Our organisation

Hartwig Michels joined BASF in 1992 where he started his career in the Finance department. Having held senior managing positions in Controlling and Global Marketing in Germany and Singapore, he headed different global and regional business units. In 2008, he became President of BASF’s Procurement. 

Hartwig Michels was appointed President Region Europe & MEA in 2013 and assumed his current position as President Petrochemicals Division in 2017.

He has a background in banking and studied Business Administration at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Richard Roudeix is currently responsible for LyondellBasell’s Olefins business for the Europe region and the president of LyondellBasell companies in France. He has held roles in France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and the USA, with business experience in Europe, North America and Asia with LyondellBasell and predecessor companies Basell, Elenac, Montell and Shell.  A significant proportion of his career has been in the polymers business. Richard is a graduate of the Ecole des Mines engineering school and of a post-graduate program from French Petroleum Institute.Since 2012, Richard has been appointed Chairman of the Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe (now renamed Petrochemicals Europe)

Caroline Ciuciu took up her role as EPCA Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2017.

Under her leadership, in close cooperation with the Board and advisory bodies, EPCA embarked on a transformation journey into the leading European ideas marketplace for the global petrochemical community.
Building upon the unparalleled reputation of the EPCA Annual Meetings, Caroline actively developed the second, programmatic pillar of the organisation. She launched a program portfolio connecting thought leadership and corporate sharpness to generate fresh ideas for a smarter and inclusive development of the sector.
This includes the Digitisation in the Petrochemical Supply Chain, a series of research studies and events, in partnership with Vlerick Business School, and a multidimensional exploration of the Talent Management and Leadership, with the support of Accenture, EY and the Antwerp Management School.
Caroline’s organizational overhaul includes rejuvenating the EPCA team, revisiting EPCA governance and redesigning its digital communications strategy.

Prior to her current role, Caroline Ciuciu held several positions in government relations and regulatory affairs in France and Belgium. Her industry career started in 1998 with COGEMA/AREVA in France, followed by three years in FORATOM in Belgium. She then moved from the nuclear energy sector to metals and mining, joining ERAMET in Paris in 2007. In 2012 she became EU Public Affairs Director of Albemarle Europe and moved back to Belgium.

Caroline graduated in International Private Law and Business Law at the University of Paris l Pantheon-Sorbonne.

Sonia Bingham is the Global Basic Chemicals Product Executive for ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

Sonia joined ExxonMobil in 1998 after completing her Masters of Engineering in Chemical Engineering at the University of Sheffield.  From 1998 to 2016, Sonia held a variety of manufacturing, sales, marketing, and financial planning roles with ExxonMobil Chemical based in UK, Belgium and USA.

Sonia returned to UK in 2016 as the Plant Manager for ExxonMobil Chemical at Fife Ethylene Plant.  She was named to her current position in December 2018.

Sonia currently lives in Brussels, Belgium with her husband, Charles, and their two daughters. 

Dr. Joachim Dahm was born in 1963 and studied in Germany and the USA. With a PhD in physics, he joined the former Hüls AG (later merged into Degussa-Hüls and Evonik) in 1990 and has since worked in various functions, e.g. research & development, engineering, in-house consulting, management, controlling, including as VP Fine Chemicals and Head of Corporate Controlling at Evonik.

Since July 2020 he holds the position as President Performance Materials.

Kate Johnson was appointed General Manager Intermediates EUAF with effect from January 1^st. 2017. Based in the Netherlands, she is accountable for the commercial delivery, and P&L, for a range of Chemical products in EUAF (Solvents, propylene oxide-related products, Ethylene Oxide, Styrene Monomer and Higher Olefins and Derivatives) with a team of about 100 people in a variety of commercial roles. The challenge in the role comes from the variety of markets as well as leading the community.

Kate joined Shell in the UK in 1986 after completing a chemistry degree. Her career in Shell has been largely in Chemicals - in commercial roles in different product lines, as well as in projects. Outside of Shell Chemicals, but within Shell, Kate has enjoyed stints in crude oil trading, Group Finance, procurement and the Shell bitumen and sulphur businesses.

She is recognized for driving performance and growth with an energizing and collaborative style with ability to quickly adapt to new situations and lead teams to respond.  She is a challenging but caring leader who builds environment of trust.

She also has a passion for diversity – representing the Downstream Businesses in the Shell Netherlands executive committee for the Shell women’s network as well as having been on the steering committee for D&I for the European Petrochemicals Association.

Leonardo Mascolo born in Foggia (Italy), is married and has an eight year old daughter.

He holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from Bologna University with a specialization in TLCs and Microelectronics and a post-grade Master in Telecommunications (1994, I.S.S.T., Rome) and one in Business Management (2001, LUISS Business School, Rome).

He joined Repsol Group in 1999 as Production Assistant at Repsol’s PMMA plant in Rome, Italy.

In early 2000, he took on the position of Production, Logistic & TI.

In June 2002 he was named General Manager of Repsol Polivar S.p.A., position that he maintained until 2008 when the PMMA business was sold to Arkema by Repsol.

In mid-2008 Mr. Mascolo moved to Repsol’s Headquarters (Madrid, Spain) as Product Manager for Olefins & Aromatics until the end of 2010.

Since January 2011 he is Repsol’s Base Petrochemicals Director.

Mr. Paweł Szostek is a graduate of University of Gdansk.

He has completed postgraduate studies of European Law and Integration at the Technical University of Gdansk and he has also gained a title of ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Since 2005 he holds various positions at PKN ORLEN S.A. with last three positions of Director of Sales Controlling Department at PKN ORLEN S.A., CFO of ORLEN OIL and Director of Key Account Wholesale Services at PKN ORLEN S.A.

Since 1st of June 2018 he holds the position of Executive Director of Petrochemical Sales. He also serves as Member of the Board of ORLEN KolTrans (Poland), Paramo (Czech Republic) and Ventus Nafta (Lithuania).

Katja Wodjereck serves as Commercial Director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India for Dow Industrial Solutions. She is accountable for the long-term strategy and the regional P&L of a $ 1,2 billion industry-leading portfolio that offers a wide range of products and services that enables more sustainable manufacturing, consumer and energy solutions. She was appointed into her current role in August 2018.
Wodjereck joined Dow at the end of 2001. During her 19-year career with Dow, she has held several leadership positions in commercial, asset management and marketing across various businesses and market segments including Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Energy and Microbial, Oil, Gas & Mining and lately Industrial Solutions, besides international assignments in Latin America and corporate leadership positions as director of Dow Antwerp, Belgium.
Wodjereck graduated in International Business Management from the University of Applied Sciences Trier, Germany and Universidad Viña del Mar, Chile and holds an MBA from the Dow Northwood Executive MBA program.

Chet M. Thompson

President, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers

Chet Thompson began his role as president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers AFPM) in May 2015. Thompson leads a staff that advocates for petroleum refiners and petrochemical manufacturers before Congress and the Executive Branch on a broad range of public policy issues. AFPM, under his leadership, works to emphasize the importance of petroleum refiners and petrochemical manufacturers and their positive impact on U.S. manufacturing, jobs growth, energy independence and national security.

Prior to joining AFPM, Thompson was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Crowell and Moring LLP, where he was chairman of the Environment & Natural Resources Group, one of the country’s premier environmental practices. His practice included counseling, litigation, and regulatory and legislative representation for a wide array of clients under major environmental statutes, including the Clean Air Act; the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the Resource Conservation Act; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, Liability and Recovery Act. While at Crowell Morning he represented AFPM as external counsel for nine years.

Thompson previously served as deputy general counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where he provided legal advice to the Agency’s administrator, general counsel and program offices. Before joining EPA in 2004, he spent 10 years at Collier Shannon Scott PLLC, where his work focused on the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Thompson has been recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the U.S. by Chambers & Partners, and was awarded a Certificate of Accommodation by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006. Thompson holds a B.A. in Political Science from Boston College and a J.D. from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. He and his family reside in Potomac, Maryland.

• 2015 – today  –  Covestro Deutschland AG Leverkusen, Procurement Global Logistics.
• 2010 – 2015  –  Bayer AG Leverkusen, Procurement, Global storage, bulk shipping and plant logistics.
• 2006 – 2010  –  Bayer AG Leverkusen, Procurement Global Plant Logistics.
• 1989 – 2006  –  Bayer Antwerp NV – different operational & site logistics management functions.
• 1988 – 1989  –  Steinweg NV Antwerp – shipping clerc.
• 1985 – 1986  –  Lloyd insurance  NV – insurance clerc.

Samuel Alonso is 39 years old, married and has two kids.

He holds a BA Hons degree in International Business and Languages from the Technological University Dublin, Dublin.

Samuel joined LKW WALTER in 2006 in Austria and he has held several positions in operation logistics and sales on both regional and international level during that time.

He has a Sales Logistics Director role since 2019. For the last 6 years he has been directly involved on a pan-European KAM role with several multinationals in the chemical industry. Samuel combines this activities in the chemical sector with other business segments such as Automotive and FMCG. He is a key influencer within commercial and operations teams in his organisation.

• Swiss, married, two children
• Master degree in Corporate Finance
• 15 years with Bertschi, several positions as e.g. Head Merger & Acquisitions, MD of Nordic Bulkers (100% subsidiary of Bertschi), Group CFO, Head market entry MiddleEast and Plastics Hub Strategy Europe
• Most recent 5 years Managing Director of Business Unit Liquids Europe

Since August 1^st , 2018 Group CEO of Bertschi

Guy Bessant was appointed President, Stolthaven Terminals, a division of Stolt-Nielsen Limited, in March 2015. Prior to relocating to the Netherlands, he had more than fifteen years of experience in the chemical and transportation industries within the Asia Pacific and Middle East region having held senior management positions in Sasol, Covestro and Stolt-Nielsen.

He holds a BA in Modern Chinese Studies with Management from the University of Leeds (U.K.), a postgraduate diploma in International Commercial Law from Northumbria University (U.K.), and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde (U.K.).

Mr. de Vries holds a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Twente University and an INSEAD Certificate in “Finance for Executives”. He joined SABIC in 2003, achieving a wealthy experience both in Supply Chain, Logistics as well as Business Management in the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.  As Director Global Foam & Lightweight he drove the implementation of innovative foam and lightweight solutions into the market, leading a global and multidisciplinary team (Marketing, Technology and Sales) towards unmet needs in the Packaging, Automotive, Consumer Goods and the Construction markets. Prior to SABIC, Mr. de Vries worked as Site Logistics Manager and Production Office Manager at DSM in Geleen (the Netherlands). I am sending you enclosed a more detailed bio for your information.

Ismail Mahmud

Global Chemicals Director, Royal Vopak of the Netherlands

Ismail has been with Vopak for 17 years and is currently Global Director for Vopak’s chemicals business with offices in HQ located in Rotterdam. Prior to this role (since the last 4 years), Ismail was located in Singapore for 10 years where he held the positions of Commercial Director Asia and Managing Director Singapore. Prior to Vopak, Ismail worked for Engro Chemical (previously an ExxonMobil Affiliate) for a period of 8 years.

Currently, Ismail is responsible for sales, marketing and commercial activities in Vopak for all chemical related storage activities. Currently about 50 of the 76 terminals owned and operated by Vopak worldwide are for chemical businesses. His experience in logistics and tank storage services spans over multiple regions with specific focus on Industrial Terminaling, where he leads one of Vopak’s core strategies in this service market segment.

He is a Mechanical Engineer from Lehigh University, USA and an MBA in Finance from St. Joseph’s University, USA.

Mr. Perra graduated as Mechanical Engineer with a specialization in Maintenance Engineering at the University of Cagliari (Italy). He started his career as Site Manager Deputy and Responsible for Industrial Services Department at Polimeri Europe and since 2009 held several positions at Eni-Versalis, including those of Site Manager of the Ferrara (2012-2016) and Brindisi (2016-2019) sites.

After having studied in Belgium, France, Spain and Italy, Frederick started his career in The Netherlands, working for a large German corporation in the waste sector learning that every single aspect of that business was constantly monitored and measured to enable improvement.

By coincidence Frederick learned that the ‘rail & intermodal freight’-sector was still being operated relying very heavily on manual efforts leaving a big opportunity for improvement.

After 10 years of corporate experience, it was time to start up his own business to fill in the gap discovered in the rail sector. Thus Ovinto was born in 2010 with a mission to optimise the complete supply chain regarding rail & intermodal cargo. This because if we would only put 4% extra in rail freight, we would immediately reduce road transport by more than 9% having a phenomenal impact on mobility and CO2 emissions.

In the last 9 years Frederick has grown the company from a small startup focusing on the monitoring of extremely hazardous goods towards a reference player providing a technology platform to optimise rail & intermodal freight towards large chemical industries such as INEOS, Evonik, Sabic, LyondellBasell, Covestro… and working together with partners such as SAP, Deloitte and the European Space Agency.

1992-date                                 HAPAG-LLOYD AG

MANAGING DIRECTOR HAPAG-LLOYD OVERSEAS TRANSPORT S.A. (HLOT)           

HAPAG-LLOYD AREA TURKEY Izmir (2015-date) 

• Area Manager of Area Turkey (Turkey and Greece)

SENIOR DIRECTOR GLOBAL OPERATIONS & TERMINALS Hamburg (2009-2015)

• Develop global terminal strategies together with Hapag-Lloyd Regions and Ship Network

DIRECTOR OPERATIONS ITALY Genoa (2006-2009)

• Manage, steer and support the Operations teams

MARINE OPERATIONS DIRECTOR REGION EUROPE Hamburg (2005-2006)

• Coordination, cost effective management of the Marine Operations Region Europe

MANAGER PORT TERMINAL OPERATIONS ITALY Genoa (2001-2005)

FOCAL POINT OPERATIONS MALTA Malta (1999-2001)

PORT TERMINAL OPERATIONS BELGIUM Antwerp (1992-1999)

Peter van Egerschot is Logistics Director for Dow Europe since March 2018. He joined the Dow Chemical Company in 1997 in Terneuzen, Netherlands, and has since then worked in a variety of roles in supply chain planning, improvement and logistics. Prior to his current role, he was responsible for managing the supply chain for Dow’s Polyurethanes business in EMEAI as of 2012.

Peter holds a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology, a post masters in logistics management systems from the same university, and a MBA from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan (US).

Jean-Marc VIALLATTE, 45 years old, is a graduate engineer from IFMA (Institut Français de Mécanique Avancée) in France and from Cambridge University in the UK. He holds a Master’s in mechanical engineering and automated production systems, and an APICS certification.

In 1997 he joined the American group Avery Dennison as customer logistics Project Manager, before heading the introduction of an ERP system for France. He later held a number of Lean Sigma heavily oriented operational posts in plants, being consecutively production manager, plant manager and operations manager France.

In 2006 he joined the Hamelin group as Subsidiary General Manager before becoming Group Managing Director in charge of operations, supply chain and information systems. In this position he oversaw the complete transformation of the group, and put in place a new organization based on standardized processes and an SAP solution rolled out across the group’s 50 sites on the five continents.

In 2013 he joined the Tarkett group as supply chain Vice President for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, creating the group’s supply chain function, and later became the group’s Global supply chain Director in charge of the transformation.

Peter Devos is Managing Director at ECTA, the European Chemical Transport Association.

In 1988, he graduated as AgroEngineer from the University of Louvain, Belgium and holds a second master in Industrial and Business Management.

After a Supply Chain career of more than 25 years at Monsanto in different leading supply chain functions and disciplines across Europe, Peter started up his own independent company in 2016. As independent Supply Chain Practitioner, he is now focusing to further improve the Chemical logistics processes and this together with all stakeholders across the Chemical Supply Chain.

Raffaele Aguiari is a Senior Manager with 25 years of experience in the chemical industry at major multinationals (Versalis, LyondellBasell and INEOS) in several departments: Engineering, Sales & Marketing, Strategic Planning, Finance, Business Management. He holds a Chemical Engineering Degree from the University of Padua (Italy) and a General Management MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management.

Raffaele joined INEOS in 2012 as the new Developments Business Manager and is now responsible for the P&L of five plants located in Southern Europe manufacturing Polyethylene and Polypropylene.

_{I hold a degree in Business, Economics & Media Communications and have 13 years experience working within a HR capaicty within the Chemical and Oil & Gas sectors, with the last 5 years spent in a Regional Management role within Huntsman Corporation. I lead a multinational team to support the business with recruiting and retaining the best talent for our organisation who can support the growth and development of Huntsman as a gloal business.}

_{My role in Huntsman encompasses, Talent Management, Early Careers / Internship Programs, Talent Analytics, Employer Branding and HR Project Management across our EMEA region.}

After graduating from Imperial College London with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 2008, Lucia began working for Repsol, on their graduate training scheme, obtaining a masters specialised in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals from the Instituto Superior de la Energía.

Since then she has been holding several positions in the company, including:

- Senior polyolefin healthcare specialist, Technical Service and Development 2019- present

- Polypropylene Film & Fibers specialist, Technical Service and Development 2013-2019

- Production engineer, Puertollano Refinery, 2009-2013

She is currently in charge of project development and serves as technical advisor to customers worldwide withexpert product, processing and application knowledgefor all Repsol Healthcare Polyolefin products. In her role she also works closely with account managers and product managers in developing and implementing product portfolio strategies and identifying opportunities to drive growth and create value in the field of medical and pharmaceutical applications.

Jasper de Kruif holds a Master in Sustainable Processes and Energy Technology. He joined LyondellBasell in 2008 as a Plant Support Process Engineer. In 2013, he moved to a new position in Operations planning and Optimization. Since 2016, Jasper is holding a position in Commercial Management.

Christoph´s career in Logistics started in 2005 when he joined GeoLogistics, today known as Agility

Logistics Solutions BV. Since then he has developed into his current role as National Operations Manager, Germany & Netherlands. 

In his current role he focuses on operational excellence by making sure working instructions are up to date and lead internal audit processes. Furthermore, he leads carrier and customer reviews with a high focus on key performance indicators (KPI). As the market demands efficiency, especially on OTIF – On Time in Full – he leads a project team looking for smart logistic solutions to improve the supply chains of customers whilst also focusing on reducing the environmental footprint. Christoph also leads a project in Germany and the Netherlands to reduce paper use and improve productivity while smartly implementing computer systems and aligning internal KPI measurements. This has already allowed the company to spread work over boundaries to ensure a high level of service is maintained, even during high order levels. 

In his first few years with Agility Christoph worked for multiple divisions within the company such as Airfreight / Sea freight / Overland / Fairs & Events and within the project department. Beside these responsibilities he also completed a Bachelor of Business Administration, graduating in June 2014 with the title of State Certified Business Economist.

Born in 1984, Alain Hadorn has finished his studies with a Master of Arts in Law and Economics in 2009 and worked in a leading business law firm in Zürich thereafter. He passed his bar exam in 2013. By January 2014, Alain Hadorn joined the Bertschi Group and has undergone a complete logistics traineeship program incl. planning, a period as truck driver, leading a dispatch-department as well as tender and HR management. Since 2015, Alain Hadorn is Project Manager Quotations for the Business Units Liquids of the Bertschi Group, and as such also Deputy Commercial Manager of this BU. He is married and father of 2 boys.

Charlotte has more than 10 years of experience at VOPAK, where she has covered a variety of managerial roles in sales and commercial in SE Asia, Middle East, China and the Netherlands. She held a BA in Transportation, Logistics and Distribution and a Master in Business Administration. In 2011 she was President of the Member of the Young Vopak Committee.

Mr. Mueller holds a degree in International Economics as well as an MBA and joined BASF in 2003 where he held several positions in Product and Project management as well as, more recently, in Talent management.

Born 1986, Andrea Pota finished her studies at Budapest Business School as an economist specializing in Export-Import Management (2009). Meanwhile, she started to work for Den Hartogh Logistics as a trainee. Within 3 years, she became the Head of Operations for their Hungarian subsidiary. May 2014 she joined the Bertschi Group in Switzerland and after a 3 months’ introduction program, Andrea joined the Italian dispatch team for dry bulk. In 2015 she took on a new challenge and moved to Austria, Schwechat for 6 months to drive the implementation of an on-site container storage concept at a major petrochemical producer. After finalizing the project, she returned to the Bertschi Swiss HQ and took over the position Tender Manager for Dry Bulk. Currently, as Project Manager, Andrea is mainly focusing on key projects within the Dry Bulk Team. During her career as part of the Dry Bulk Management Team at Bertschi, she also attended Front Leadership training and joined the Netlop Seminar organized by the Kuehne & Nagel Foundation.

Born in France in 1981 and graduate from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. Specialized in petrochemicals, polymers and plastics at the IFP School in Paris and the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal.

Started with ExxonMobil Chemical in France in 2006 in the Notre Dame de Gravenchon petrochemical complex with a couple of technical and analyst roles. Then relocated to the European HQ in Brussels in 2008, and held planning and supply chain assignments in the Adhesions business unit.

Moved back to the NDG manufacturing site in Normandy in 2011 and spent 6 years in various polymers operations and workforce projects assignments.

In 2017, was appointed Europe Aromatics Commercial manager before taking current role of Basic Chemicals Feedstock & Optimization manager for Europe in May 2019.

Anne van Dassen Müller, Chief HR Officer at Stolt-Nielsen Group

Since 2012, Mrs. Müller has been responsible for HR worldwide (6500 full time employees), actively supporting the strategic growth of Stolt-Nielsen Ltd and ensuring the optimal allocation of human resources. Previously Ms. Müller held the role of European HR Director for JohnsonDiversey, where she was in charge of supporting the transformation of the company from a decentralised to a centralised European organisation and ensuring the attraction and retention of talent during the process.