Alumina Session: The Future for Alumina Futures
Topic: Alumina pricing models inside and outside China need improvement. Within China, the pricing model has shifted down over time, leaving alumina producers with lower margins relative to the metal price. At the same time, the industry is torn between domestic bauxite or using imported material.
Outside China, there are allegations that the API is being manipulated. Is it true, and what will happen?
The rise in sea freight rates this year has caught most people by surprise. But is it a blip – a reaction after the quiet months of 2020, or is it the start of a new long-term trend in high shipping costs?
Paper: Domestic China alumina industry - opportunities and challenges.
Presenter: Xavier Gou, Senior Analyst, AZ China Ltd.
Paper: The long-term outlook for dry bulk cargo shipping rates.
Presenter: Lasse Kristoffersen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Torvald Klaveness
Simultaneous Translation will be provided from Chinese (Mandarin) to English and English to Chinese (Mandarin).
Panel Discussion:
Moderator: Monte Zhang, General Manager of China Business Department of AZ China Ltd.
Panellists:
- Bob Adam, Chief Executive Officer, Mining Consulting
- Alice Mason, European Base Metals Editor, Fastmarkets
- Deeptaman Mukherjee, Director, Group Commercial Bauxite & Alumina, Vedanta
- Waleed Tamimi, Aluminium Bahrain, Chief Supply Officer
- Jiguang Xing, General Manager, Internationl Trading, State Power Investment Cooperation (SPIC)
Q&A:
Questions can be voiced 24 hours prior to the broadcast of the live session. Delegates can also send their questions throughout the duration of the session. The moderator will be receiving the questions and including the relevant ones in the panel discussion. The audience can choose whether they require to remain anonymous or if they allow for their name to be mentioned.
Simultaneous Translation will be provided from Chinese (Mandarin) to English and English to Chinese (Mandarin).
Speakers
Alice MasonEuropean Base Metals Editor, FastmarketsAlice Mason is the European Base Metals Editor at Fastmarkets, with a special focus on the whole aluminium supply chain. Alice is responsible for pricing the daily alumina index and daily P1020 aluminium premiums. She joined Fastmarkets in 2017 originally as a Futures Reporter covering the London Metal Exchange and prior to Fastmarkets, Alice reported on the shipping industry.
Bob AdamChief Executive Officer, Mining ConsultingA mining engineer involved in the Guinean bauxite industry since 2006 as CEO of AMC Bauxite, the first independent company involved in bauxite development in Guinea. For the last 4 years, Bob has been providing consulting services to bauxite companies, Government bodies and gold mining companies in Guinea. A specialist in project assessment, Bob has an intimate knowledge of the bauxite mining industry in Guinea.
Deeptaman MukherjeeDirector, Group Commercial Bauxite & Alumina, Vedanta
Lasse KristoffersenPresident and Chief Executive Officer, Torvald KlavenessLasse Kristoffersen started in Torvald Klaveness in 2007 heading up the business unit Klaveness Maritime Logistics. In September 2011 he was appointed new Chief Executive Officer for Torvald Klaveness and became the first company CEO from outside the Klaveness family.
Prior to joining Torvald Klaveness Kristoffersen worked 11 years for Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in various positions including 2 years in New York starting up Maritime Solutions Americas for DNV. In 2006, he became Director of Operation DNV Industry Norge.
He holds a Master of Sciences in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In addition, he has attended IMD’s Senior Management Program and INSEAD’s Executive Management Program.
Monte ZhangGeneral Manager China Division, AZ China Ltd.Monte Zhang, General Manager of China Business Department of AZ China, has nearly 10 years of experience in non-ferrous metals industry. He has participated in the compilation of the non-ferrous metals price index of the Price Monitoring Center of the National Development and Reform Commission. He often mainstream financial columns such as First Finance expounded industry views, and wrote industry columns for industry media such as China Energy News, and delivered keynote speeches at industry conferences many times.
Waleed TamimiAluminium Bahrain, Chief Supply OfficerWaleed Tamimi holds the position of Chief Supply Officer of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba) overseeing the departments of Procurement & Warehousing, Strategic Supply & Planning, Engineering, Operational Excellence, Metallurgy and Customer Technical Support. Prior to his present role, Waleed was the Chief Administration Officer and before that was the Director of Administration.
Within Alba, he successfully held the position of Senior Manager of Strategic Supply & Planning, charged with controlling the company’s procurement requirement of all major raw material and corresponding logistics. Moreover, Waleed was responsible for the management and development of Alba’s raw material and freight suppliers’ network in addition to managing all trading & selling initiatives for excess procured Alumina and surplus production of Calcined Petroleum Coke.
In 2013, Waleed served as Manager - Operational Excellence where he led the operational excellence initiatives alongside the continuous improvement strategy and roadmap. Moreover, Waleed was responsible for the development, establishment and initiation of an Enterprise Continuous Improvement and Cost Cutting Programme (Titan Programme), based on the Lean-Six Sigma methodology. The developed Programme is a company-wide philosophy aimed at improving quality, reducing lead time and bringing in sizable and sustainable cost reduction levels.
Prior to his tenure with Alba, he was General Manager of Business Improvement Group at Rezayat Group of Companies in Khobar, Saudi Arabia where he led a strategy building initiative at Rezayat Group.
Xavier GouAlumina Senior Analyst China Division, AZ China Ltd.Xavier Gou, currently serves as Alumina Senior Analyst of AZ China, China Division. He has an overall of 12 years’ experience in physical trading in raw material market and bulk commodity research. Xavier has extensive knowledge about alumina and aluminum ore industry and has well established ties within the Chinese alumina market. This allows him to have in-depth understanding of the market in various production areas and give unique and accurate insights combing fundamental research and industry developments.
- Xing JiguangGeneral Manager and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of SPIC (State Power Investment Cooperation) Aluminium International Trade Co., Ltd.
