phosphate Fertilizer Market Outlook, Phosphate Rock Market Outlook and the Phosphate Cost Report. He joined CRU in 2016 after previously working for IHS Markit and Curzon Capital. Mr Derricott has a Master’s degree in Energy Trade and Finance from the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping at Cass Business School.

Senior Fertilizers Analyst,  CRU
Anthony Garcia is a Senior Analyst contributing to CRU’s Fertilizer Analysis products and Fertilizer Week. Prior to joining CRU in April 2018, Mr Garcia spent two years at S&P Global Platts. He is an experienced pricing analyst, previously covering petrochemicals in North and South America. Mr Garcia holds a degree from Penn State University in Energy Business and Finance.

Fertilizer Costs Analyst,  CRU

Managing Director,  Avenira Limited
Louis Calvarin is Managing Director and CEO of Avenira Limited. Mr Calvarin has three decades process industries experience with a focus on project development, operational excellence and value chain optimization. Within the phosphate fertilizer industry, he has been active through the full value chain, from exploration to phosphate rock mining, ocean logistics, rock processing into phosphoric acid and bulk commodity as well as specialty phosphate fertilizers. In previous roles, Mr Calvarin had led technology development, engineering, manufacturing and operations at major chemicals and mining companies in Europe and the United States, including at Rhodia (now Solvay) and Innophos.

CEO,  Arianne Phosphates

Brian Ostroff is the Chief Executive Officer of Arianne Phosphate Inc. Mr. Ostroff also serves on the investment committee of Windermere Capital, an investment firm focused on small and mid-sized resource companies, where he has been involved since 2009. Prior to joining Windermere Capital, Mr. Ostroff was a proprietary trader with a large Canadian bank. Mr. Ostroff started his career with RBC Dominion Securities focusing on small-cap special situations and alternative investments before joining M&A advisory firm Goodrich Capital as its Canadian Managing Partner, overseeing mandates across a spectrum of industries including mining. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto.

Project Director,  Mine Arnaud
Najib Moutia holds a masters degree in chemistry from Bordeaux University of France. Mr Moutia spent 30 years at OCP group mainly in the commercial department with the last decade as Director of Sales for South Asia and Oceania. He was also member of Project Montoring/Management Committee and the Board of the PMP, a JV based in Jorf Lasfar Morocco between OCP and Fauji Fertilizer of Pakistan. Since his retirement, Mr Moutia is acting as Consultant providing services in business-development in the phosphate industry in a range of multicultural environments mainly in Africa, Middle East and Asia. He is presently consultant for Mine Arnaud phosphate project in Canada.

Principal Consultant,  CRU
Josie Armstrong has 13 years’ experience in commodities consulting, defining and managing projects across geographies, products and purposes. Ms Armstrong is responsible for the marketing, business development, and delivery of consulting projects in the fertilizer and related chemicals business, primarily related to nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers and their raw material markets. In addition to fertilizers, she has experience of consulting across commodities, including aluminium, copper, tungsten, and iron ore, amongst others. Over 2005-2011 Ms Armstrong worked at CRU in both London and Australia, providing consulting and analysis primarily on non-ferrous metals and mine infrastructure. After leaving CRU in 2011, she worked for BP and Integer Research, and over 2013-2018 was in charge of Integer’s consulting business covering fertilizers, wire and cable, and emissions control. Ms Armstrong re-joined CRU Consulting in 2018. She holds a Masters in Chinese and Business from the University of Leeds, and an MA (Hons) in European Union Studies with German from the University of Edinburgh.

Director, New Product Development,  The Mosaic Company

As Director of New Product Development for The Mosaic Company, Kyle Freeman, Ph.D., is responsible for the innovation of new crop nutrition products across Mosaic’s worldwide geographies. This includes leading all commercial and pre-commercial products through Mosaic’s development process. In addition, Freeman leads the Agronomic strategy for Mosaic’s research including more than 500 trials conducted annually.

Dr. Freeman is an active member of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA Societies, and serves numerous industry roles, including International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), 4R Nutrient Stewardship Research Fund, and International Fertilizer Association (IFA).  Freeman holds a M.S. and PhD. in Soil Science from Oklahoma State University.

Director, Product Development & Specialty Products,  Nachurs Alpine Solutions

Tommy graduated from Texas Tech University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science, and a Master of Science Degree in Crop Physiology in 1992.  He has worked in the agricultural industry since that time for Deltapine, Dekalb Genetics, Monsanto, and CoreAgri in various roles which include sorghum breeding, research agronomist, and micronutrient formulation.  He is presently the Director of Specialty Products and Product Development for Nachurs Alpine Solutions, with headquarters located in Marion, Ohio.  Tommy currently lives in Lubbock, Texas with his wife (Yvonne) and their 5 children (Kristen, Tatum, Matt, Tucker, Turner).

Vice President, Global Business Development & Strategy,  Actagro
Kent Lambden has spent the past 24 years in the global fertilizer and plant nutrition sectors working with both commodities and specialty products. Prior to joining Actagro, Mr Lambden led Global Business Development Activities for Overland Park, Kansas based Compass Minerals where he was responsible for global new business development activities surrounding the acquisitions and subsequent adoption of product portfolios from specialty fertilizer companies Wolf Trax based in Winnipeg, Canada as well as Sao Paulo, Brazil based Produquimica. During his period of time at Compass Minerals, the company expanded its commercial market presence from 8 to 35 countries on 5 continents. Prior to joining Compass Minerals, Mr Lambden led and executed the development of a global value added specialty fertilizer product portfolio to compliment Decatur, Illinois based Archer Daniels Midland’s global fertilizer platform, predominately in Brazil as well as activities in various markets on 4 continents. During the course of his career, he has held escalating roles of responsibility developing projects, products and geographies globally with projects completed in Brazil, India, UAE, Oman, Turkey, USA and products commercialized in over 30 countries. Mr Lambden holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

Regional Business Lead, Specialty Agriculture, N.A.,  ICL Specialty Fertilizers
Jon has been engaged in enhanced efficiency and sustainable fertilizers for the past 15 years. He utilizes a market based approach to product innovation that is ultimately rooted in scientifically sound methods. Jon currently serves as Regional Business Lead, North America of the specialty agriculture segment for ICL Specialty Fertilizers. ICL Specialty Fertilizers offers a range of specialty products that include innovative technologies such as Controlled Release and Water Soluble Fertilizers for Agriculture, Horticulture, Turf, and Landscapes. Each of ICL SF’s products are designed to enhance plant quality and improve crop yield while maximizing nutrient uptake efficiencies.