Chris Bandmann joined Wood Mackenzie in January of 2023. He is responsible for delivering comprehensive research coverage of the Atlantic basin’s metallurgical coal sector including supply, demand, pricing and costs, with a primary focus on Europe.
Prior to joining Wood Mac Chris worked at CRU, performing market analysis on the European steel markets.
Chris holds an MSc and a BSc in Economics from the University of Exeter in the UK.
Oana Niculita is the Head of Sales and Marketing of John M Henderson, the Scottish engineering company, one of the world’s leading suppliers of Coke Oven Machinery.
Oana has been working in the coke making industry for more than a decade and has had the opportunity of visiting many Coke Making plants in the world, witnessing firsthand the technical and operational challenges of the coke making operators worldwide. Oana’s main interests lie in the environmental and technological aspects of the coke-making, with special focus on developing technological solutions for improving the quality of the air and life for people working and living near the coke batteries.
Oana is a Chartered Manager and a member of the Coke Oven Managers Association in the UK, as well as a regular speaker at coke making congresses worldwide. Professional qualifications include an Honours degree in Business Administration, Masters Degree in Economics from the Universities of Freiburg, Germany and Lisbon, Portugal and a PhD in development with the University of Dundee, Scotland. She has worked as a business consultant for major multinational companies and has published a number of books and papers in the areas of strategic marketing.
In 1986 he graduated Faculty of Technology and Chemical Engineering of the Silesian Technical University - Gliwice (Poland) and obtained Ph. D. at the same University in 1993. The main interest of his research works include coke making technology and thermal processing of solid fuels and wastes.
At present he is Director of the Institute of Chemical Processing of Coal in Zabrze. He is a member of Polish Standardisation Commission, expert of Polish Ecological Chamber and member of European Coke Committee.
He is the author of more than 100 scientific and technical papers and 10 patents.
Jorge Caldeira has been actively involved in the ironmaking and ironmaking raw materials industries for 40 years. He is a graduated Metallurgical Engineering from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 1977 and got a Master´s degree in Coal Science at the Pennsylvania State University in the USA in 1981. Had an extension program with Professor Harry March at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK in 1985.
As a professional, he worked for CSN- Brazilian National Steel Co. for 16 years (12 years at their R&D Centre leading coal & coke projects and 4 years as General Manager Coke Oven and By-Products operations as well as Head of the Central Laboratories.
Since 1993, he has started his own consulting company – COALBIZ - and has rendered technical and commercial services to various coal suppliers from Australia, USA and Canada and to end user from various countries such as Brazil, India, Vietnam and Thailand. For the last 24 years, he has also been with the Australian Jellinbah Group where he currently serves as their Manager Technical Marketing.
Graduation from university: 1992 (business administration)
1992: start of professional career with coke plant technology company Thyssen Still Otto (which in 1999 became Thyssen Krupp EnCoke and in 2004 was integrated in the company ThyssenKrupp Uhde)
1992 – 2017: development of projects for new coke plants as well as coke plant revamps with an emphasis on Latin America, but also in Europe, North America as well Asia
2017: new position “Head of Sales”
Further engagement: board member of German coke plant experts association (VDKF)
Dr. Bristow has been actively involved in the steel and steelmaking raw materials industries for over 22 years. During this time, he has led numerous investigations in coal and iron ore technical and market research, minerals strategy development, and market planning for BHP’s coal business, and was Chief Analyst for BHP Billiton’s Carbon Steel Materials Group, leading the Market Intelligence Group in Singapore.
His key expertise in steel, metallurgical coal, iron ore, and manganese ore and ferroalloys, coupled with strategic vision and long term analysis on future directions in emerging markets, saw him as an early proponent of the rebirth of the global steel industry, the rise of China and of coal’s growth story, together with a strong belief in China’s emergence as a major seaborne metallurgical coal importer. He has been a strong advocate for India’s growing coal demand.
In April 2009, he formed H&W Worldwide Consulting, putting his strong market analysis and strategy skills to good use across bulk commodities, including iron ore and coal –for both coking and thermal.
As an internationally recognized expert in areas of steel and steelmaking raw materials, long term trends and scenarios, he has written and presented numerous publications at highly respected international conferences and meetings.
Jan Soonius is the Managing Director of HeaTeQ, where he is active in Engineering, Project/Site Management & Construction Projects in Iron & Steel, Non-Ferrous, Aluminum & other Heavy Industries.
Key Activity is Refractory Installation Work. Soonius has been with in this position since May of 2009.
Prior to joining HeaTeQ, Jan was a member of the Lizmontages Group and both Project manager and managing Director for Prison Refractories. Soonius began his career with 23 years of service as Construction manager at Hoogovens/Corus, where he built his expertise in Refractory Engineering & Construction of Blast Furnaces, Hot Blast Stoves and Coke Batteries.
