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Laurent Sellier
CEO – The Americas
Smurfit Kappa
Appointed CEO of Smurfit Kappa The Americas on 1st Jan 2022. He joined the Company in 1994 as an Internal Auditor and since then has worked in several positions across Smurfit Kappa in France, the UK, Spain and the Netherlands. Previous to his current position, Laurent was COO of the Smurfit Kappa Europe Paper and Board Division. Laurent graduated from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris in 1990 and also served in the French Navy.
Dr Jan Klingele
CEO & Managing Partner
Klingele Paper & Packaging Group
Jan Klingele received his master’s degree in business from the University of St. Gallen (Swit-zerland) and wrote his dissertation about “The Evolution of Multinational Enterprises” in Los Angeles and Munich. Since 1992 he has lead the family company, Klingele Paper & Packaging Group, which is a producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging as well as adhesives in Europe, Africa, Central and South America. He has served as president / chairman of the German (VDW), the European (FEFCO) and the Global (ICCA) associations for corrugated packaging.
George Staphos
Managing Director
Bank of America Securities
George Staphos is a managing director and co-sector head in Equity Research, based in New York. Regular research publications produced by his team include the Packaging & Paper Wrap-Up and BofA Corrugated Surveys. Staphos has been voted a member of the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team for 29 consecutive years by portfolio managers and buy-side analysts who invest in packaging and paper stocks, including 22 No.1 rankings in the past 23 years. As a result, he was inducted into the Institutional Investor Hall of Fame in 2011, and has also previously been voted No.1 in Greenwich. Staphos has been with the firm since 2003 and past experience includes analyst and management positions at Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney and PaineWebber. He has a BS in management & marketing from New York University and an MBA in finance from the Columbia Business School. For more information about any awards cited, visit https://rsch.baml.com/awards.
Ken Bowles
Group CFO
Ken Bowles was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer in April 2016 and was appointed a Director in December 2016. He joined the Group in 1994 and has occupied a number of finance roles in various parts of the Group. In 2004 he was appointed as the Group’s first Head of Compliance, in 2007 he became the Group’s Head of Tax and in 2010 he was appointed Group Financial Controller. Mr Bowles is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants and holds a first class MBA from the UCD Graduate School of Business. (Born 1971)
Jeff Covelli
President
Innovative Fiber
Jeff Covelli is the Founder and CEO of Innovative Fiber located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Innovative Fiber is a corrugated converting manufacturer of traditional packaging and custom bakeable food packaging. The start-up company was founded in 2002 to explore alternate uses for linerboard and then began manufacturing in 2014. Innovative Fiber recently sold to Schwarz Partners in March of 2023. Jeff has been in the corrugated packaging industry for 40+ years. He has spent the last 20 years identifying new markets for liner board, as paper provides a sustainable and functional benefit over less sustainable packaging materials. With many patents, his niche has been paper based bakeable packaging for the food industry. He is always creating new paper-based ideas while keeping sustainability at the forefront. Jeff earned his BA degree in Marketing and Business Administration from Carthage College in 1989.
Lasse Sinikallas
Director Macroeconomics
Fastmarkets
Lasse Sinikallas is the Director of Macroeconomics for Fasmarkets RISI. Lasse joined Fastmarkest RISI in August 2017 from a foreign affairs post which he held for the past decade. Lasse’s early career background was in forest products and he also worked in management consulting for Pöyry, IBM and Accenture. He has real-world insight into geopolitical economic analysis, international trade issues, country risk analysis, and the legal and regulatory environment, along with the forest products industry. Lasse holds Master’s degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Economics and works out of Fastmarkets RISI's Helsinki office.
Gregory Rudder
Managing Editor, PPI Pulp & Paper Week
Gregory Rudder is the North American managing editor for Fastmarkets’ PPI Pulp & Paper Week. He has been with P&PW for almost 30 years. In this time, covering US and export recovered paper for 22 years, containerboard for 13 years, uncoated freesheet for four years, boxboard for three years, and various other paper and board grades. A Pepperdine University graduate, he was a daily newspaper reporter in California for 12 years before joining PPI Pulp & Paper Week. He has interviewed more than 75 CEOs. and visited more than 50 mills and plants globally.
Derek Mahlburg
Director
Derek Mahlburg works out of Fastmarkets RISI’s Charlottesville office and has covered North American graphic paper markets since 2008, authoring the North American forecasts and commentaries, including the monthly Paper Trader and five and fifteen-year forecasts. Special studies have included deep dives into timely containerboard topics. He also directs the global graphic paper forecast and has led various special studies and risk analyses, including the Global Woodfree Risk of Closure Study, North American Containerboard Conversion Study, The Impact of Media Tablets on Publication Paper Markets and The Impact of E-commerce on North American Paper Packaging Markets. Derek completed his undergraduate education at the University of Kansas, where he majored in Economics, and holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Missouri.
Rafael Barisauskas
Economist, Latin American Pulp, Paper & Packaging, Economic Analysis
Rafael Barisauskas joined RISI in 2019 as the Latin America Economist, analyzing both the pulp, paper, and packaging regional markets. Rafael has a deep understanding of commodities' global trade, having worked with economic forecasts since 2013. Rafael has a strong academic and quantitative background, awarding merit scholarships through his BA in Economics in Brazil and the Best Student Award in his course.
Hannah Zhao
Director, Fiber
Hannah joined Fastmarkets RISI in January 2009 as an economist on recovered paper. She is the coauthor of the Global Impact of China's Recovered Paper Import Regulations, the Outlook for Global Recovered Paper Markets and the OCC/UKP Market Analysis special studies, as well as the World Recovered Paper Monitor and the World Pulp & Recovered Paper Forecast. Ms. Zhao holds a Master's degree in Resource Economics from University of Rhode Island.
Alejandro Mata
Director, Europe Packaging and Graphic Paper
Alejandro is responsible for client support and analytics for Fastmarkets RISI’s European Graphic Papers team. Previously, Alejandro was a business analyst for a European fine paper producer. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the Solvay Business School of Economics and Management in Brussels.
Tjard Westbroek
Global Sector Head F&A Packaging and Logistics
Rabobank
After earning his MSc in Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Tjard started his career with Rabobank in 1995. Until 2015 he had various commercial and risk positions amongst others within Mergers & Acquisitions, Leveraged Finance, Distressed Asset Management. In 2013, together with The Boston Consulting Group he worked as content/implementation manager in a group wide culture change program, focusing on defining and encouraging desired behavior within Rabobank. As of 2015 he took the position of Global Sector Head Supply Chain. Supply Chain coverage includes the Food & Agri Packaging and Food & Agri Logistics sectors. With Rabobank’s Food & Agri focus, Tjard is setting and executing the overall coverage strategy for wholesale banking client of Rabobank globally. The common theme in Tjard’s career is his Global reach. Throughout his entire career he not only kept his focus on international business, but worked abroad for several years as well. The combination of his international network, global experience and knowledge of the Supply Chain sector, makes Tjard a reliable strategic partner for corporates worldwide.
Terry Webber
Vice President, Industry Affairs
American Forest & Paper Association
Terry Webber serves as American Forest & Paper Association Vice President of Industry Affairs. Webber is responsible for maintaining synergy with government affairs, ensuring robust and integrated marketplace strategies across the sectors, and identifying new engagement opportunities for AF&PA Industry Statistics. He joined AF&PA in 2011 and has worked in various roles in government and industry affairs. Prior to joining AF&PA, Webber was a postgraduate legal fellow for the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a legal extern for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. He also has an extensive background in Oregon politics, as campaign staff for former NBA Player Chris Dudley’s 2010 run for Oregon Governor and as senior staff for the state House Republican Caucus. Webber holds an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of Southern California, where he was on the Southern California Law Review. He is a member of the State Bars of California and Oregon. He resides in the Portland, Oregon area with his wife and son.
Joachim Klein
StepChange Consulting
Joachim is of German-Swedish origin and holds a master's degree in business administration. Since 1996 he has worked with global companies in the sector to define strategies, improve performance, transform supply chains and integrate acquired companies. Prior to founding StepChange in 2006, he worked for 10 years as a management consultant with a large international management consulting and technology firm, where he was operationally responsible for building the pulp and paper consulting practice. In addition to his specialization in the forest, pulp & paper industry, he has consulting experience from a wide range of other industries.
Jim Owen
Senior Analyst – Packaging & Logistics
RaboResearch
Jim Owen works as a Senior Analyst in the Packaging & Logistics team in RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness. Based in the US, he collaborates with RaboResearch and banking colleagues worldwide to provide unique insights. Prior to joining Rabobank, Jim worked at Danone, where he served as Senior Packaging Manager and led a team responsible for multiple business units. His work included development of a holistic sustainability strategy. Before Danone, Jim was a packaging-focused Research Engineer at WhiteWave Foods Company, after serving in a similar role at Proctor & Gamble. Jim has received numerous domestic and international awards and patents for packaging formulation and design. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Packaging from Michigan State University.
Matthew Seidner
Partner
Mckinsey & Company
Matthew Seidner is a Partner with McKinsey & Company based in Chicago. Matthew is a leader in the paper and packaging practice and focuses on the paper, plastics, glass, and metal packaging segments. Leveraging his prior experience as a senior executive in the packaging industry, Matthew advises clients on strategy, operations, procurement, M&A, and due diligence. Matthew’s experience includes: Former Chief Operating Officer / Chief Client Service Officer for The IMAGINE Group LLC, a private equity-owned $400M+ provider of visual communications and creative marketing services for retailers, restaurants, convenience stores, movie studios, and consumer products companies, with 7 facilities across the U.S. 5 years at Orora Limited, a $4B global packaging and visual communications solutions company. Served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Orora Visual and SVP, Mergers & Acquisitions for Orora North America. 12 years in Deloitte’s investment banking group advising clients on global acquisition, divestitures, private company sales, and strategic initiatives. Managing Director and Global Leader for paper, plastics, and packaging industry.
Jon Rager
Senior Vice-President, Analytics
Jonathan Rager, SVP Analytics – Fastmarkets Forest Products Jon is a 30+ year veteran of the forest products industry with assignments spanning mill process engineering, manufacturing, consulting, and corporate finance roles. He leads the global Fastmarkets Forest Analytics content team which provides economic forecasting, mill benchmarking intelligence, and consulting research services. Jon has a BS in Chemical Engineering with Honors from Penn State and is based in Atlanta, GA.
Michael Roxland
Director, Equity Research, Truist Securities
Truist Securities
Michael Roxland joined Truist Securities in 2021 as a Director in Equity Research covering the Packaging and Paper/Forest Products industries. He is also a member of Truist’s ESG Council. Prior to joining Truist Securities, Mike spent five years as the Head of Research and Corporate Business Development at BTG Pactual’s Timberland Investment Group, one of the largest global timberland investment management organizations. Prior to BTG Pactual, Mike was the Senior Homebuilding & Building Products Equity Research Analyst and Senior Timberland & Wood Products Equity Research Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mike completed his MBA at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business and B.S. at Cornell University. He is also a licensed CPA.
Dr Constantine Goulimis
Director BD Packaging, Pulp, Paper & Fibre
TietoEvry
Constantine Goulimis first got involved with the paper industry in 1982, writing the first provably optimal algorithm for trim optimisation (aka the cutting stock problem), which formed the basis of his Ph.D. from Imperial College. The company he co-founded, Greycon, became involved in packaging, specifically scheduling for the paper, plastic film, printing & corrugating industries. He has worked on projects with some of the smallest and largest companies in this sector in more than 40 countries and has seen both successes and some embarrassing failures. He has now joined Tietoevry with responsibility for this company’s offering to the packaging industry.
Beth Lis
Vice President of Asian Paper & Packaging
Beth began her career at Fastmarkets RISI in 1995, as an economist analyzing Asian paper and board markets. Her work was instrumental in helping to develop and expand Fastmarket RISI's analysis of these markets, building Fastmarket RISI's extensive databases, developing Fastmarket RISI's price series, and forecasting for the Asian region. In 2006 she helped to open fastmarket RISI's Shanghai office. She currently is responsible for the Asian Paper Packaging and Asian Graphic paper forecasts and reports. She also oversees the balancing of Fastmarket RISI’s regional packaging forecasts into our global outlook. Beth holds a Masters in Public Affairs (focusing on Economics and Public Policy) from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, USA and a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from Dartmouth College, USA.
Rachel Kenyon
International Corrugated Case Association
Rachel Kenyon is the President of the International Corrugated Case Association (ICCA). ICCA is a non-profit association of associations representing corrugated packaging manufacturers worldwide. The association works to promote the corrugated packaging industry and to support regional/national associations who serve the industry. ICCA collects and reports worldwide corrugated statistics, publishes a global forecast, and hosts the biennial Global Summit. Rachel is also the Senior Vice President of the Fibre Box Association (FBA), a non-profit trade association representing North American manufacturers of corrugated packaging. Rachel’s primary responsibilities include the association’s management, communications, marketing, and member relations. Rachel joined both the International Corrugated Case Association and the Fibre Box Association in 2008. She became ICCA’s Vice President of the Americas in 2016 and the President of ICCA in July 2023. Prior to joining the associations, Ms. Kenyon was the Vice President of Marketing and Product Development and a member of the business management team for Weyerhaeuser’s Containerboard Packaging and Recycling Business. During her ten years with Weyerhaeuser, she held several positions in marketing and management. Rachel was the first director of the Corrugated Packaging Council, the precursor to the Corrugated Packaging Alliance, and was active in several industry committees during her time at Weyerhaeuser. Ms. Kenyon is a former board member of the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation. Rachel is a proud Spartan graduate of Michigan State University.
Greg Arvanigian
CEO
Arvco Container Corporation
Gregory G. Arvanigian is the CEO and President of Arvco Container Corporation, an Independent Corrugator in Kalamazoo Michigan, with Sheet plants in Cadillac MI and Henderson NV. Greg has been in the corrugated industry for 40 years, 34 as a member of Tappi. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Fibre Box Association(FBA), and the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF). He has also served for 15 years as an appointed Independent member of the Tappi Corrugated Division Council and is the current Division Vice-Chairman. Greg has previously served on the Boards of the International Corrugated Case Association (ICCA) and the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters (AICC). He served as AICC's Chairman for 2001-2002. Greg was Inducted into the AICC/Risi/Fastmarkets Hall of Fame in 2008.
Atul Kaul
Chief Commercial Officer
Arab Paper Manufacturing Co (WARAQ)
Mr. Kaul has spent over three decades serving the Pulp and Paper industry covering several assignments. During his career, he has been involved in several projects in the Paper & Recycling Industry. He was appointed to the post of Director Emeritus for the Asian Corrugated Case Association a post which he held for several years. He is widely traveled and is familiar with the international market both as a buyer and a seller. He regularly speaks at conferences and events where he shares his views on the Containerboard and Recovered Paper industry with a special focus on the Middle East/GCC markets. During his tenure with WARAQ of over 26 years, Mr. Kaul has held several key assignments where he currently heads the commercial activities of the company focusing on the development of Corporate Strategy, new markets, and products. He also supervises the Recovered Fibre Division of WARAQ and is responsible for designing and developing Fibre procurement strategies to promote and enhance the global growth of the group. Mr. Atul Kaul holds a graduate degree in Economics and a second degree in Law. He also pursued several programs and certifications related to Management, Sales and Marketing, Paper, Packaging, and Recycling industry from institutes like IPST – Georgia Tech, and CTP – Grenoble among others.
Ron Sasine
Principal
Hudson Windsor
Ron Sasine is the Principal of Hudson Windsor, a boutique consultancy focused on packaging strategy, innovation, and sustainability. The firm draws on extensive experience in retail merchandising and consumer packaged goods and works with a wide range of packaging manufacturers, private-equity investors, and independent packaging companies. Ron is also the project development lead for Crossroads Paper and is frequently sought out by industry groups to share his insight on issues related to packaging innovation, manufacturing, and the evolution of retail. Prior to founding Hudson Windsor, Ron served as Senior Director of Packaging for Walmart from 2009 to 2015, where he was responsible for packaging design, execution and sourcing for the company’s largest global brands. He created a new visual look for over 7,000 individual retail items, bringing a national brand design standard to the Great Value, Spring Valley, Equate, Ol’ Roy and Parents’ Choice brands. He created first-of-its-kind supply chain visibility for the company’s global packaging network, working with over 5,000 packaging providers that supply Walmart worldwide. He led Walmart’s sustainable packaging initiative and implementation of the sustainable packaging scorecard, building supplier accountability into purchasing decisions and achieving a 9.4% global reduction in the greenhouse gas impact of the company’s packaging. Before joining Walmart, Ron was a global marketing and manufacturing executive with MeadWestvaco (now WestRock). He directed international sales integration, business development, and packaging design from 2002 to 2009 across multiple substrates, printing technologies, and geographies. In a previous role, he led strategic planning, M&A, and marketing for the company’s operations in Brazil and Latin America. He began his career in the packaging sector in 1990, with responsibility for sales of linerboard and converting grades to corrugated box plants and printing companies throughout Central and South America.
Sergio Menchaca Flores
Director General
Eko Empaques de Cartón
Founder and CEO of Eko Empaques de Carton since 2013, a Mexican independent sheet plant located in Celaya, Guanajuato, and mainly focused on the automotive industry. Current Chairman of AICC Mexico and Advisor in the Guanajuato Automotive Cluster. Sergio graduated from Universidad de Celaya in International Business in 2009.
Renata Mercante
Senior News Editor, PPI Pulp & Paper Week
Renata Mercante is a senior news editor for PPI Pulp & Paper Week. She covers the North American graphic paper markets, and has done so since March 2019. Before that, she covered news, prices and market developments in all over Latin America for over 12 years, including pulp, recovered paper, packaging and graphic paper. Renata joined Fastmarkets RISI as Editor of PPI Latin America in September 2006, when the company opened its Latin American office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. During her time in the industry, she has interviewed many of the CEOs at the leading pulp and paper companies and visited many pulp, paper and packaging plants. She also assists with Fastmarkets RISI conferences and other special events. She speaks fluent Portuguese, English and Spanish and has a working knowledge of Italian and French. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, Renata spent five years working for ABTCP, the Brazilian pulp and paper technical association, covering the Latin American pulp and paper market for the O Papel magazine. She holds a degree in journalism and communications from the Casper Libero University in Sao Paulo and also in law at Ibirapuera University in Sao Paulo.
Sami Al Safran
CEO/Group President
Middle East Paper Co (MEPCO)
Sami has 30 years’ experience in the Paper Industry & waste management. Sami is a visionary who combines sharp strategic skills, well-ordered project management abilities, business development and leadership roles, giving him a detailed understanding of MEPCO’s strategy, capital allocation priorities, financial structure and the environment in which the company operates. He has played a key role in defining the Group’s strategic direction and re-shaping the capital structure during the IPO. During his journey with MEPCO he ramped up production capacity from 60,000 MT to half Million MT, achieved 800% sales growth, and increased market share to exceed 30% of the Saudi market while expanding its export footprint to over 50 countries on 5 continents. Sami was appointed as Vice Chairman of Higher Institute for Paper and Industrial Technologies (HIPIT) in 2013. He is appointed as Chairman of Arab Federation of Paper, Printing, and Packaging Industries (AFPPPI) in 2023.
Dr Veronica Schey
Chief Operating Officer
Stepchange Consulting
Veronica holds a degree in MSc from the Technical University of Vienna. She also has a MBA degree and a PhD in Economics. She started in the global management consulting business in 2001. Veronica concentrates on strategic industry topics, sourcing of strategic raw materials and managing performance change. She has experience from living and working in South America, North America, Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining StepChange she has been responsible for various strategic and operational projects for Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies as well as many other industries.
Renate Mercante
Renata Mercante is a senior news editor for PPI Pulp & Paper Week. She covers the North American graphic paper markets, and has done so since March 2019. Before that, she covered news, prices and market developments in all over Latin America for over 12 years, including pulp, recovered paper, packaging and graphic paper. Renata joined Fastmarkets RISI as Editor of PPI Latin America in September 2006, when the company opened its Latin American office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. During her time in the industry, she has interviewed many of the CEOs at the leading pulp and paper companies and visited many pulp, paper and packaging plants. She also assists with Fastmarkets RISI conferences and other special events. Renate speaks fluent Portuguese, English and Spanish and has a working knowledge of Italian and French. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, Renata spent five years working for ABTCP, the Brazilian pulp and paper technical association, covering the Latin American pulp and paper market for the O Papel magazine. She holds a degree in journalism and communications from the Casper Libero University in Sao Paulo and also in law at Ibirapuera University in Sao Paulo.
Christian Gerdes
Global Procurement Director – Adhesives & Packaging
Kimberly-Clark
Christian Gerdes is Global Procurement Director Packaging & Adhesives of Kimberly-Clark Corporation. In this role, he works with procurement team members and stakeholders across the company to develop and drive the strategy and transformation across all areas of resin- and paper-based packaging as well as adhesives. Previously, Christian served as the Associate Director of IT Procurement working on category strategies and negotiations for the IT category with the CIO and the IT leadership team. Prior to joining Kimberly-Clark, Christian had various procurement roles with Exelon Corporation and IBM, where he was a participant of the Global Supply Chain Leadership Program (SCLP). Christian earned a master’s degree in business administration from Marist College and a master’s degree in science from the University of Paderborn in Germany.
William Studstill
Director, Mill Intelligence
Bill is an industry veteran with wide-ranging experience, including a Fortune 100 Consumer Products Company, Silicon Valley Start-up, Industrial Process Equipment Supplier and Strategic Consulting. He currently leads and mentors the Mill Intelligence group for Fastmarkets Forest Products, with team members in the US, Finland, Belgium and China. Previously Bill focused on cost benchmarking for graphic papers including coated & uncoated, woodfree and mechanical grades. Prior to joining RISI in 2002, Bill worked for Jacobs Consultancy. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in management.
Dan Klein
Executive Vice President, Analytics
A wide spectrum of experiences shape Dan Klein, executive vice president (EVP), analytics. Throughout his career, curiosity, rigor and determination have underpinned every role he’s had, whether in purchasing, sales, product, strategy or consulting. A driven competitor who has completed the Ironman triathlon twice, Dan believes that training for endurance sports has taught him the persistence and focus necessary to excel both as an athlete and in business. “I find answers and direction from data, but recognize it must be paired with insight and experience. I will not ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do. I am competitive. However, I believe success in business comes from win-wins, not winning at someone else’s expense.” There’s no one single influence that guides Dan’s leadership style. His leadership reflects competencies, skills, characteristics, and actions admired from a wide spectrum of people. These characteristics have been cultivated from work with leaders of start-ups, heads of Fortune 500 companies, academics, peers, colleagues and employees. Seeking to get the best out of people, he creates the environment for employees to do what’s expected of them without micromanagement. Dan leads by example and values accountability above all else. “It starts with me,” he says, “But I expect it of everyone I work with.” Believing that success comes from bringing people together, Dan has built up extensive experience leading global teams, growing complex product portfolios and launching new products. “My success comes from making other people successful,” he says, “As I’ve grown as a leader through my career, I’ve increased my focus on helping others grow professionally and the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce.” Dan Klein was appointed EVP, analytics in March of 2022. Prior to his current position, he was CEO of Fastmarkets RISI since 2017. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He joined Fastmarkets from Forrester Research, bringing over 20 years of experience in the B2B information and syndicated data markets.