International Tar Association

Kris Vanherbergen is Executive Vice President of Carbon Distillation and Advanced Materials at Rain Carbon Inc. In 1995, he began his career at RÜTGERS where he served in various technical, operational and marketing management positions. He became the head of RÜTGERS’ coal chemical refining business in 2008.
As part of the Rain integration process, Mr. Vanherbergen became the head of the commercial area of RÜTGERS’ parent company, Rain Carbon Inc. in 2015. Subsequently, he was named the Chief Commercial Officer in 2016, and assumed his current role in early 2019. Mr. Vanherbergen also serves on the board of the Russian joint venture RÜTGERS-Severtar.
Mr. Vanherbergen was born in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. He studied electro-mechanical engineering with a post-graduate degree in loss prevention from the University of Louvain.

Mr. SHI Yanfeng, Senior Engineer, graduated from Dalian University of Technology and majored in Coal Chemical. Master degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. 1991 – 2005, he had been working in Beijing Coking Chemical Works, and had been engaged in coking technology, environmental control, strategic development, sales, purchasing and export. 2006 – 2012, he worked as manager for Sinochem International, in charge of coke export, domestic and overseas investment, safety and environmental control. December 2007, he was invited to work as a standing member of Expert Consultation Committee for China Coking Industry Association.
In 2012, he worked as Deputy Secretary General for China Coking Industry Association. From November 2013, he started to work as the Secretary General for the association and participated in composing the 2008 edition and 2014 edition of the “Entry Conditions of Coking Industry.”

Etienne Petit has a chemical engineering degree from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Lille (France). He is also post-graduated in chemical process from the Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine (France).
He started his career as a Research Engineer at the fluid dynamics department of IRSID, the R&D centre of Usinor-Sacilor (French steel making group to become ArcelorMittal). Then he joined the Centre de Pyrolyse de Marienau (CPM), the R&D centre for coals, cokes and coke-making processes belonging to ArcelorMittal and Zentral Kokerei Saar, to lead several projects in the coke-making process. He participated to the European project REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation for Chemicals) by registering the ArcelorMittal coke ovens by-products at the European Chemistry Agency. Since 2012, he is in charge of the coordination of the coke ovens by-products sales for ArcelorMittal Europe.

Vince Guercio has a chemical engineering degree and over 50 years’ experience in the international petrochemical, petroleum and natural gas businesses. For the past 40 years, he has been an independent consultant providing commercial and technical advice about the interactions that occur at the refinery/LPG/petrochemical interfaces. He specializes in the utilization of steam cracker byproducts such as butadiene, C5s and carbon black oil (CBO). Due to his ethylene byproduct experience, in 1982 Vince became heavily involved in carbon black feedstock from naphtha crackers, FCCs and coal tar. Since then, he has offered consulting services in the pricing, marketing, evaluation and acquisition of CBO. Since 1988, he has published the CBO MONITOR which provides reliable market intelligence about worldwide CBO and carbon black. Vince was educated by Catholic University of America, Princeton University and the U.S. Army. His corporate experience includes Mobil Oil, Lummus and Foster Wheeler.

Paul Ita runs Notch Consulting, Inc., a Massachusetts-based research company dedicated to the market research needs of the global specialty chemicals industry. Mr. Ita focuses on the raw material supply chain for the global tire and rubber industries, with a particular focus on carbon black, recovered carbon black, precipitated silica, and rubber chemicals.

Hongzhang Peng, Masters Degree, in Business Management graduated from Hebei University in 2013. Mr. Peng received Intermediate Economic Analyst in 2017. While at Hebei University he published four papers, including “Strategic Breakthrough for Growing of Private Enterprises in China” published in Business China in 2012,and “The Wheels Turning The World – the Way to Success of Michelin” published in Guide to Business 2012.
After graduation, Mr. Peng worked for SAILUN GROUP CO., LTD, a tire manufacturer, where he was responsible for strategic management and analysis for tire industry. Representing the China Carbon Black Industry, Mr. Peng was a guest speaker at Chain Summit Forum from 2017 to 2019. In 2019, representing LongZhong CO., LTD, Hongzhang was a featured speaker at the Synthetic Rubber and Downstream Industry Summit.

Wang Zhengyu joined Shanghai Baosteel Chemical Co., Ltd. (New name: Baowu carbon material and technology Co., Ltd.) in July 1991. He held a variety of positions at Baochem including Mechanical Engineer, Project Manager, Foreign Trade Manager, and Sales & Purchasing Manager. While working in sales, the bulk of his time was spent in market research for coal tar chemical products. Wang graduated from Zhejiang University with Bachelor’s Degree majored in Chemical Equipment and Machinery in 1991 and obtained Master’s Degree majored in International Economy from Fudan University in 2003.

Dr. Zygmunt Stompel received his MSc diploma in coal science from Silesian Technical University in Gliwice, and immediately after joined the Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal in Zabrze, where he spent the next 20 years. In the Research & Development sector Dr. Stompel specialized in processing of coal tar, with particular attention paid to pitch and pitch coke. His PhD thesis (in 1978) was devoted to the subject of manufacturing of pitch coke of improved graphitizability.
In 1991 Dr. Stompel left the Institute and has established a private company Coal-Chem Engineers & Consultants. As a consultant he participated in several international projects aimed at improving efficiency of coal tar industry in Poland and abroad.
Dr Stompel taught coal tar science at Silesian Technical University in Gliwice and Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow. He is active as a consultant on coal tar matters for various Polish and international organizations.

Justin joined CRU in 2017 and has overall responsibility for the Aluminium Raw Materials team, covering bauxite, alumina, coal tar, pitch, petroleum coke and anodes.
Prior to CRU, Justin worked for over a decade in commodity markets, with trading, research & sales roles at leading investment banks, Macquarie, BNP Paribas and CIBC, in both London and New York. Justin has a wide range of experience in non-ferrous, ferrous and precious metals, alongside oil, gas and freight.
Justin holds a BSc in Economics and Finance and an MSc in Economics and Econometrics from Bristol University.

Dr. Fengqin Liu is a Professor of Engineering and recipient of various government subsidies as well as the National Technical Talent award. She is the Technical Manager at the China Non-Ferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co. Ltd.; Deputy Director of China Non-Ferrous Metals Institute Light Metal Academic Committee; Director of Aluminum-used Carbon Research Committee; and is a member of the China Non-Ferrous Metals Association Expert Committee.
As the well-known expert in aluminum smelting and aluminum-used carbon fields, Dr. Liu was in charge of setting up technological development planning and standards for relative industries. She led dozens of major scientific and technical projects at both provincial and national levels, solving a series of technical problems in the aluminum smelting industry. She hosted three international aluminum-used carbon conferences. As a scientist and expert in her field, she was invited to visit and conduct collaborative research in Australia, the U.S. and Switzerland, and gave large-scale presentations at several international metallurgy conferences.
Some of Dr. Liu’s published achievements include: “The Key Technology of Quality Carbon Anode for Aluminum Smelting”, “The Integrated Technologies to Improve the Life Span of Aluminum Smelting Cell”, “The Technology of New Structure for Aluminum Smelting Cell”, and “The New Technology of Wettable Cathode Production”. She is the recipient of the National Science & Technology Progress Award, has won the Provincial & Ministerial Award three times, and many other awards in recognition of her technological contributions and she has designed 50 national patents.
Dr. Liu is published in English as well: “Chinese Raw Materials for Anode Manufacturing”, “Production Technology of Aluminum Smelting" and “Production Technology of Aluminum-used Carbon” under the series of China Non-Ferrous Metals book selection. She is also the main author of the Carbon Volume for the “Encyclopedia of Metallurgy”, “Manual of Aluminum Production Technology" and “Advances of Nonferrous Metals” and has delivered over 40 papers on the importance of technical conferences and journals both at home and abroad.

Graduated from Tianjin Foreign Languages Institute and majored in International Trade. 1994 – 2002, worked in a famous international trading house named Nichimen Corporation in Tianjin, China and deeply engaged in international business, including machinery, auto parts, bearings, electric appliances and chemical products.
1992 – 2006, worked in JECT Corporation Beijing office, mainly working for all kinds of carbon business, including Needle Coke, Graphite Electrode, Green Petroleum Coke, Calcined Petroleum Coke, Metallurgical Coke, Foundry Coke, Coal Tar Pitch and recarb etc. Heavily provided raw materials to steel, aluminum and chemical industries with rich experience and technical knowledge.
Since 2007, worked in East River Asia Limited as consultant to provide professional services to the customers all over the word with Chinese carbon and chemical industries.

Julia Du joined CRU in 2013 as an Analyst on the aluminum raw materials team. Julia is specializing in carbon product market analysis such as the supply-demand balances, price assessment, and market forecast. Julia collects first-hand market information from the market participants in China and World ex. China. She is one of the contributors to CRU’s Carbon Product Market Outlook and Monitor. Julia Du holds an MA in Public Policy from King’s College London and an MSc in Comparative Politics from London School of Economics.