Metal Exchange makes executive team changes

Metal Exchange Corp. (MEC), headquartered in St. Louis, has announced that Global Business Manager Vijay Natarajan has been promoted to executive vice president of trading, while Ben Evans, president of trading, has transitioned to the newly created position of vice president of corporate development. The changes were effective at the start of the year.

© Metal Exchange Corp.

Over the last 13 years, Natarajan has built strong customer relationships while progressing through roles of increasing responsibility in the company’s scrap, remelt scrap ingot and value-added product businesses, MEC states in a news release about the staffing changes. He led the strategic development of the company’s semifabricated products business unit and was most recently responsible for global primary products, with oversight of the company’s risk management function.

In his new role, Natarajan is responsible for MEC’s global trading division and will lead initiatives and strategy throughout its St. Louis headquarters. Additionally, he will oversee the company’s international footprint, consisting of locations in Shanghai, Zurich and Singapore.

© Metal Exchange Corp.

As vice president of corporate development, Evans focuses on growth and development opportunities for the company. MEC says these initiatives will be defined by its operating plan, with the scope of this work being enterprisewide, including the global trading business, Pennex Extruded Products, MEC Cast Products and ElectroCycle. He brings more than 20 years of experience within the aluminum industry to this new role.

“Vijay’s successful track record of leading teams and growing businesses make him the ideal candidate for executive vice president of trading. We have an outstanding team of people throughout our trading division, and we are extremely confident in its future under Vijay’s leadership,” MEC CEO Rick Merluzzi says.

“We are very excited to move to a more proactive effort on corporate development,” says Mike Lefton, executive chairman of MEC. “Ben has the experience, skills and the knowledge of MEC to make a significant impact on the enterprise, and to execute our corporate growth strategy.”

Founded in 1974, MEC and its family of companies—Metal Exchange Trading, Pennex Aluminum Co., Continental Aluminum and Electro Cycle Inc.—are industry leaders in nonferrous metals, from purchasing to manufacturing and processing.