BIR to Honor Former LME Chief

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) World Recycling Convention in Warsaw will be the backdrop for a special presentation that the Nonferrous Metals Division, under the presidency of Robert Stein, a senior vice president of St. Louis, Mo.-based Alter Trading, will confer to Martin Abbott, departing CEO of the London Metal Exchange (LME).

Abbott will be honored for his long-standing support of the recycling industry at large and to BIR in particular. Abbott has been a regular keynote speaker at BIR events, and he will again share his knowledge of the global metals market with delegates attending the BIR Warsaw Convention.

Abbott is the former chief executive officer of the LME. He was also co-head of global markets at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. after their takeover of the LME in December 2012. Abbott resigned from the HKEx group in June of 2013 while agreeing to stay in his current positions until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

Abbott has more than 20 years of experience in the industry. He assumed the role of CEO at the LME in October 2006, when he rejoined the exchange after an initial appointment as marketing director between 1990 and 1993. Prior to his appointment as head of the LME he was publisher and editor-in-chief of Metal Bulletin’s Metals, Minerals and Mining Division. Abbott also worked for LME ring-dealing members Amalgamated Metals Trading Inc. (as president, 1998-2000), Sogemin Metals Inc. (as associate director, 1993-1996, and as president, 1996-1997), McGraw-Hill (as editor-in-chief, metals, Europe, 1988-1990) and Metal Bulletin plc (as joint editor, 1984-1988).

During the divisional plenary session, Trimet AG’s Alexey Alipchenko also will deliver a presentation concentrating on the Eastern European metals markets with a special focus on aluminum. Alipchenko is the head of the company’s representation office in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Central Asia and the Baltic countries.

Trimet AG, based in Zug, Switzerland, specializes in supplying raw materials for the aluminum industry.
Alipchenko has been working in international trade for more than 20 years and is well known for his competence as metals trader at the LME, the BIR reports. Trimet AG was founded in 1997 and has offices in Beijing, Moscow and Prague covering major raw material markets. The largest aluminum producer in Germany, Trimet Aluminum AG, holds a minority stake in Trimet AG.