Yara International ASA CEO Thorleif Enger is retiring. He will be replaced by Jørgen Ole Haslestad, 57, in September 2008. Mr. Enger steps down at his desired retirement age of 65 years.
Haslestad comes to Yara from Siemens, where he recently was named one of a new group of 15 CEOs to oversee the conglomerate’s operation. Haslestad is CEO of the Industry Solutions Division, with a turnover of approximately US$12 billion. During his 14 years at Siemens he held several senior executive positions across Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Prior to joining Siemens, he was CEO of Kongsberg Offshore. A board member of both Yara and Tandberg since 2004, he holds an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering.
“Having spent 14 years abroad, I am delighted to come home and run one of Norway’s most exciting and expansive international companies. I have followed the company close up as a member of the board for four years. Coming from a farming family and being a farmer still, I have deep respect for our natural heritage and a strong commitment to creating sustainable solutions,” says Haslestad.
“The search for a new CEO at Yara has been very thorough over the last year,” said Chairman of the Yara Board Øivind Lund. “Thorleif Enger has been clear on his intention to step down at age 65, and we have considered several internal and external candidates to replace Mr. Enger. We are extremely pleased with the choice of Jørgen Ole Haslestad. He has both the international experience, a successful track record running global multi-billion dollar businesses and a strong knowledge of Yara as a long-term board member. He brings both inside knowledge and outside experience when he joins the company on a full-time basis in September.”
Enger took on the role of leading the Hydro Agri division in 1999. He led a very successful turnaround process and was instrumental in preparing and executing the IPO in 2004. Previously, he held several executive positions at Norsk Hydro and in international business. Enger will continue in his role as President of IFA – The International Fertilizer Association.
“Thorleif Enger has built a very successful operation in Yara, increasing shareholder value tenfold since the IPO in 2004,” added Lund. “We thank him for his strong efforts, the remarkable journey that the company has had and the strong platform that he has built. We remain confident that Yara’s success will continue.”
Yara CFO and Head of Strategy Sven Ombudstvedt has decided to step down from his position and will leave Yara July 4, 2008. A new CFO will be appointed during week soon. He has served in the positions since October 2006. He was formerly senior vice president upstream from 2003 until 2006; prior to this, he held a number of leading positions in Norsk Hydro.
Catherine Randazzo recently joined The Sulphur Institute as president and CEO. She joins TSI after over 20 years of successful performance in senior management roles with The Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., most recently as chief operating officer and executive vice president.
Ken Boltz, vice president of Jupiter Sulphur LLC, was elected chairman of TSI’s board, succeeding outgoing chairman Kenneth Ellzey. Egbert Veldman, business vice president of Shell Sulphur Solutions, was elected vice chairman.
Recent new members to TSI include Agip KCO (Kazakhstan), Interacid Trading SA (Switzerland), OCP Group (Morocco), solvadis GmbH (Germany), Transammonia Inc. (USA), Marsulex Inc. (Canada), and Chemical Initiatives (South Africa). TSI has some 35 members around the world.
Rentech Inc. has announced organizational changes. Merrick Kerr, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will be resigning effective July 18 to pursue other opportunities. His responsibilities will be assumed on an interim basis by Douglas Miller, executive vice president and chief operating officer, until completion of a search for a new CFO.
“With Doug Miller’s appointment as Interim CFO and the continuing support of our chief accounting officer, Deb Harshman, we are confident that there will be no disruption to the company’s business or financial reporting and related functions,” said D. Hunt Ramsbottom, Rentech president and CEO. “Doug has had significant financial experience during his 27 years in the energy industry, including 15 years at Unocal.”
As part of the new organizational structure, John Diesch, senior vice president of operations, will have his duties expanded to include primary responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day management of the company’s operating assets, including Rentech Energy Midwest Corp. He previously served in various managerial roles at REMC’s ammonia fertilizer plant for ten years, most recently serving as the facility’s president. Diesch will continue to report to Miller.
The company’s technology research and development division and applications engineering division will report to Richard Penning, executive vice president of commercial affairs for Rentech. Penning has nearly 30 years of technology experience, gained at his previous employment at UOP LLC, a Honeywell company. Moving these divisions from the operations department of the company to combine with the commercial affairs function will enable Rentech to continue its focus on commercializing its technology and meeting the technology needs of its commercial synthetic fuels projects and potential customers, licensees, and partners. The organizational change will be effective upon first production at the Product Demonstration Unit, and the new group will be called Technology Commercialization.
Rentech says it has experienced expected challenges at the PDU while in the commissioning and start-up phase of the facility. The challenges are being resolved and the company believes they will not cause significant delay in the production of fuels from the PDU. Synthesis gas (syngas) has been successfully produced from the steam methane reformer at the plant; however, an issue was identified in the syngas clean-up portion of the PDU that is currently being repaired. Once resolved, syngas will be available for start-up of the Rentech reactor for the production of hydrocarbons. Meanwhile, commissioning, start-up, and testing of the remaining principal technologies at the PDU continues.
Mr. Ridha Ben Mosbah has been appointed chairman and general director of Compagnie des Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) and Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT). He began his career in banking before joining CPG, where he acquired expertise within the Tunisian phosphate sector and participated in its restructuring and development. Prior to his nomination to the head of CPG/GCT, he was a member of the Tunisian government since 2004, successively as secretary of state, ministry of higher education, scientific research and technology. He graduated from Ecole des Mines de Paris.
BASF Turf & Ornamentals, Research Triangle Park, N.C., has appointed Ms. Thavy Un as marketing manager. Un will focus on developing marketing strategies for Turf & Ornamentals, as well as planning and program development. Her responsibilities will also include overseeing financial operations, forecasting, and production in collaboration with manufacturing, regulatory, formulation, and product labeling groups.
Prior to joining the Turf & Ornamentals team, Un held several positions within BASF’s agricultural division, including global marketing manager for fungicides and plant growth regulators and global marketing research analyst in Limburgerhof, Germany. Un also spent time working in marketing at Performance Chemicals in Mount Olive, N.J. and as a caprolactum project manager in Freeport, Texas. She is a Texas A&M University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
Mike Moosman, director of business development at Helm Fertilizer Corp., Tampa, has left the company. Helm said there are no current plans to fill the position.