TMS 2016 - heard in the lobbies

A live TMS blog would not be complete without sharing some of the gossip, news and tidbits heard in the lobbies and bars of the main hotels. So, in no particular order, here’s some of the things I heard.

• News. Rain CII is now called Rain Carbon. The company has reorganised to better align their various product groups. One outcome of that realignment was the realisation that the CII name, a throwback from the days when the two companies merged, is now no longer relevant.
• Tidbit. The Rain company name comes from the first letters of the names of the parents of the founder - Raju and Indira.
• News - Pacific Aluminium is to re-merge parts of its operations with its parent company Rio Tinto. As always with such moves, some people have lost their jobs, while others have found themselves in more senior roles.
• News. While on the subject of Rio Tinto, Carbone Savoie is to be sold off to a group of French investors. The sale goes through in the next couple of weeks. Carbone Savoie produces cathode blocks at their France plant, and used to be a subsidiary/Joint Venture of Pechiney.
• Zoo news. Also within Rio Tinto, I understand that Foster Li has retired or left the company. I first met Foster in 2005 when he was in a logistics role at the Alcan Ningxia plant. He had come from 18 years at Chalco in Guizhou. This is nowhere near Ningxia, and Foster was commuting each week; a huge toll on him and his family. It was Foster who replaced me when my 2-year contract with Alcan Beijing was completed. Good luck Foster!
• Insiders joke. Businessman 1 - “What’s happening with the supposed new smelter in Vietnam?” Businessman 2 - “Who knows. It’s one of those projects that may never get off the ground.” Businessman 1 - “Well, perhaps the Vietnam smelter can buy their CPC from Gasan.”
• Laugh. When I finished presenting to one major group yesterday, one exec said to me “I always thought your name was Paul. It’s really ‘Mr Sunshine'”. Okay, so my message is not very optimistic!
• Downsized. One senior exec, well liked by most people here at TMS, has discovered that their job has been severely downsized, leaving serious questions as to whether there’s still a future in the company. A shame for this person.
• Who’s that guy? There’s a guy here at TMS who seems to know everybody and everything, except that he is leaving people confused or concerned. Especially when the things he says are wrong.
• Stuff up. It wouldn’t be a TMS without at least one stuffed up meeting. I had my moment yesterday, telling my appointment that she had the wrong time. Except that she was right and I was wrong. Sorry Ivy.
• Keeping the business card printers profitable. This TMS, the numbers are well down on previous years. But several people who were at TMS last year are now here representing a new company, or in some cases have hung out their own shingle and started a new business. Ex-Alcoan Matthai Markose is now doing his own thing, while Mike Meyer and Natalie Nader are both now handing out new business cards.
• Retiring? I am hearing that Mohan Haldankar is retiring, or at least is leaving his long-time employer Goa Carbon. Good luck Mohan! Will this be your last TMS? It’s Mohan in the feature image.