Speakers

Senior Global Category Manager, Carbon, Stainless & Raw Wire, Electrolux Home Appliances

Michele Arbaugh is an experienced appliance procurement professional. She manages the sourcing and processing of both carbon and stainless steel in the NA/Mexico region.  Her responsibilities include strategy, cost, budget, forecasting, negotiation, sustainability, risk-mitigation and relationship management.

Michele has successfully led the business demonstrating her deep understanding of the steel industry and expertise in category management.  She is known for her passion, dedication and continuous pursuit of excellence making her a highly respected leader and mentor at Electrolux.

Michele holds a MPA, Environmental Concentration and a BA in Political Science, minoring in Spanish and is a member of AWMI.

Founder and CEO, StaalX LLC

Murat Askin is the founder and CEO of StaalX LLC, an e-commerce and international trading company that specializes in trade automation, sales, logistics, and finance optimization. StaalX's mission is to provide value to both buyers and sellers and make transactiona easier. Prior to establishing StallX, Murat served as president and member of the Board of Tata International Metals Americas Limited (TIMAL) based in the greater Chicago, Illinois area.  Murat held various prestigious steel management positions at Corus Group, Ferrostaal and Mannesmann prior to joining Tata.  He has also served on the boards of various industry associations Murat's career spans 30 years in the steel and metals industry.

Reporter/Editor, Steel Market Update

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update.  He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008.  Later, he copy editied AMM's monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015-2017.  With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University.

Partner and Co-Chair, Wiley's International Trade Practice

Timothy C. Brightbill represents clients on all aspects of international trade law and policy including tariff policy, Section 301 and 232 duties, antidumping and countervailing duty law, renewable energy and climate change policy, digital trade, and customs enforcement matters, among others.  Tim is lead counsel to numerous U.S. industries including steel and steel products, steel scrap, solar, mobile access equipment, wood products, and many others.  He is recognized as one of the nation's leading lawyers in international trade by major news publications such as Politico, Associated Press, The Washington Post, and Bloomberg law. In addition to his practice, Tim has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center for 20 years.

Editor-in-Chief, Steel Market Update

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief of Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube as well as aluminum.  Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago,  the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh.  He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Chief Executive Officer, ISM

Thomas W. Derry is the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), with more than 30 years of experience in leadership and general management roles for public and private companies, and in the not-for-profit sector.  He has executed turnarounds at the corporate and business-unit level through a variety of means, including acquisitions, divestitures, restructuring, and business process re-engineering.

As CEO of ISM, Tom has a unique vantage point to observe major macroeconomic trends and the development of global supply chains through his daily contact with Fortune 500 chief procurement officers and chief supply chain officers, government agencies and NGOs in the United States and abroad, and with leading academics.  Tom has been interviewed on CNBC, Bloomberg Television, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and dozens of other business publications.

Founder and CEO of Flack Global Metals

Jeremy Flack is the founder and CEO of Flack Global Metals (FGM), an industrial platform redefining how metal is bought and sold.  Since 2010, FGM has evolved into an industrial platform that combines metal distribution, derivatives trading, and equity investments, comprised of Flack Metal Supply (flat rolled metals distribution), Flack Capital Markets (risk management and hedging services), Flack Metal Trading (international metals trading) and Flack Manufacturing Investments (direct equity investments).  Jeremy's unconventional path from commercial banking to the steel industry brings a fresh perspective, positioning him as a first mover and advocate for operational excellence, strategic growth, and cultural integration.

Chief Executive Officer, Algoma Steel Inc.

Michael Garcia was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Algoma Steel Inc. in June 2022. Before joining Algoma, Mr. Garcia gained more than 30 years of international management experience in steel, pulp & paper, and aluminum. Most recently, Mr. Garcia spent seven years at Domtar Corp. as President of the Pulp and Paper Division and before that, three years at Evraz-Highveld steel & Vanadium in South Africa where he served as Chief Executive Officer. Earlier in his career, Mr. Garcia spent eight years at Alcoa in multiple roles, most recently as Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Alcoa Asia. Previously he served five years in the United States Army as an Armor officer with the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

He currently serves on the board of Alliant Energy Inc., a public utility holding company. Mr. Garcia holds a computer science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Managing Director, Metrading International AG-Lugano, Switzerland

Jose F. Gasca began his career in international trade and finance at the age of 19 when he joined the Mexican Ex-im Bank (Bancomext).  Three years later, he worked for AHMSA, the largest integrated steel mill in Mexico, where he spent seven years in marketing, sales, production and technical development. During this time, Jose worked for two years in Brussels, Belgium, seconded to the International Iron and Steel Institute, now World Steel Association as The World Steel Fellow.

In 2002 Jose joined German steel trading house Man Ferrostall in Long Beach, California and then in Houston, Texas. In 2005 Jose was invited to join Coutinho Caro & Co. (CCC Steel) and moved to Hamburg, Germany where he became Managing Director for Flat Products with global responsibilities. In 2008, Jose had an active role in the merger of CCC Steel with Ferrostaal, and continued as Managing Director of the new organization, Coutinho & Ferrostaal based in Germany.

In 2012 he was invited to join the Turkish steel group Colakoglu, with the objective of opening a U.S. based subsidiary that would exclusively distribute the mill's products, and other materials from Turkey into North America. in 2016 Jose joined the Swiss based steel trading house Metrading Interntional AG as Managing Director.

Today, Jose Gasca is based in Lugano, Switzerland and Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. Jose is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Metals Supply Chain Institute (AMSCI) and also is a member of the board of Urbix Resources, a company focussed on developing high end graphite alternatives for EV batteries and other clean energy solutions.

President and CEO of Worthington Steel

Over the last year, Geoff Gilmore successfully led the company through a strategic spin-off from Worthington Industries to become its own, separate publicly traded company.  Since taking Worthington Steel public, Geoff has been instrumental in sharing its growth strategy and executing the expansion of its Europe footprint through an acquisition in Germany, increasing production capacity in Canada and Mexico and adding new capabilities with a licensing agreement for ablation technology.

Prior to his current role, Geoff served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Worthington Industries. During his 25-year tenure with Worthington Industries, he rose through the ranks from his first role as an inside sales representative to various commercial roles, vice president of purchasing as well as president of two of the company's largest divisions.

Geoff is passionate about leadership, workforce development and giving back, and works to advance those causes through his position on the boards of The Worthington Companies Foundation, Worthington Steel and Valparaiso University, his undergraduate alma mater.

President and COO of the Alliance Family of Companies

Drew Gross serves as the President and COO of the Alliance Family of Companies, which includes Alliance Steel, Alliance Fabrication and Manufacturing, Alliance Tubular Products, and Alliance Processing Corporation.

Drew has proudly led this growing family of companies for the last two years. Before taking the helm as President, Drew served as Corporate Vice President, Vice President of Sales, and Director of Business Development and Marketing.

With over 16 years of experience with the company, Drew has played a pivotal role in driving its exponential growth, helping to evolve Alliance from a small toll processor into a comprehensive steel provider.

Celebrating it 25th anniversary, Alliance has established itself as a trusted supplier, coil processor, material distributor, fabricator, and manufacturer or structural and mechanical tube products, catering to the diverse manufacturing needs of various industrial sectors.

Drew leads a team that shares his dedication to customer service, constantly innovating to develop custom supply chain solutions that meet the ever-changing demands of the manufacturing landscape.

President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ryerson

Edward J. Lehner is President and CEO of Ryerson, a global industrial metals supplier and processor with operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China.  Eddie began serving as Ryerson's CEO in June 2015 after having served as Ryerson's executive vice president and chief financial officer from July of 2012 through May of 2015. Prior to joining Ryerson, Eddie served as the chief financial officer of PSC Metals, Inc., a diversified metals company, and before that, as the chief financial officer of SeverCorr, LLC., a primary steel manufacturing company headquartered in the southern United States. Eddie's career also includes senior general management, operational, financial, accounting, tax and consulting roles for Nucore, Birmingham Steel, Inc., Laurel Steel and Deloitte & Touche.  Eddie has served as Board Chairman of the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI), Board of Directors of Modumetal Inc., and teh Mississippi State Workforce Development Board.

Chief Commercial Officer, Steel Warehouse

Marc graduated from Indiana University in 1987 with degrees in Finance and Economics.  He worked as a trader from 1987 to 1989 at the Chicago Board of Trade. From 1989 until today, he has worked for Steel Warehouse in various capacities and locations, including Inside Sales, Operations Management, VP of Purchasing. Marc currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer, Exec VP and GM of the SW International region.

Steel Warehouse was founded by Marc's grandfather, Nathan Lerman, in 1947. The family-owned business employs 2,100 people at locations across the U.S. Mexico and Brazil.  Steel Warehouse, and its affiliates, are leading producers of premier slit coil, sheet, plate, and tube products. 

Maybe Marc's most important ability is delivering needed psychological counseling to many of the family members of the business.

On a personal note, Marc is married and has a fifteen-year-old daughter.  Living in South Bend, Indiana Marc appreciates being completely under the control of two wonderful women at home. He thinks. He also enjoys playing as much hockey as the family allows and looks forward to hitting the road in retirement and rejuvenating his once flourishing stand-up comedy routine.

Head of Consulting - North America CRU

Lynn M. Lupori is Head of Consulting - North America for CRU.  Lynn is focused on guiding the CRU Consulting team to bring exceptional insight into strategic questions to companies with interests in the metals related industries throughout North America.  Lynn is focused on working with customers to develop and execute projects related to important and strategic issues such as market analysis, strategy development, risk assessment, as well as valuation services and negotiation support.  Lynn has worked for over 20 years with domestic as well as international manufacturers (primarily in the metals and mining industries) determining strategic growth opportunities. Throughout her career, she has worked with North American as well as global companies on issues such as market assessment/forecasting, capital investment plans, marketing and competitive strategy.

Senior Analyst of Metals & Mining and Clean Tech

Bill Peterson is the Senior Analyst of Matals & mining and Clean Tech with a focus on companies involved in the energy transition, specifically within the sub-sectors of steel, copper, aluminum, lithium, rare earth metals and clean transportation.  Bill was named runner-up in the 2024 Extel (formerly Institutional Investor) All-America Research Survey.  Bill graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Senior Analyst and Editor for Steel Market Update

David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his experience and expertise is within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service.  Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metal buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers.

Chief Supply Chain Officer, Trinity Rail Industries

Mike is Chief Supply Chain Officer for Trinity Industries Ind.  Trinity Rail is a market leader in American rail car manufacturing and technology solutions provider for the rail industry founded in 1933 and member of the NYSE for over 50 years. Formerly, Mike was the VP and Global Head of Procurement at FLIR Systems, a world-class global technology leader in thermal imaging sensors & high-technology military defense products.  Prior to FLIR, Mike has been the Global Leader of Procurement for 4 iconic American Corporations: GE General Electric, Stanley Black&Decker, Remington Arms and Gibson Guitars. Over 25 years of senior executive experience in achieving global supply chain excellence while living abroad in China, Mexico, France and South Korea.  Mike graduated with distinction from Missouri University of Science and Technology and he is inducted into the Academy of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Josh Spoores is Principal Analyst - Steel at CRU

Joining CRU in 2012, Mr Spoores is Head of Steel Analysis in North America and editor of CRU’s market leading Steel Sheet Monitor and Steel Monitor. He also forecasts prices, demand, production and trade of sheet and plate products for both Canada and the US for CRU’s steel sheet and plate market outlooks. Prior to this role at CRU, he was a Senior Marketing Analyst at Severstal North America, founder of Steel Reality, a forward-looking market analysis firm using a models-based approach for flat rolled and plate steel. He was also the Market Research Manager at Majestic Steel USA, one of the largest flat rolled service centres in the USA. He has a BSc in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University.

CEO, Triple-S Steel Holdings

Gary Stein has served as the CEO of Triple-S Steel Holdings since 1983.

Under Gary's leadership, Triple-S Steel has grown from a single location to one of the top 15 steel service centers in the US. Under his leadership, Triple-S Steel has grown to encompass nearly 60 locations. Currently Triple-S' more than 2,500 colleagues can be found across 18 states, Canada, Colombia, and Dubai.

Gary's family extends to his wife of 34 years Tracy and their three grown children, Sam, Ben and Ellie.  Mr. Stein has served on numerous civic, philanthropic and industry boards.  Mr. Stein currently serves on the board of the American Institute of Steel Construction, and on the Board of Visitors of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, and he is a current and active member of YPO.

Mr. Stein earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

President-Steel Department, Elgen Manufacturing

Derin Talinli is an experienced steel industry professional.  He started his career in the steel industry in 2007 with Siemens VAI (Voest Alpine Industrieanlageanbau) as a technical sales engineer for turnkey steelmaking solutions on EAF/LF, Continues Casters, Rolling Mills and Tube Mill technologies.

In 2010 Talinli moved to LG International, trading house for LG Corp., to set-up the metals trading branch in Istanbul with a territory in Europe, Turkey, and MENA. Talinli led that team for seven years.  In 2017 Talinli joined US based trading house Stamford Metal Group as Vice President of Sales and managed the flat and long product sourcing and distribution in USA.

Currently leading the steel department in Elgen Manufacturing, Talinli's responsibilities are strategic sourcing, budgeting, forecast and planning of steel and capital investments.

Derin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA.

CEO/President, JFE Shoji America

Brion Talley's career spans 40 years in the steel industry having worked with domestic and offshore steel producers including United States Steel, BlueScope, Tenaris and over the past 20+ years with JFE Shoji America.  As CEO of JFE Shoji America Brion works with a multicultureal team across North America to deliver value-based supply chain solutions to diverse markets in the areas of construction, energy and packaging.  

Brion holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Managing Director, Wolfe Research

Timna Tanners is a managing director covering 20 equities in the Americas Metals and Mining sector in addition to forecasting relevant commodities at Wolfe Research, a premier equity research firm.  She is a regular speaker at steel industry conferenced and hosts frequent events for clients with corporates and industry experts. Her insights have been featured regularly on business media, such as CNBC and Bloomberg News, including the trademarked term Steelmageddon®.  Timna has been ranked #1 in Institutional Investor's All America Poll for nine consecutive years. Prior to October 2021, Timna covered Metals and Mining and Bank of America Securities for over 10 years, and covered the sector for over eight years previously at UBS Investment Bank.

Timna holds an MBA from UCLA, a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University, and a BA in Politics from Pomona College.

President, North Star BlueScope Steel

Conrad was appointed President of North Star BlueScope Steel in 2022.  Prior to joining North Star, he was President and CEO of Evraz North America.  Conrad was a partner at Booz Allen and Hamilton, served as CEO for Ardagh Glass Packaging, North America.  He also founded a Covid-19 testing company, Shield T3.  Conrad is an MIT-educated mechanical engineer, with an MBA from Northwestern University.  He served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submariner aboard fast attack submarines.