Stemcor appoints head of steel futures unit
Stemcor, the world’s largest independent steel trader, has appointed Jean-Luc Fiorenzoni as head of steel price risk management. Stemcor is committed to the principle of a futures market in steel, both financial and physically deliverable, and Fiorenzoni will lead a separate unit to manage futures transactions.
Fiorenzoni’s background is in base metal derivatives with Noranda, where he managed the group’s futures trading operations on the London Metal Exchange (LME), and previously with Pechiney, where he was responsible for metals and foreign exchange risk management. More recently he ran his own consultancy advising on risk management for industrial commodities, notably plastics hedging.
Fiorenzoni joins Stemcor at the beginning of July and will report to Ian Sherwin, head of special projects. Commenting on the appointment, Sherwin said: “The proposed establishment of a standardized futures exchange on the LME has been a long time coming and is a positive step in terms of managing steel price volatility. The ability to hedge steel prices will reduce risk in our partners’ forward planning, both as producers and as consumers. Steel mills will be empowered to make capital investment decisions based on more predictable cash flows and end-users will have the ability to hedge their exposure to rising steel prices during protracted projects.”