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People

Ken Seitz has been named as Nutrien’s interim CEO following the resignation of the former CEO and president Mayo Schmidt on the 4th of January. Schmidt had only been in post for eight months, having taken over from Chuck Magro in April 2021. Mr Seitz was the company’s executive vice president and CEO of potash prior to the announcement. His appointment is a transitional arrangement.

Russ Girling, the chair of Nutrien, said: “Nutrien has a talented and deep executive team, and we are confident that Ken Seitz and this team will continue to build on the organisation’s record financial and operating performance. The Nutrien board of directors will work with an executive search firm to begin a global search to select a long-term leader that will take the company into its next phase, which will consider internal and external candidates.”

Ken Seitz replied: “I look forward to working with the executive leadership team, our tremendous employees and the board of directors to execute on our plan, continue this exciting progression across our business to serve our stakeholders, and deliver on our commitment to advance sustainable solutions to feed a growing world.”

Mr Seitz joined Nutrien in 2019, bringing with him 25 years of global management experience. Notably, he was formerly president and CEO of Canpotex, one of the world’s largest potash suppliers. He holds a BSc in agriculture, a BEng and an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan, together with a certificate in management from New York’s Stern School of Business.

Yijun “Jenny” Wang has joined The Mosaic Company’s senior leadership team. She was appointed senior vice president for global strategic marketing, and head of China and India, with effect from the 1st of January.

Jenny foined Mosaic in 2011 and was previously the company’s vice president for global strategic marketing. In this role, she led on Mosaic’s pricing strategy, global product placement, strategic market analysis, brand marketing, new product commercialisation, and Mosaic’s distribution businesses in China and India. Ms Wang has also served as a board director at Canpotex for two years.

“Jenny’s expertise in the global agriculture market has played a key role in Mosaic’s strategy for the past 10 years,” said Joc O’Rourke, Mosaic’s president and CEO. “Her leadership will be critical to Mosaic’s global positioning as the industry continues to evolve and we expand our distribution business in China and India.”

Prior to joining Mosaic, Wang held various leadership roles at Syngenta for 16 years, working out of China, Vietnam and its global headquarters in Switzerland. Her roles and responsibilities included sales, marketing, strategy and business development, global product management and a stint as country managing director.

Jenny is a graduate of the advanced management program at Harvard Business School. She also holds a biology MSc from South China Agriculture University and a biology BSc from Sun Yat-sen University.

Kai Bartram is TOMRA Mining’s new global sales director. He was appointed to the company’s management team at the start of November and will be based at TOMRA’s offices in Wedel, Germany. In his new role, Kai will be responsible for managing and coordinating the company’s mining sales teams globally.

Kai Bartram, TOMRA Mining.

PHOTO: TOMRA

Albert du Preez, senior vice president and head of TOMRA Mining, said: “I am delighted that Kai is returning to TOMRA and joining our management team. He started his career with us as a graduate engineer, and over the past two decades he has acquired vast knowledge in the mining industry. With his experience, he will strengthen our sales team and help shape our approach to market.”

Commenting on his appointment, Kai Bartram said: “I am excited about returning to TOMRA and looking forward to working with our global sales teams to further grow our sensor-based sorting market in the mining sector.”

Mr Bartram worked for TOMRA from 2000 to 2010, firstly in R&D and applications and then in sales, where he was tasked with introducing sensor-based sorting to the mining sector. He holds a master’s degree in electronics from Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.