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People

CF Industries announced several interlinked board changes in mid-October. Current chair Stephen Furbacher is to retire at the company’s annual stockholders meeting in May next year. In a coordinated move, the board elected Stephen Hagge – currently an independent director of CF Industries – as Mr Furbacher’s successor with effect from the start of January 2022. The board also elected John Eaves, another independent director and the executive chairman of Arch Resources, as incoming chair of the company’s compensation and management development committee. He is taking over this role from the committee’s former chair Mr Hagge. This appointment also takes effect from the beginning of 2022.

“I am honored by the trust placed in me by my fellow directors to serve as chair of CF Industries’ board of directors,” said Stephen Hagge. “On behalf of the board, I want to thank Steve Furbacher for his 15 years of service to CF Industries. His leadership has been an integral part of making CF Industries and its board of directors what they are today. We look forward to building on the progress we have made under his guidance as we work together to create long-term value for stakeholders.”

Mr Furbacher will continue to serve on the board until his current term of office expires next May. He has been an independent director of CF Industries since 2007 and served as chairman since 2014. His retirement is in keeping with general company policy that directors will stand down once they reach the age of 74. Mr Hagge has been an independent director of CF Industries since 2010, most recently serving as chair of the company’s compensation and management development committee and as a member of the audit committee. Mr Eaves has been an independent director of CF since 2017.

Compass Minerals announced two changes to its senior management team at the end of October. Lorin Crenshaw was appointed chief financial officer, while Jamie Standen was appointed chief commercial officer.

Lorin Crenshaw is expected to join Compass at the start of December. He will be responsible for all aspects of the company’s financial management. Lorin brings to the company more than 25 years of high-level financial experience, most recently serving as chief financial officer at Orion Engineered Carbons, a global supplier of specialty and high-performance carbon black. Previously, Mr Crenshaw occupied financial leadership roles at Albemarle Corporation from 2009 to 2019. This culminated in a stint as chief financial officer of Albemarle’s global lithium business from 2016 to 2019. He holds a BSc in business administration from Florida A&M University and an MBA from Columbia University.

“Lorin’s broad financial expertise and lithium-specific experience combine to create an ideal skillset to help optimize shareholder value by fully leveraging our advantaged asset portfolio,” said Kevin Crutchfield, president and CEO. “I look forward to Lorin joining our team at this exciting time for Compass Minerals.”

In a coordinated move, Jamie Standen, who has been the chief financial officer of Compass since 2017, will change roles to serve as chief commercial officer from the beginning of December. Jamie joined the company in 2006 as assistant treasurer. Mr Standen spent six years in various roles at Kansas City Southern prior to this. He holds a BSc in accounting from the University of Kansas.

“I would put Jamie’s knowledge of our core business and markets up against anyone’s,” said Kevin Crutchfield. “He has created lasting value for the company at every position he’s held to date, and I have every confidence he’ll continue to do so in driving our commercial, innovation, logistics and customer service strategies as chief commercial officer.”

Brad Griffith, the current chief commercial officer of Compass Minerals, has left the company with immediate effect to pursue other career opportunities.

Matt Conradie.

ICL Specialty Fertilizers appointed Matt Conradie as its UK area sales manager in September. In this role, he will help develop and grow agricultural sales of ICL’s specialty fertilizer portfolio. Sander Selten, ICL’s business lead for Western Europe, warmly welcomed Matt to the company’s expanding sales team:

“The experience of Matt in specialty fertilizers is considerable. Matt worked in the past as regional manager for Omnia Fertilizers and we welcome his extensive product knowledge to the team. With Matt on board, we will be better positioned to promote the ICL technologies in controlled and water-soluble fertilizers to the UK growers and farmers.”