Argus Fertilizer Live - Virtual Conference

Mr. Jacob Hansen took over as the Director General of Fertilizers Europe in 2011. Prior to that he worked for the Danish Agriculture and Food Council in Copenhagen and then as Director of their office in Brussels. From a farming background and having studied Political Science at the University of Aarhus in Denmark (MA 1989), he understands first-hand the importance of fertilizers to society and the need to communicate this. Having worked and been actively involved in a range of committees, platforms and task forces for over 20 years, Mr. Hansen has developed an extensive network within the agri-industrial sectors in Brussels. Read less

Mr Zhai Jidong is Vice President of Kingenta Group and President of Kingenta International, the world’s largest slow and controlled release fertilizer producer and China largest NPK compound and Specialty fertilizer producer and a public company listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange (002470). A 32-year veteran of the agriculture industry, Mr. Zhai was previously COO at Spur Ventures Inc., a public company listed in Toronto, Headquarter in Vancouver, where he led Spur’s business in China with a large phosphate mine and chemical complex integrated project. Prior to Spur, he was Executive Vice president and Chief Economist of Sino-Arab Chemical Fertilizers Co. Ltd.(SACF). He was formerly Managing Director of Huaying Phosphoric Acid Co. Ltd., a joint venture company between Japanese ITOCHOU and Chinese CNCCC. Mr. Zhai was Vice Chairman of the China Phosphate Industry Association, Director of the China Sulphuric Acid Industry Association and was Member of Hebei Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC). Mr. Zhai is Senior Chemical Engineer and has Bachelor Degree of Science and Master Degree at Economics. Read less

Lauren Williamson is Senior Vice President, Business Development, for Argus’ global fertilizer portfolio. Lauren has been in information services since 2003 with a focus on fertilizers since 2010. Her previous roles include work at SABIC and Shell. Read less

Dr Grant Roberts is the Chief Agronomist for Yara Asia and works in the commercial excellence team based in Singapore. Over the last five years, he has provided technical, commercial and strategic support for 11 countries in Asia. His current focus is on ensuring that agronomy knowledge can be transferred to farmers through the multichannel approach of trained staff, digital solutions and joint partnerships. He held previous roles in Australia, including Senior Technical Management positions for two national retail distributors, private consulting and applied research. Read less

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Magnus became president of Yara’s newly established clean ammonia unit in February, having previously served as president of Yara North America, where he was responsible for the company’s sales, supply chain and production activities in the region, including its ammonia plants in Freeport and Trinidad. Before this, Magnus was chief financial officer of Yara’s Industrial business and director of corporate strategy. He joined Yara after five years at Boston Consulting Group, before which he served in the Royal Norwegian Navy. Magnus holds a BSc in nautical engineering and an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics. Read less

Satish Chander is the Director General of the Fertiliser Association of India since June, 2008. He started his initial career with the Delhi University and thereafter joined Civil Service in India. In his career span of over 30 years he held various positions with the Government of India. As Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare he held, inter alia, the position of Controller of Fertilisers and Central Registrar of Multi-State Cooperative Societies. He represented the Government of India on number of Board of Public Sector Companies and Multi-State Cooperative Societies. He has been associated with a large number of high level Committees constituted by the Government in addressing the issues concerning Indian farmers and Fertiliser Sector. He has been actively associated with the Government in the reform process of the fertiliser sector. He is on the Board of the Certified Crop Advisor Programme-India conducted by American Society of Agronomy. He is also on the Board of International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), U.S.A. Read less

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Gavin Chong joined Argus Singapore in January 2015 and is currently the fertilizer business development vice-president for Asia. He has a previous eight years of experience in trading, distribution, and managing NPK production based in Indonesia and Malaysia. Read less

Innocent Okuku is the Vice-President and Coordinator for Partnerships of the West Africa Fertilizer Association (WAFA), an umbrella for all private sector players in the fertilizer industry operating within the ECOWAS region. Mr Okuku is also the Chief Executive Officer of Intrio Synergy Limited (ISL), an agro-allied company based in Nigeria and focused on helping smallholder farmers achieve increased production and income through the adoption of improved farming practices and inputs, including balanced fertilizers. He has over 25 years experience in the agricultural industry spanning research, development and commercial positions in both public and private organizations, including over 8 years in the fertilizer industry in Nigeria where he served as Group Head of Commercial Services at Notore Chemical Industries PLC, West Africa’s premier Urea Manufacturer, where he was responsible for all the functions related to business Development, marketing and sales in all markets including locally in Nigeria and exports globally. Mr Okuku has great capacity and experience in developing and running Public-Private-Partnerships towards deploying appropriate farm inputs and technologies to help increase farm yields across Africa. Innocent is an alumnus of the prestigious London Business School and also holds a Doctorate degree in Crop Production. Read less

Anderson is the founder and chief executive officer of Brazilian agribusiness consultancy Celeres. Previously, he implemented and co-ordinated the department of agriculture at São Paulo’s FNP Consulting and Commerce, where he developed and managed studies and projects related to the country’s agriculture. He worked in the risk management area through the use of the futures markets in the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. Anderson serves on the board of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications and is an associate consultant at GV Consult at the São Paulo School of Business Administration. An agronomic engineer, he graduated from the Federal University of Uberlândia and holds a post-graduate degree in business administration from the Getulio Vargas Foundation. Read less

Berit is Head of Decarbonization Business Development at Maersk and is working on projects to decarbonise shipping with a focus on future marine fuels. Before joining Maersk in April 2020, she worked for Haldor Topsoe for 13 years in roles within R&D, business development, technology scouting and corporate strategy, covering technical and commercial projects across ammonia, methanol, syngas and refinery catalysts and technologies. Berit has also worked as a research scientist in materials science at Princeton University. She has a master’s in physics from the University of Duisburg-Essen and a PhD in physics from the Technical University of Denmark with a focus on catalysis and ammonia synthesis. Read less

Mike is responsible for managing the London editorial fertilizer team and helps to develop new contacts. He is the Editor of Argus’ weekly Phosphates Report and the Monthly Africa Fertilizer Supplement, and the main contributor to the Monthly Phosphates Outlook. He also has special responsibility for the emerging African sector. Read less

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Mr. Haugan is a seasoned fertilizer executive currently the sole proprietor of consultancy and advisory firm Fertimetrics Pte Ltd with base in Singapore. Prior he held several executive and director roles in some of the largest global fertilizer companies like Yara International, Ma'aden Phosphate Company, Keytrade AG, and Allied Harvest International. In his current role with Fertimetrics he has consulted and advised several companies on possible investments in ammonia and urea, off-take agreements on granular urea, as well as the downstream utilization of raw materials from phosphate rock, sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid. Read less

Rob Groot is Director IFDC for Business Development and Partnerships and has over 25 years’ experience in international agricultural development, particularly relating to food security and soil fertility management in sub-Saharan Africa. He has been Director IFDC (East and Southern Africa and North and West Africa) since 2004. During this time, IFDC has seen a tenfold expansion of its activities in Africa, where projects are increasingly undertaken in collaboration with the private sector, from both the agro-food and fertilizer industries. Before joining IFDC, Rob was involved in research involving soil fertility improvement, fertilizer use and climate change in Africa, mainly working for Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He holds an MSc in biology and agronomy from Wageningen University. Read less

Gopal Chandak is Chief Executive of Fertagro Africa DMCC and a visionary professional with more than 15 years of experience in the fertilizer industry. Driving organisational strategies with strong leadership skills Gopal focuses on strategic partnerships, corporate restructuring and the development of people. He contributes to the company’s growth prospects in Africa and has served on the Board of WAFA (West Africa Fertilizer Association Africa). Read less

Oliver Hatfield, is VP Business Development for Argus Media in London. Oliver joined Argus in October 2018 following its acquisition of Integer Research, where he spent 15 years as head of the fertilizer market research team. Oliver has more than 20 years of experience in business analysis and consulting, and he was also one of the founders of Integer. Oliver has worked extensively on multi-client and bespoke fertilizer market analysis studies, covering market forecasts, strategy, due diligence, market entry and project feasibility. He has worked as an analyst on all the key fertilizer and related chemical markets: nitrogen, phosphates, potash, sulphur and sulphuric acid. Oliver is a graduate of economics and development economics from the University of Manchester in the UK. Read less

Carl Roache is the Asian Fertilizer Editor at Argus Media, based in the company’s Singapore office. He is responsible for co-ordinating regional coverage for the global fertilizer reports. Prior to his move to Singapore in 2016, Carl edited the global Argus Potash report and the Fertilizer Europe publication from the London head office. Carl has over a decade of experience covering commodity markets. Before joining Argus in 2013, he worked as an editor for ICIS/Reed Business Information covering a range of sectors including fertilizers, petrochemicals and refined products. He is an NCTJ/NCE qualified newspaper journalist and started his career working for Northcliffe Media in the UK. Read less

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David is the editor of Fertilizer Europe (FE) and Fertilizer Africa at Argus, and has also worked as a market reporter for FE and the Argus potash report. He has almost 20 years of journalism experience, a first-class bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history, and a master’s in international politics from Trinity College Dublin. He was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, but has lived in London for the past six years. His interests include the natural sciences, philosophy, politics, history, geography, economics, sport, and using commas. Read less

Sean has a long career in international trade, law and economics commencing at the Middle East Economic Digest in London as a researcher; then at CEFIC as a Trade Counsellor; then as Head of International Trade from the UK Chemical Industries Association in London for 10 years. He is presently Trade and Economic Director at Fertilizers Europe where he has worked for 22 years. Read less

Luuk specializes in grass growth for roughage, seeking fertilizer solutions from the perspective of a farmer. He focuses on adding value to fertilizers through modification or smart combinations of the product, and through intensive marketing. Read less

Ewan is the editor of the weekly global potash report, and works on the short-term potash outlook. He is responsible for MOP, SOP and NOP price assessments as well as global news and local market coverage. Ewan joined Argus in 2012, and was previously News Editor, covering energy markets. Read less

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Alexander is the co-founder and CEO of AgVend, a leading agricultural eCommerce platform that connects ag retailers to farmers looking to purchase inputs and services online. AgVend’s digital commerce platform enables partner retailers to market their solutions, support their customers, and sell products anywhere and at any time. Retailers can choose to list their inventory through the AgVend Marketplace or on their own privately labelled AgVend Storefront. Before starting AgVend, Alexander was VP of Product at Mavrx, an agricultural aerial imagery company, heading the product marketing, support and management teams. And before that, he led product for Euclid, where he worked with Fortune 500 retailers, looking to create an omnichannel experience by integrating an eCommerce strategy into their existing sales channels. Read less

As the CEO of DCSA, Thomas is responsible for building strong relationships with stakeholders in shipping and beyond, as well as leading the team to achieve DCSA’s mission of enabling systematic collaboration in container shipping through technology standardisation. Prior to joining DCSA, Thomas was instrumental in a number of transformational activities involving technology, process and people at Maersk. Most recently, he held the position of Adviser to the CIO on Strategy and Digital Transformation. With two decades of experience in transportation and logistics, Thomas has an in-depth understanding of customers and industry drivers, as well as the challenges of digitising the container shipping industry. Thomas has an Executive MBA and an Applied Finance degree from Copenhagen Business School. Read less

Corrie Banks is a logistics expert leading the development of Quasar - a cloud based, IOT, rail supply chain optimization platform for Cando Rail Services. In 2019, Supply Chain Canada recognized Corrie’s contributions to the Canadian Supply Chain Sector by including Corrie in the “Top 100 Influential Women In Supply Chain.” Using her lean and six sigma qualifications, Corrie has managed 3rd Party Logistics, warehousing/distribution, rail and truck shipments, railcar and truck maintenance and repair scheduling, port operations, load planning, shipment management, issue resolution, freight audit and payment, and data metrics and analytics. Companies that have worked with Corrie have saved between 7 to 25% of their supply chain costs. Read less

Aida has over 15 years’ experience in both capital markets and the fertilizers industry. Prior to joining Argus Consulting Services, she worked in strategy and market intelligence roles for OCP, contributing to strategic projects in the phosphate sector. Before that, she worked for Goldman Sachs for over three years in structured interest rates derivative sales. Aida was educated at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees in Paris, where she earned an MSc in engineering. Read less

Matt is responsible for bespoke consulting in phosphates, potash and NPKs, and has delivered projects for some of the largest fertilizer companies worldwide. He is also the author of Argus NPK Analytics and has an MSci in geology from Imperial College London. Read less

Senior engineer graduated from Nanjing Industrial University in 1990 with a bachelor degree of Chemical Engineering. Joined ChinaOil Jilin Co after graduation and worked with China National Chemical Information Center, Mosaic, Beijing Wanzhong Fangda Technological Development Center and Argus in the following years. Used to cover all fertilizer-related products for both editorials and consulting. Today as lead analyst, covering urea, amsul, ammonia, sulphur and sulphuric acid in editorial department in Argus. Have close relationship with associations and market participants and rich experiences in market analysis and reporting. Read less

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Patrice Annequin is a fertilizer market information specialist and agro-economist with over 30 years of experience in private sector and agricultural input market development in sub-Saharan Africa. He has expertise in agricultural input marketing, regulations and policies, institutional development and organizational strengthening, market studies and assessments, and capacity building of producer and trader organizations. Annequin joined IFDC in 2001, led the information unit of the USAID-funded MISTOWA project unit from 2004 to 2008, before initiating in 2009 and piloting AfricaFertilizer.org, a global portal on fertilizer production, trade, consumption, and price statistics in Africa, in partnership with IFA, FAO, the African Union, among others. After joining the Feed the Future EnGRAIS project in 2018, he took over as its director in 2022, with the main mission of building a more competitive, inclusive and private sector-led West African fertilizer market. Annequin holds a master's degree in economics and sociology of sustainable development from AgroParisTech (France). Read less

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Mathias leads EuroChem Asia’s marketing and sales activities, including the development of the Group’s distribution and strategic initiatives. He has been Head of Marketing and Sales Asia / Managing Director since 2012. Mathias started his fertilizer career in 2008 with K+S. Based in Mannheim / Germany he was in charge of sales for Middle East, Africa and Asia. He moved to Singapore as Director of K+S’ Nitrogen business in 2011 and joined EuroChem in 2012 after the company acquired K+S Nitrogen. Born in 1985, he is a German citizen and received an MBA from Cooperative State University Mannheim / Germany. Read less

Andrea Valentini has 15 years of experience as a commodities market analysis. He is now leading Argus’ research and consulting in blue/green ammonia and carbon markets. Prior to joining Argus, he was the head of consulting for Integer Research. He is a regular speaker and industry events and has over 10 years of experience in APAC markets. Andrea is a graduate in Economics from the University of Padua in Italy and holds an MBA from McGill University, Canada. Read less

Chen joined the Solvay Agro business unit in 2011 and was APAC regional research and innovation manager for its agro-business for many years until recently moving to Singapore to take up the APAC business development manager role. He has a deep understanding of the Asian agriculture market and has successfully led Solvay's research team in developing many products for the region. In his new role, he is responsible for developing Solvay's fertilizer inhibitor and seed biostimulant business across Asia. Read less

Jack Merriott has ten years’ experience working in strategy consulting, strategic planning and market intelligence, spanning fertilizers, industrial products and consumer goods and is responsible for low carbon consulting projects at Argus Media, spanning green hydrogen, green ammonia and carbon markets. Prior to joining Argus, he was a Manager at Integer Research with responsibility for consulting projects in Europe and the America. Jack is a graduate of Oxford University and is fluent in French and Spanish. Read less

With over 40 years’ experience in the agricultural sector, Martin is currently Managing Director for Verdesian Europe and Africa, providing sales, development and regulatory strategy to distributing partners for nutrient efficiency technologies. Prior to this, he spent 11 years at the helm of an innovative UK-based research and development biotech company. Martin also spent two years operating out of Cyprus as Business Director for a major agricultural distributor, establishing outlets in the Balkans and eastern Europe. In addition, he worked for over 20 years in senior roles with ICL, Zeneca Agrochemicals and Syngenta. He was Chairman of Zeneca Turkey, and for four years was based in Kenya, developing agricultural business opportunities across east and southern Africa. Martin sits on the board of the European Biostimulant Industry Council. Read less

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Hasan oversees and leads fertilizer consulting services for the Americas, with a focus on single-client studies. Before joining Argus, Hasan worked for Canpotex, BHP and Accenture, where he led fundamentals analysis and strategic planning, developed analyses of competitors’ strategies, modelled the price impact of various market entry approaches, and analyzed acquisition targets. Hasan is an alumnus of McGill University, where he received a degree in economics and Rice University where he received a masters in energy economics. Read less

Trey has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, a master’s in crop and soil science from the University of Georgia and a PhD in plant breeding from Texas A&M University. He has spent over 12 years in the agriculture industry in public and private roles, including as a corn breeder for Monsanto under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa project. Upon returning to the US, Trey became an assistant professor and cropping systems agronomist at Auburn University. He has been with Yara North America since 2018 and as market development manager is working on developing crop nutrition solutions through a diverse product portfolio, R&D and agronomic knowledge. Read less

Markus graduated from Montana State University with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education and biology in 1998. He went on to spend six years as an instructor of agriculture sciences and biology, and since 2004 has held roles including sales agronomist, agronomy trainer and precision agronomist for CHS, Agri-Trend and Trimble Navigation. He is currently a market development manager for Yara North America, where he works to bring Yara’s global agronomic expertise, extensive product portfolio and digital tools together to drive grower profitability and sustainability without increasing operational complexity. Read less

Mr. Li graduated from Peking university with master degree. After several years’ market research in fertilizer field, he is well experienced in water soluble fertilizer and market demand in China and worldwide. Read less

Robert is a B2B leader in the turf and horticulture markets, with a focus on circular economy solutions. He joined Ostara in his present role, bringing more than 20 years’ experience of global brand building, international sales and agronomy. A former global marketing and category manager with ICL Specialty Fertilisers’ turf and landscaping arm and a former global category development manager at Scotts Miracle-Gro, he introduced several new brands to market, including ProTurf and Vitalnova. Rob is based in the Hague, Netherlands, and holds a BSc in tropical agriculture and business development from Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences. Read less

Franck Hennequart is an Engineer, graduated in the Marine Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory of the University of Caen (Normandy, France), specialised in the valorisation of marine resources. Franck worked first for 3 years in British Columbia in Canada as R&D project assistant for a Provincial organisation promoting partnership between Industry and Research groups for technological transfer in aquaculture. Back in Europe, he has been then appointed Project Coordinator in the Molecular Glycobiotechnology Group of the Dept. of Biochemistry at National University of Ireland Galway. In parallel, he participated to the creation and the setup of OGT, an Irish company developing novel seaweed extracts. In June 2008, Franck joined OGT full time as Technical Director. OGT was acquired by the Spanish company Tradecorp International in June 2014 where he became global seaweed project manager for the whole group. Early 2016, Franck and his colleagues turned over a spin-off company into ALGAIA, a company producing seaweed extracts and specialised in providing consultancy, analyses and bioactivity tests for the valorisation of algae in many sectors of activities. Franck is also share-holder of a French consulting company called SEANEO specialised in management of aquaculture, artificial reefs and Marine Protected Areas. Read less

Carolina is an agronomist with over 20 years’ experience of soils in the field and the laboratory. She works with the Global Soil Partnership Secretariat (GSP) as a facilitator for the Latin American and Caribbean Soil Partnership, and as support in the field for Pillar 1 on sustainable soil management. Prior to joining the GSP, she worked as a consultant on soil fertility management in the livestock, viticulture and horticulture sectors, and on development projects for international cooperation agencies. She holds a MSc in agronomy from Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris VI). Read less

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Bart Meylemans obtained a Masters degree in Agronomy in Belgium in 1991, and a Ph.D. in 1999. He spent most of his career in the Specialty Fertilizer sector, mainly active in commercial functions in the Water-Soluble Fertiliser business. He worked for SQM in various sales functions in Europe, the Middle East and the Former Soviet Union, including some years as Commercial Director Europe for Specialty Plant Nutrition. He was also Sales Manager Specialties Benelux for Yara. At the end of 2019, Bart Meylemans started his own company Ag Ambition, and is now working as consultant and commercial agent, connecting producers of Specialty Fertilisers and distributors. Next to optimizing sales networks for existing products, Bart is also fascinated by new innovations in the fertilizer and biostimulant/ biotechnology sector, promoting highly relevant new technologies. Read less

After growing up in agriculture, Doug Pottinger began his career with Ag-Chem Equipment Co., Inc., a Minnesota-based application equipment company. After 13 years with the company in a number of different roles, Doug and his business partner bought North America’s largest soil sampling company and focused on advancing precision agriculture from the ground up. Five years later, Doug sold his share of the company to his business partner and joined Brandt Consolidated. Brandt is a family-owned company that focuses on supplying premier products to growers and ag retailers. Brandt formulates and manufactures many of its own products, and has both retail and wholesale divisions. Doug is the business manager for Brandt’s Discovery and Innovation team. Read less

Hunter currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Phospholutions, Inc. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BSc in Plant Sciences, where he was recognised as Top Entrepreneur at the university. He sits on the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisory Board for the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State University. Swisher founded Phospholutions, Inc. in 2016 to develop and commercialise solutions to improve the efficiency of global phosphorus use. Phospholutions, Inc. is headquartered in State College, PA. Read less

Ershad Tavakol is a PhD graduate from the Institute of applied plant nutrition (IAPN) within Göttingen University, Germany. He did his PhD studies in the area of molecular plant nutrition and focused on the effects of nutrient optimization on metabolism under abiotic stress. After finishing his PhD studies in 2017, He joined K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH and worked in the advisory and agronomy division. He is currently in the marketing and Product management team of K+S active in the area of product development and new products. Read less

David Beaudreau, Jr. is a Senior Vice President with DC Legislative and Regulatory Services (DCLRS). He has over 15 years legislative affairs and policy experience, managing agriculture, alternative and renewable energy, biofuels and sustainability issues. He has in depth understanding of federal legislative and regulatory processes, and technical proficiency in policy research, analysis, and presentation. One of his roles is as the Executive Director of the U.S. Biostimulant Coalition – a coalition comprised of 24 biostimulant companies, which promotes regulatory consensus between state and federal regulatory agencies and is working to develop standards for biostimulants products. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, David earned a B.A. in Political Science from Allegheny College. David also earned an M.P.S. degree from the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. Read less

As one of the co-founders, Marc is working within Van Iperen International as of the first day of the company in 2010. After his graduation in 1996 as an Agronomist at Wageningen University he has been active in the international Specialty Fertilizer world ever since. As Director of Innovation, Marc is today responsible for all the new developments within Van Iperen International. Projects like the Plants for Plants (focused on the development of new plant extracts with biostimulant characteristics) and GreenSwitch (focused on the production of circular and CO2 mitigating sources of Nitrogen) are part of his day to day activities. Read less