Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Mehdi Wetterwald, who was briefly co-head of battery metals at Trafigura Group, is leaving the trading house in the latest senior departure from its metals unit.
Wetterwald, who joined Trafigura in 2012, was appointed to run global nickel, cobalt and lithium trading as co-head alongside Daniel von Arx last February, in the wake of the revelation of a massive alleged nickel fraud against the company. Last autumn, von Arx was named the sole head of the division.
Wetterwald is leaving the company for personal reasons, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the matter isn’t public.
He’s the latest senior figure to depart the metals division, after a period marred by the nickel losses and the financial woes of a Congolese copper-cobalt project backed by Trafigura.
In the past twelve months, senior departures have included Socrates Economou, the previous head of nickel and cobalt trading; Kostas Bintas, the head of copper and former co-head of metals; Simon Grenfell, the head of metals business development; and Svetlana Kabanova, the head of metals operations.
Still, in its annual report last month, chief executive officer Jeremy Weir described Trafigura’s metals performance as “robust,” and the company noted that the unit’s profits would have been above the previous three-year average without the nickel loss.
(By Jack Farchy and Archie Hunter)
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