Speakers

Fiona Boyd 
Director
Acuity Commodities 

Fiona Boyd, based in Houston, Texas, has covered the global sulphur and sulphuric acid markets since 2008 with a specialized focus on the North American market. Her expertise was developed under the mentorship of her father, Dr Robert Boyd. She has conducted numerous consultancy projects and regularly presents to clients and at industry events.

Freda Gordon
Director
Acuity Commodities 

Freda Gordon, based in London, UK, complements the Acuity team with a focus on short- to medium-term market analysis in the global sulphur and sulphuric acid markets, which she has dedicated her career to analysing since 2010. She honed her experience and analytical skills editing several key price assessment publications and giving papers at international conferences.

Anna Fleming 
Project Manager
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

In her role as Project Manager at Benchmark Minerals, Anna delivers strategic consultancy projects for clients across the lithium-ion battery supply chain. In particular, she specializes in economic analysis and forecasting of global battery raw materials markets and good governance in the mining sector. Anna holds a MA in Economics with Environmental Studies from The University of Edinburgh and is based in Glasgow, Scotland.

Serena Piazzo 
Dry Bulk Research & Advisory
IFCHOR Galbraiths

Serena earned her Master’s in Maritime and Ports Economics and Management at the University of Genoa and has worked in the past for the Italian Centre of Excellence on Logistics, Transport and Infrastructures on the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for the city of Genoa. 
Her passion for Bulk Shipping started at the University. In these years, while completing studies, Serena starts to work as Junior Panamax Shipbroker for the Mavega Group: after six months she starts up the group’s Research Department. 
Serena joined IFCHOR in May 2021 as Research Analyst for the group’s experienced dry broking desk. 
She is currently in charge of providing up to the minute dry market intelligence to both internal and external stakeholders, with main focus on agricultural commodities. As an integral part of the Research team, Serena prepares reports, gives clients presentations & works in parallel on projects related to other desks.

Allan Pickett 
Head of Analysis | Fertecon
S&P Global Commodity Insights

Allan Pickett is Head of Analysis for fertilizers at Fertecon, part of the Agribusiness team within Commodity Insights at S&P Global. He has worked in the fertilizer and chemical industries since 1984, first in sales and marketing roles with Monsanto, and then in the business intelligence sector from 1996. Between 2010 and 2014 he ran his own consulting company assisting exploration and development companies with potash and phosphate resource projects. In 2015 he joined Fertecon where he now leads Fertecon’s team of analysts responsible for producing S&P Global’s short- and long-term forecasts for fertilizer markets. Allan has extensive work experience both in fertilizer markets and in the industrial markets linked to key fertilizer intermediates, with phosphates, sulphur and potash of particular interest.

Dr. Moncef Hadhri 
Chief Economist
CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council)

Dr Moncef Hadhri is chief economist at the European Chemical Industry Council, or Cefic, in Brussels, Belgium. Serving in Cefic’s Industrial Policy Department, Dr. Hadhri provides analysis of key factors driving the competitiveness of the chemicals industry in the European Union. Since joining Cefic in 1998, he contributed to the publication of a number of reports on the chemicals industry. Dr. Hadhri began his career as teacher of econometrics and microeconomics from 1991-1998 at UCL Mons (Belgium). He  received a master’s degree in management from Faculty of Economics and Management (FSEG), a master’s in econometrics and a doctorate in applied economics from Free University of Brussels (ULB, Belgium).

Francis Osborne
Head of Forecasting
Argus Media
Francis Osborne is Head of Forecasting in the Argus Consulting group, where his remit is to develop and co-ordinate the forecasting processes across a range of different commodities. Francis has over 30 years of experience of analysing and consulting on global oil and gas markets, and has worked for a number of leading consultancies. Prior to joining Argus, Francis was Head of Analytics at ICIS. He has also held positions with Saudi Petroleum Overseas, refining consultancy KBC Advanced Technologies and research firm Wood Mackenzie.

Jincy Varghese
Senior Analyst
ICIS
Jincy Varghese is a senior analyst at ICIS in the Petchem Analytics division. With over ten years of experience in demand mapping, market sizing, and segmentation, she is well-versed in her field. One of her main duties at ICIS involves monitoring the supply-demand dynamics of the polyamide chain. She holds a degree in Economics and a Master’s in Business Consulting from Offenburg University in Germany.

Thio-Sul & Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Dr. Zack Ogles
Manager of Agronomy
Tessenderlo Kerley Inc. 

Dr. Zack Ogles is a graduate of Auburn University where he received his M.S. degree in Horticulture and his PhD in Agronomy and Soils. In 2016, Dr. Ogles joined Tessenderlo Kerley as an Agronomist where he was responsible for the Southeastern United States. Since that time, he has transitioned into the role of Manager of Agronomy with responsibilities throughout North America. Dr. Ogles specializes in the area of soil fertility and crop production.

Over the past eight years, Dr. Ogles has conducted numerous trials geared towards optimizing fertility practices in row crop and vegetable production. As of late, much of his research has shifted into the area of nitrogen stabilization and use efficiency. He currently has a patent pending for nitrification inhibition, which is of particular interest due to the environmental impact of nitrates as well as the economic losses felt by growers.

Sulphur – is there a potential resource crisis on the horizon?

Meena Chauhan
Head of the Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid Research 
Argus Media

Meena Chauhan is a Senior Manager in the Argus Fertilizer consulting team, specialized in sulphur and sulphuric acid market analysis with over 18 years of experience in the industry. She is the editor of the Argus sulphur and sulphuric acid analytics reports. Meena was at Integer Research prior to joining Argus Media and spent several years as a sulphur market analyst and price reporter at other companies. 

Sulphur Enters the Global Limelight

Dr. Eve-Lyn Hinckley 
Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences 
University of Colorado, Boulder

Eve-Lyn Hinckley is an Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on studying the elements that underlie all life on Earth, with an emphasis on how they are changed by human activities and how those changes feed back to affect human welfare. Dr. Hinckley earned her Ph.D. in Geological and Environmental Sciences from Stanford University, and B.A. in Environmental Studies from Middlebury College. Her research on modern changes to the global sulfur cycle is supported by multiple funding agencies, including the prestigious CAREER program through The U.S. National Science Foundation, a grant from U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Geographic Society. Dr. Hinckley has been recognized as a University of Colorado Research & Innovation Office Faculty Fellow and Arts & Sciences Support of Education Through Technology Teaching Fellow. 

Measure to Manage

Dr. Roger Sylvester-Bradley  
Head of Crop Performance
ADAS’s Crop Physiology Group

Roger Sylvester-Bradley … is Head of Crop Performance with ADAS’s Crop Physiology Group and an honorary professor with the University of Nottingham, UK. After working on crop productivity and nutrition for over 50 years, Roger insists that there has never been a more exciting time to be a crop scientist, so he refuses to retire!  Having founded the YEN, his main interest is now in ‘farm action research’ – not just working for farmers but with farmers and their supporters, to bring faster progress. His work is published in over 250 scientific papers and reports.