Agenda Themes 2026

Paul Gustavsson, CEO of Elcowire Group with Headquarter in Helsingborg, Sweden with a MBA from Copenhagen Business School and previously been Managing Director and Head of Business Unit within Buhler Group.
Elcowire is one of the leading suppliers in Europe of products based on Sustainable copper, producing and supplying wire rod, bunches, strands, profiles and conductor materials made of copper and copper alloys for the electrical and infrastructure industry. Elcowire contributes to the energy transition and electrification of our society.
Paul Gustavsson is also a board member of Norex AB, a Sweden based, steel trade and service company.

Frédéric Tréfois is the Chief Executive Officer of Sterlite Electric. He previously served as the Non-Executive Independent Director on the Company’s board. He brings over 25 years of global leadership across power transmission, renewables, grid infrastructure, mobility, and large-scale EPC led energy businesses.

Prior to Sterlite Electric, he was CEO of Zaphiro Technologies and earlier led Linxon, the ABB–SNC-Lavalin joint venture, where he scaled a global EPC platform focused on high-voltage substations and transmission infrastructure. His career includes senior leadership roles at ABB, Acciona Energia, Isolux, and Areva, with full P&L responsibility and execution experience across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

An engineer by training, Frédéric holds degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and has completed executive leadership programs at Oxford Saïd, IMD, and EPFL. He is known for people-centric leadership, growth-driven strategy, and disciplined execution in energy transition businesses.

Chenfei joined CRU in Feb 2019 as an Analyst within the Wire and Cable Team and is the current editor of CRU’s Wire and Cable Market Outlook. Prior to CRU, Chenfei spent 4 years working at Rolls-Royce in a variety of engineering leadership roles, with a focus on aeroengine technology development and process improvement. He holds an MSc in Advanced Materials Science and Engineering (Distinction) from Imperial College London, and a BEng (Hons) in Chemical and Materials Engineering (First Class and Dean’s List) from the University of Auckland.

He is the Vice General Manager & CTO of Jiangsu ShangShang cable group, Ltd, China . He has twenty years experiences on wire and cable industry. He has more 20 scientific papers published and is co-author of book Global cable industry-materials/markets/products. His research interests include HV&EHV power cable, nanocomposites polymer dielectrics, HFFR cable compounds.

Huixiong Chen is the general Manager of Baosheng (Yang zhou) Ocean Engineering Cable Co., Ltd, which is a joint venture of YOFC and Baosheng group.

John Hsu joined Hengtong Group in 2011 and currently serves as General Manager of the HV Underground
Cable and Submarine Cable System Department for International Markets. In this role, he has overall
responsibility for strategy, business development, marketing, project execution, and technology
innovation.
John has been involved in most of the key milestones in Hengtong’s development within the submarine
cable business sector. Over the past 15 years, he has witnessed Hengtong’s transformation from a market
follower into a global leader contributing to global electrification through continuous capacity building and
EPCI solutions. John is also one of the key figures within Hengtong who drove the establishment of the
company’s sustainability target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.
John particularly has global experience of projects on undersea grid, and can share his expertise in Cable
Industry.
John graduated with honors from the Xiamen University and holds degree in economics.

Zaid is head of aluminium products at CRU, leading a global team of analysts. Prior to joining the aluminium analysis team, Zaid spent six years with CRU’s consulting division as a principal consultant, leading the aluminium consulting practice area. Before CRU, he worked for several years at Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) in the UAE where he led the market research unit and held various positions within marketing and sales, corporate strategy, and finance. He previously worked in London for a number of commodity-focused firms as an analyst, including Thomson Reuters and Diapason Commodities Management, where he managed the precious and base metals research unit. He began his commodities research career in 2002 as an economist with AUPEC, an oil and gas consultancy firm. Zaid holds an MA in Economic Science from the University of Aberdeen and an MSc in Economics from the University of Amsterdam. Zaid is fluent in Arabic and French.

A graduate in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing from Wirtschaftsakademie Hamburg (now HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration), Thomas Peter Samson began his career in 1994 at Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (now Aurubis AG). After six years in management roles at the Anders Group, where he led the furniture panels trading division, he returned to Aurubis in 2002.
Over the past two decades, he has held several leadership positions, including Key Account Manager and Head of Sales for Bars+Profiles. A strong advocate for sustainability, he was instrumental in the 2021 launch of Aurubis' sustainability promise ‘Tomorrow Metals’, reflecting his commitment to environmentally responsible business practices.

David Leah leads the outlook for automotive demand, production and electrification at CRU. He is a narrator of the unprecedented change in the automotive industry and its significance for commodity markets. David has 10+ years' experience working at leading automotive forecasting and analysis firms. He holds a MSc in International Business Economics from Oxford Brookes University.

David Leah leads the outlook for automotive demand, production and electrification at CRU. He is a narrator of the unprecedented change in the automotive industry and its significance for commodity markets. David has a wealth of experience working at leading automotive forecasting and analysis firms. He holds a MSc in International Business Economics from Oxford Brookes University.

Ralf Hässig has spent 20 years with Global OEM in the Car Industry in various positions (Purchasing, Engineering, Program Management) and 4 years with Outotec as Vice President Supply before joining ZF Global Commodity Director / Global Director House of Competence Casting. In 2022 he became a Senior Expert within MM Sustainability for ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Chenfei joined CRU in Feb 2019 as an Analyst within the Wire and Cable Team and is the current editor of CRU’s Wire and Cable Market Outlook. Prior to CRU, Chenfei spent 4 years working at Rolls-Royce in a variety of engineering leadership roles, with a focus on aeroengine technology development and process improvement. He holds an MSc in Advanced Materials Science and Engineering (Distinction) from Imperial College London, and a BEng (Hons) in Chemical and Materials Engineering (First Class and Dean’s List) from the University of Auckland.

Carlos Perez Linkenheil is in the role of Head of Reports at AFRY, where he leads the company’s global long-term power market forecasts and projections. With more than 10 years of experience in energy market consulting, he works with utilities, investors, industrial players and developers, helping them navigate energy market uncertainty through long-term market outlooks, commercial assessments and strategic advisory. His work supports investment decisions, cost and competitiveness planning, and the development of strategies in rapidly evolving global power markets.

Frederic P. Wagner is a renewable energy executive with extensive experience in sales and marketing, project development, and strategic business transformation. He has played a key role in advancing VSB's energy solutions for commercial and industrial clients.

Alberto is Senior Director Public Affairs at Europacable, the European cable systems manufacturers association in Brussels which includes the largest cable makers in the world providing global technology leadership, as well as highly specialized small- and medium sized businesses from across Europe. Alberto joined Europacable in 2018 as Public Affairs Manager, after previously working for public affairs consultancies where he advised clients on energy and environmental policies, the Italian Government delegation managing the Italian EU Council Presidency in 2014 and the European Commission. Alberto holds a Master’s Degree in EU International Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

Simon Price is CEO of Exawatt, which provides strategic consulting, detailed cost forecasting and supply-chain analysis in sectors that are united by common theme: decarbonisation through electrification. These include energy storage, electric vehicles (EV), power electronics and solar PV. Exawatt’s customers span the entire supply chain, from mining companies to major solar/storage developers and EV manufacturers. The company was acquired by CRU Group in early 2023. Prior to founding Exawatt in 2015, Simon was the co-founder of a PV module factory design and integration company. In 2008, he was part of the founding team of a startup technology company dedicated to improving the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells. An electrical engineer by first degree, Simon began his career in the UK steel industry and spent time in the US as a business and technology journalist, management consultant and CEO of a publicly traded US software company, before making the move into renewable energy in 2008. Simon holds a master’s degree in Science Communication from Imperial College London, and an undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Simon Price is CEO of Exawatt, which provides strategic consulting, detailed cost forecasting and supply-chain analysis in sectors that are united by common theme: decarbonisation through electrification. These include energy storage, electric vehicles (EV), power electronics and solar PV. Exawatt’s customers span the entire supply chain, from mining companies to major solar/storage developers and EV manufacturers. The company was acquired by CRU Group in early 2023. Prior to founding Exawatt in 2015, Simon was the co-founder of a PV module factory design and integration company. In 2008, he was part of the founding team of a startup technology company dedicated to improving the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells. An electrical engineer by first degree, Simon began his career in the UK steel industry and spent time in the US as a business and technology journalist, management consultant and CEO of a publicly traded US software company, before making the move into renewable energy in 2008. Simon holds a master’s degree in Science Communication from Imperial College London, and an undergraduate degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Masiar Ighani is the founder and CEO of skillbyte GmbH, a Cologne-based technology company specializing in AI consulting and implementation for mid-sized industrial companies. He holds a MSc in Computer Science and leads a team of 38 — including a dedicated AI department with
mostly PhDs — delivering end-to-end AI solutions for sectors such as mechanical engineering, rubber and plastics processing, and manufacturing. skillbyte has delivered AI projects in predictive quality control for rubber compounding, AI-driven production planning, automated ESG reporting, and real-time material optimization using computer vision — all deployed on-premise or in sovereign cloud environments to meet industrial data security requirements.

Jonathan is Secretary General of the International Aluminium Institute whose purpose is to promote the sustainable development of the aluminium industry and to promote the use of aluminium products in society. Prior to joining the IAI, he worked at Rio Tinto in the strategy and climate teams, in PwC's sustainability team and as technical advisor on climate change at Chevron. Jonathan has worked with a range of industry associations including WBCSD and ICMM and was Chair of the Board of the International Emissions Trading Association from 2019-2021.

Larissa Köster, M. Eng., studied Environmental and Energy Engineering in Germany, Bolivia and Ireland. After graduating from university, she spent three years working in research in the field of decentralized energy supply and alternative fuels.
In 2022, she was appointed to her first position as Sustainability Manager in an international manufacturing company. Since 2024, she holds the position of the Sustainability Coordinator at the NIEHOFF Group.
Larissa Köster brings together new projects with existing initiatives to drive sustainability for NIEHOFF and its international subsidiaries.

Jonathan is Secretary General of the International Aluminium Institute whose purpose is to promote the sustainable development of the aluminium industry and to promote the use of aluminium products in society. Prior to joining the IAI, he worked at Rio Tinto in the strategy and climate teams, in PwC's sustainability team and as technical advisor on climate change at Chevron. Jonathan has worked with a range of industry associations including WBCSD and ICMM and was Chair of the Board of the International Emissions Trading Association from 2019-2021.

Larissa Köster, M. Eng., studied Environmental and Energy Engineering in Germany, Bolivia and Ireland. After graduating from university, she spent three years working in research in the field of decentralized energy supply and alternative fuels.
In 2022, she was appointed to her first position as Sustainability Manager in an international manufacturing company. Since 2024, she holds the position of the Sustainability Coordinator at the NIEHOFF Group.
Larissa Köster brings together new projects with existing initiatives to drive sustainability for NIEHOFF and its international subsidiaries.