Heraeus Precious Metals Forum Americas 2024

Spend half a day engaging with a powerful and influential group of industry leaders. Gain insights and the latest information on precious metals. Collaborate, learn and network to drive your business forward with cutting-edge knowledge from the best in the field. Please fill out the form below to attend the event.

**Kindly note: Registration is required and will be confirmed via email**.

If you have any questions, please contact  Ana Samanishvili

Heraeus Precious Metals Team is looking forward to hosting you!

Uve Kupka serves as President of Heraeus Precious Metals North America. Uve studied Business and Economics at the University of Gießen and started his professional career as international controller for W.C. Heraeus. In 1998, he transferred to Singapore as Corporate Controller and was responsible for W.C. Heraeus divisions and subsidiaries in Asia. Afterwards, he managed Heraeus Ltd. in Hong Kong. In 2009, he moved to New York as President and headed the North American activities for W.C. Heraeus (subsequently Heraeus Precious Metals). He managed the business of the GBU Heraeus Metal Management in the US starting in 2015 and took over the management of the activities of the GBU Heraeus Precious Metals in the US in April 2017.

Stefan Staubach studied business administration at Ruhr University Bochum and completed his doctorate in business administration at the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. He started his career in investment banking in Frankfurt and New York, followed by positions in private equity. He joined the Heraeus Group in 2016 and has been CFO of Heraeus Precious Metals since 2019, responsible for finance, precious metals controlling, processes, IT, purchasing and PMCE (Precious Metals Compliance Experts). Since June 2024, he has been CEO of Heraeus Precious Metals together with Dr. Steffen Metzger.

Steffen Metzger studied physics and mathematics at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich as well as Oxford University and completed his doctorate in mathematical physics at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He then joined the management consultancy Oliver Wyman as a consultant and project manager before moving to the semiconductor manufacturer Infineon in 2011, where he held various management positions. In 2022, he joined the Group Management Committee of the Heraeus Group, where he was responsible for the Semiconductor and Electronics platform. Since June 2024, he has been CEO of Heraeus Precious Metals together with Dr. Stefan Staubach.

David is the Senior Vice President for Trading and Sales at Heraeus Precious Metals New York LLC. He is responsible for funding and price risk management of precious metals to Heraeus sites in the Americas. The trading team offers the same physical metal service to external customers principally from the industrial sector. David joined Heraeus in September 2014. Prior to joining Heraeus, David commenced his career in 1980 working exclusively on precious metals trading desks with experience in both trading and sales at financial institutions ranging from AIG to Commerzbank. David graduated with an honors degree in Economics from the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Murat Tasci is an Executive Director and Senior US Economist at J.P. Morgan. Murat joined the Global Economics Research team in 2023. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Murat worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland for 17 years, most recently as a Senior Research Economist conducting research on a wide variety of topics related to macroeconomy and labor markets. His research appeared in peer-reviewed journals and various Federal Reserve publications. Murat holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Economics from Koc University in Istanbul.

Dr. David Jollie is Head of Sales and Market Insight at Anglo American Platinum. Before joining Anglo American in 2016, he spent five years as an analyst and as head of research at Mitsui Precious Metals, covering all of the precious metals globally. He also previously spent more than twelve years working at Johnson Matthey, where he undertook a variety of roles, all focused on the platinum group metals. He began working there as a development chemist focusing on diesel exhaust emissions before moving into the precious metals marketing business as a market analyst covering the demand side. For the last four years at Johnson Matthey he wrote their leading reviews of supply and demand in the platinum group metal market, travelling frequently to meet with end users and producers. He has a degree in chemistry from the University of Oxford and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Nottingham in the UK.

Bart Melek has well over 20 years’ experience analyzing precious metals, base metals, energy, financial markets, as well as key economies. He has worked closely with commodity, equity and FX trading desks around the world, and has several forecasting distinctions and top global rankings. Bart contributes to the TD Securities strategic view on commodity, various other markets and macroeconomics. Bart is also a sought-after media commentator. Previous to joining TD, he had senior roles in equities, commodities and risk. He holds a master’s degree in economics from York University in Toronto, with an International Finance/Banking Specialization.

Matt Watson who is based in the Silicon Valley, has over forty years of experience as an operations executive in numerous industries and technologies driving process and yield improvements. Matt gained his expertise in PGMs at Seagate Technology (HDD’s & electronics) and SoloPower (PV pastes) and a deep understanding of the current and potential uses for Ruthenium and Iridium developed during his time at leading business development for the Tanaka Kikinzoku Group. Most recently, Matt is the founder of Precious Metals Commodity Management LLC, where Matt is helping mining and industrial clients with Precious Metals Consulting Services, Market Reports, and Supply Chain Management expertise.

Following the collapse of palladium and rhodium prices, plus a still lackluster platinum price performance, the PMG primary producers have seen margins crunched. A significant portion of operations is even incurring losses. What levers can be pulled to keep mining companies afloat? How do they manage costs in the face of relentless mining inflation, and where will capex be cut? How do by-products help differentiate the producers, and is restructuring of the industry required, and what are the implications for processing capacities? What will be the production outlook and the risks to supply relative to net demand?

Enigma of Depressed PGM Prices in the Context of Fundamental Deficits

Commentators regularly assure us that the three main platinum group metals are in fundamental deficits. A basic understanding of economics suggests this should be reflected in rising prices yet we have seen the prices of these metals weaken instead. How can we better understand the relationship between these factors? Are the metals really individually in deficits? If they are, what impact should we expect those deficits to have on price and on future supply and demand?

The most important application of Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) volume wise are environmental catalysts, in particular for treating exhaust gas emissions of internal combustion engines. With the increasing level of electrification of mobility, however, the size of this application is reducing. Hence, this poses some concerns for mines and the overall PGM industry. On the other hand PGMs, in particular platinum, iridium and ruthenium, are playing an important role in the hydrogen economy and are pivotal for many applications. The presentation aims to shad some light into these applications and to give an overview on future demand scenarios.