Welcome to our Digital Activity Report 2019-2020! To discover what you will find in this report and what our priorities are for 2020, press play to watch a short introductory video from our Chairman, Emilio Braghi.
I look back on what we have achieved over the last year with great pride. Alongside our members, we developed the Aluminium Agenda 2019-2020 for the new EU institutions, which outlines our industry’s carefully considered policy recommendations on trade, energy & climate, the circular economy and innovation. In an ever-changing world, the European aluminium sector needs to be even more agile while at the same time staying focussed on achieving a long-term vision. That’s why - with our I+ Manifesto - we have been calling on policy makers to deliver a strong and ambitious industrial strategy.
This call is supported by two reports that analyse and explain our potential and ambitions; the long-term "Vision 2050" and the mid-term " Recycling Strategy." While the former demonstrates our strategic role in helping achieve a carbon neutral economy, the latter substantiates the policy measures and technologies needed to match the growing demand for aluminium with an increased supply of recycled metal.
These are just a few highlights from a very busy year. To discover the latest achievements and current priorities of our association’s various divisions, committees and market groups (building, mobility, packaging), I invite you to explore our Digital Activity Report!
A big thank you to our members, stakeholders, and of course, my team for their unfailing commitment and support throughout the year. Strong collaboration helps us achieve more together than we can ever do separately. That’s why I am certain that our industry has a bright future as one of the frontrunners driving Europe’s transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy.
Pictured: European Aluminium's staff at the Autumn Meetings 2019 in Montreux, Switzerland
Emilio Braghi is Senior Vice President and President, Novelis Europe. In his role, which he assumed in September 2016, he oversees ten European facilities for recycling and manufacturing aluminium for a number of sectors, including automotive, building, packaging and transportation.
Previously, Emilio was Vice President, Operations, Novelis North America. Before that, he served as Vice President, Sales and Operations for Novelis Asia, with responsibility for all commercial and manufacturing activities in the region. Prior to joining the Asia leadership team in March 2012 as Vice President, Operations, Emilio served as Vice President and General Manager of the Specialties value stream in Europe.
From 2006 to 2012, he held various general management roles with Novelis Europe’s Litho and Painted Products value streams. Prior to the formation of Novelis, Emilio had been with Alcan since 1999, where he began as Sales Manager, Europe.
Emilio graduated in engineering and industrial production technologies from the Politecnico di Milano.
Roberta Niboli is the CEO of Raffmetal, a European leading producer of aluminium alloys for remelting made from 100% recycled material.
Since 1979, Raffmetal has been part of Silmar Group. The Group, established in 1970 by Roberta’s father Silvestro Niboli, is active in the recycled aluminium, heating, plumbing and drainage, safety and furnishing sectors.
From 2005 to 2009 and from 2015 to 2017, Roberta was President of the Italian Aluminium Refiners Association (Assiral) and a member of the Organisation of European Refiners and Remelters (OEA) Council. On 10 July 2009, she was elected President of OEA, previously European Aluminium’s Recycling Division. She chaired this division until 2015.
Roberta is an economics graduate and has a range of international work experience.
Dr. Constantin Catsaros is a member of the Board of Directors for a number of Elval Group companies. He has worked for ELVAL since 1974 and works mainly with the company's international development team. He was also chairman of aluminium rolling plants in Europe.
Before joining Elval, Constantinos had worked for six years for Pechiney in France. He also served as chairman and vice-chairman of the Aluminium Association of Greece.
Constantinos is a graduate in mechanical-electrical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens; aircraft constructor/ engineer of École Nationale Superieure d’ Aeronautique in Paris and holds an engineering Doctorate from Paris University.
Egil Hogna is Executive Vice President, Extruded Solutions and member of Hydro’s Corporate Management Board. He comes from the position as President & Chief Executive Officer of Sapa and has previously served in a variety of management positions in Yara and Hydro, including Head of Downstream, CFO, BU Manager Mediterranean, Head of Investor Relations and others.
While in Yara he also served as a board member and President of Fertilizers Europe, the European fertilizer manufacturers’ industry association.
Mr. Hogna has a Master of Science degree from the Norwegian university of science and technology, NTNU, in Norway, and an MBA from INSEAD, France.
Simon Pelletier is General Manager, Global Metal Sales, Aluminium, Rio Tinto. Before joining Rio Tinto in France in 2004, Simon worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was involved in acquisition advisory work for corporate and private equity buyers/investors for international clients.
At Rio Tinto, he held various finance roles with Alcan’s Engineered Products and Mergers & Acquisitions in Paris, France, where he worked on diverse buy and sell-side international corporate development transactions. In 2008, he relocated to Montreal where he was responsible for mergers, acquisitions and divestments for Rio Tinto Alcan. In 2014, he moved to Singapore to become Director, Sales & Marketing for Asia-Pacific.
Simon holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from École des Hautes Études Commerciales, Montréal and a CPA designation from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants of Québec.
Philipp Schlüter is the CEO of TRIMET. He joined TRIMET Schweiz AG in 2009, where he held senior positions in the areas of risk management, raw material procurement and energy management as well as in retail trade and aluminium product sales. The eldest son of Heinz-Peter Schlüter, the founder of TRIMET, Philipp Schlüter represented the owner’s family as Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board from 2016-2018. On 26 November 2018, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer. This appointment demonstrates the family’s interest in continuing its active support for future sustainable development in the business.
Philipp Schlüter studied business administration in Bern and London. On receiving his Master’s degree in business management, he began his professional career at UBS Investment Bank in London
John Slaven is Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Alcoa, responsible for the daily operations of the company’s global bauxite, alumina and aluminium assets. John also focuses on Alcoa’s global aluminium smelting system, its network of casthouses, U.S. rolling mill, and the Corporation’s substantial energy assets. He is a member of the Alcoa Executive Team, which sets the strategic direction for the corporation.
John has extensive experience in the metals and mining business, including global experience in several commodities and industry sectors across the aluminium value chain. Prior to joining Alcoa, he served for 13 years as Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cape Town. John is based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Roman Stiftner is Managing Director of the Austrian Mining and Steel Association and the Austrian Non Ferrous Metals Federation within the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber since 2008.
In 2017, Roman was elected as a Member of the Executive Board of European Aluminium and as Chairman of the European National Associations. He is Vice President of Euromines since 2016 and since 2014 Member of the Euromines Steering Committee.
In the year 2011, he became Secretary General of the European Raw Materials platform ‘Eumicon’ and President of the Austrian Logistic Association. From 2008 until 2015 Roman was Member of the Vienna Provincial Parliament. The years before he was CEO of Dematic Austria, Central-Eastern-Europe and Head of Department for logistics automation of Siemens AG Austria. After finishing technical college, Roman studied at the Technical University as well as at the Economic and Business University of Vienna and graduated in 1994.
Rob van Gils is the CEO and Managing Partner of HAI Group. HAI is a well-known brand in aluminium extrusions and billets. It is one of the largest family-owned businesses within the European aluminium industry and operates out of six locations; four in Germany and one in Romania, with its headquarters in Ranshofen, Austria.
After taking over the role of Group CEO, Rob has significantly changed the portfolio of HAI Group in recent years. Supported by consequent investments in backward and forward integration, HAI now covers the entire value chain; recycling, billet production, extrusions and aluminium components for building and construction, industrial applications and the transportation industry.
Rob brings a well-established background in mechanical engineering and business administration to his role. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he held several management positions within HAI and AMAG, providing him with more than 15 years’ experience within the aluminium industry. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Deggendorf, Germany and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Louisville.
Paul Warton is President of the Automotive Structures & Industry business unit in Constellium since January 2011 and previously held the same role at Alcan Engineered Products from November 2009. In this role, he oversees 18 extrusion and fabrication plants in Europe, North America and China coupled with an R&T facility at Brunel University, London.
Previously, he was President of Sapa North Europe following a period as President of Sapa Building Systems from 2005. Before that he was Managing Director of Alcoa Extrusions in the UK during the integration of Alumax, Alcoa and British Aluminium in 2000, following four years as Sales Director BA Extrusions. Prior to joining the aluminium industry in 1993 Paul spent 10 years in Automotive manufacturing and commercial positions with Federal-Mogul and GKN.
Paul holds a BSc in Production Engineering and an MBA from the London Business School. Join us in welcoming Paul in his new roles and thanking Peter for the extensive cooperation and support during his tenure!