Non-Ferrous Metals Division:

International panel of guest speakers gives insight into business in Asia, the ramifications of the Eurozone crisis and a global brass market outlook from an Italian perspective

For the upcoming World Recycling Convention in Rome, the BIR Non Ferrous Metals Division under the leadership of Bob Stein (Alter Trading, USA) offers a programme that puts a special emphasis on a broad international representation of guest speakers while presenting current and pertinent issues of interest to all attending divisional delegates. 

At the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 30 May 2012 at 11 am, topics under discussion will be the challenge of the Eurozone crisis for the world economy, the importance of Asia as the fastest growing secondary aluminium market, and the impact of strong Indian and Far Eastern scrap demand on Italian domestic brass production.

The three following guest speakers will address the audience:

Ms Loretta Forelli is very well known in the industry and has enlightened BIR delegates at previous conventions with her analytical skills and deep knowledge of the copper alloy industry. Ms Forelli is one of the owners of the family-based Forelli Group, Italy's major specialist in brass ingot production. The group consists of five companies that operate interconnected plants, each of which specialises in a particular aspect of the melting of copper and its alloys. The Forelli group is not only the leading Italian producer of brass ingots, but probably ranks among the top three in Europe. In her presentation, Ms Forelli will highlight Italy’s importance as the leading European brass producing country and one of the major brass scrap consumers, while analysing the challenges arising through Indian and Far Eastern producers.

Mr Marco Valli, one of the most respected economists in Europe, is Chief Eurozone Economist for UniCredit, a major pan-European banking organization based in Italy, with approx 40 million customers and operations in 22 countries. In the CEE region, UniCredit Group operates the largest international banking network with over 3.900 branches and outlets. Before joining UniCredit in 2004, Mr Valli worked as European Economist at Fideuram, an asset management firm based in Milan. He also co-authored the study "Global Inflation - The Ghost in the Machine?" which was awarded the Rybczynski Prize for the best piece of business economics writing in 2007 by the Society of Business Economists. Mr Valli will share with the audience his in-depth knowledge of the European economy and provide a better understanding of the crisis we are witnessing today.

The third presentation will focus on secondary aluminium in the Far East. Asia is the fastest growing secondary aluminium market in the world, with the biggest growth potential for automobile demand which is likely to boost aluminium consumption.  Mr Shigenori Hayashi is Director of Materials Management at Daiki Aluminium Industry Co. Ltd, the largest secondary aluminium smelter in Japan, and has been with Daiki for the last 35 years. The company, which was established in 1948, produces approximately 220,000 tonnes of aluminium alloy at four plants. Its main products are secondary aluminium alloy ingot and molten metal for die casting. Daiki also has affiliated companies in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Poland, China and USA as well as representative office in Russia and China. Mr Hayashi will be giving a presentation on the “Trend and future development of secondary aluminium alloy industry in Asia”.