Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), Irving, Texas, has announced that Mary A. Lindsey, senior vice president and chief financial officer at CMC, plans to retire, effective Aug. 31. CMC and its subsidiaries manufacture, recycle and market steel and metal products. 

Lindsey joined the company in September 2009 as vice president-tax. She was appointed vice president-tax and investor relations in June 2015, vice president and chief financial officer in January 2016 and senior vice president and chief financial officer in September 2017. 

The company has announced that Paul J. Lawrence will assume the role of vice president and chief financial officer for the company on Sept. 1, reporting to Barbara R. Smith, chairman, president and CEO at CMC. In this position, Lawrence will have responsibility for all financial and information technology (IT) functions of the company, according to a news release from CMC. Lindsey will remain employed with the company for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition for Lawrence.

“I want to congratulate Paul Lawrence on his new role,” Smith says. “We are confident, based on his background and experience, Paul will play a key role in CMC’s future success, and we wish to take this opportunity to thank Mary for her valuable contributions to CMC over the past decade.”

Lawrence joined the CMC in February 2016 as vice president of finance. He was appointed vice president of finance and treasurer in September 2016 and his role was expanded to include financial planning and analysis in January 2017.  Prior to joining the company, from 2003 to 2016, Lawrence worked for both Gerdau Long Steel North America, a U.S. steel producer, and Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., where he held a variety of financial roles, including assistant vice president and corporate controller, and deputy corporate controller. From 1998 to 2002, Lawrence held several financial positions with Co-Steel Inc., which was acquired by Gerdau SA. Lawrence graduated with an honors bachelor’s degree of commerce from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, in 1992 and is a chartered professional accountant, according to a news release from CMC.

During the 43rd conference of the International Precious Metals Institute (IPMI), Pensacola, Florida, Oliver Krestin, one of Hensel Recycling’s managing directors, was appointed to the post of president of the association. The conference was June 15-18 in Reno, Nevada.

Precious metals recycler Hensel Recycling is based in Germany with subsidiaries in Australia, France, Great Britain, Malaysia, Austria, South Korea, the USA and China. The company also has sales offices in South Africa and the Czech Republic.

Krestin will represent the institution’s interests for the next year. He served as vice president of the IPMI for the last year and has been an officer of the European chapter of the IPMI since 2016.

“I have been working in the precious metals industry for more than 27 years. That’s why I’m so pleased to hold the office of IPMI president for a year and to be able to contribute my experience and know-how even more intensively,” Krestin says.

The association offers an international platform for companies and research institutes to exchange information on current trends in the sector and to work together to develop solutions for the future. Particularly in the last two years, a range of changes and restructuring measures have been carried out to allow advantageous positioning for the future, according to a press release issued by Hensel Recycling regarding the appointment.

“My aim is to press ahead with the new structures and to further consolidate the IPMI’s leading position in the precious metals industry,” Krestin said in his acceptance speech, “because precious metals are an important part of our everyday lives from environmental technologies, such as catalytic converters containing precious metals, which are now being replaced with platinum-coated fuel cells, to cancer treatments which use platinum. This means it is even more important to offer all market players a comprehensive network, such as the IPMI, in order to work together to guarantee the sustainability of the precious metals industry.”

Liberty Steel, part of Sanjeev Gupta’s global London-based GFG Alliance, has completed the acquisition of seven major steelworks and five service centers across seven European countries from ArcelorMittal.

The 740-million-euro ($835 million) deal makes Liberty Steel one of the top 10 producers globally, excluding China, with a total rolling capacity in excess of 18 million metric tons across a wide range of finished products.

This is the largest single transaction undertaken by GFG and brings the Alliance’s worldwide workforce to nearly 30,000 across 30 counties, the company says.

The seven sites, which became part of Liberty as of July 1, employ more than 14,000 people and include the major integrated steelworks at Ostrava in the Czech Republic and Galati in Romania as well as rolling mills at Skopje in North Macedonia, Piombino in Italy, Dudelange in Luxembourg and two plants near Liege in Belgium. The service centers are based in France and Italy.

These operations, with a combined rolling capacity of more than 10 million metric tons annually, supply steel to multiple sectors across Europe’s construction and infrastructure, automotive, aerospace, energy, industrial equipment, consumer products and yellow goods sectors. Liberty Steel says it aims to boost sales from these sites by 50 percent over the next three years.

The close of the sale marks the start of a 100-day review during which Liberty Steel, working with local management, trade unions, customers and suppliers, will complete a comprehensive analysis of the businesses to explore investment opportunities and develop detailed plans to boost competitiveness,  extend product range and support sales growth, the company says.  In the medium-term Liberty says it will explore opportunities to produce higher quality steels with a more flexible production profile.

These sites join Liberty Steel and GFG’s Greensteel drive to create an economically and environmentally sustainable business, based on low-carbon production methods, the company says.

“This is an exciting and important milestone in GFG’s journey,” Gupta, GFG executive chairman, says. “We are extremely proud to welcome thousands of skilled and committed staff into the GFG family. We look forward to working together to create a bright and sustainable future for our group and our industry. These businesses will form a key part of our global steel strategy of building a sustainable steel business with a fully integrated value chain, from raw materials to high-value finished products that are distributed in high-quality markets.”

Jon Bolton, Liberty Steel global business development director, says, “These sites are well-positioned, efficient operations with competitive cost structures, and we intend to build upon these strong foundations through a combination of judicious investments, changes to the production profile and synergies with our wider group.”

Wyelands Capital, the financial services arm of the GFG Alliance, advised Liberty Steel on the transaction, with corporate finance advice provided by Jefferies International Ltd.

Paper recycling industry veteran Jerry Rose, 84, of Stamford, Connecticut, died Saturday, June 22, surrounded by family.

Rose worked in the paper and recycling industries for 50 years, having held several senior management positions before becoming a consultant.

According to Moore & Associates, the Atlanta-based consulting firm that Rose last worked with, he was “a legend in the industry, with a wealth of knowledge and friends in every corner of the business. He could be intimidating and exacting, but he was also a hard worker who was always willing to help out a colleague.”

Bill Moore, the principal of Moore & Associates, says, “Many challenging data and information needs come up in our consulting work, and if you asked Jerry to handle something, you knew it was done. He never stopped short of the goal.”

Rose was born in Brooklyn, New York, and spent two years in the army, stationed in Berlin. He trained for the Olympics in water polo before returning to New York to complete his degree at the New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University with a specialization in pulp and paper. 

His first job was at a nearby mill, where he worked his way up from tour boss to mill manager.

Rose moved his family to five locations from the late 1960s through the 1980s, having held executive level positions at Simkins Industries, Potlatch Corp., Continental Can and the Standard Group.

In the mid-1980s, he started his own business, which produced and marketed private label tissue. By the 1990s, Rose moved into consulting on operations, training, purchasing and recycling for the paper industry. In the late 1990s, he began working with Moore & Associates on a regular basis, consulting on recovered paper.

Outside of work, Moore & Associates says Rose felt a great sense of duty to his immediate and extended family. His wife, Barbara, died in 2011. Together, they raised four children and were grandparents to two. His family enjoyed many long-distance driving vacations that eventually covered the entire East coast, which he documented in photographs.

Although he continued to work into his 80s, Rose recently semiretired and began to volunteer at The Ferguson Library in Stamford. Moore & Associates says he soon became an expert on pricing used books and a key member of the team. Like his work colleagues, his manager at the library says he will be missed and remembered.

“Jerry will be deeply missed by his colleagues at Moore & Associates –and by the whole paper and recycling industries,” Moore says. “Our sincerest sympathies go out to his family and friends.”

A funeral service was held at Temple Beth El in Stamford Tuesday, June 26.