PROGRAM
PARTICIPANTS
EDWIN BASSON
Director General
Worldsteel Association
Dr Basson received his PhD in economics from Pretoria University and taught economics at the same university from 1984 to 1990. After a few years in the banking industry, Dr Basson joined the steel industry in 1994 as Chief Economist at Iscor Ltd. in South Africa.
In 1996 he became Business Unit Manager for coated steel products and flat steel products. He later headed Strategic Initiatives at the company. Dr Basson was transferred to Europe when Iscor became a part of Mittal Steel (now ArcelorMittal) in 2004 as a General Manager responsible for Marketing Strategy and was part of the Merger & Acquisition team in Mittal steel.
From 2006 until he joined worldsteel, he was Vice-President, Commercial Co-ordination, Marketing and Trade Policy at ArcelorMittal.
Dr Basson joined World Steel Association in August 2011 as Director General.
PHILIP BELL
President
Steel Manufacturers Association
Philip K. Bell is President of the Washington, DC-based Steel Manufacturers Association. Prior to leading the SMA, Phil served as Director of External Communications and Public Affairs for Gerdau Long Steel North America based in Tampa, FL. He is a 25-year industry veteran, who developed an interest in the steel industry and manufacturing in the late 1980s while working in maintenance and operations at Elementis Chromium in Corpus Christi, TX. He has held executive-level positions in operations, human resources and public affairs with Gerdau, the SGL Carbon Group, and Qualitech Steel Corporation.
He currently serves on the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Advisory Committee on Steel (ITAC 11), advising the Secretary of Commerce and United States Trade Representative on trade policy, trade agreements, and other trade related matters that benefit U.S. businesses, workers, and the economy.
Phil is on the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). He is also a member of the Association of Iron & Steel Technology and serves on the board of trustees at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN.
Phil graduated from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He holds a master’s degree in Global Strategic Communications from the University of Florida.
AXEL EGGERT
Director General
The European Steel Association
KEVIN DEMPSEY
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Iron and Steel Institute
Kevin Dempsey is the president and chief executive officer of the American Iron and Steel Institute, a leading advocacy group representing electric arc furnace and integrated American steel producers. He previously served as senior vice president of public policy and general counsel to the Institute during which AISI achieved landmark policy successes on trade, tax and infrastructure, and successfully showcased the steel industry’s sustainability accomplishments and steel innovations in the auto and construction markets.
Dempsey is well known in industry and trade circles, on Capitol Hill and by government officials in the U.S. and globally. He is a regular speaker at industry, policy and media events, and has been featured in dozens of national, regional and trade media, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Reuters, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Politico, CNBC and CNN, to name a few.
Before joining AISI, Dempsey was a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf where he led numerous international trade cases on behalf of American steel producers and other U.S. industries. He also served as counsel to former U.S. Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO) and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Dempsey received his Juris Doctor Degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Washington University in St. Louis.