Rusal appoints new head for its US office

Charles Brian Hesse is the new head of Russian aluminium giant Rusal’s United States office, according to the latest report. Rusal has appointed Mr. Brian Hesse at a time when trying to strengthen its presence in North America. The news came when the firm said in a statement on Tuesday, April 30.

Hesse will join Rusal with a vast experience in the metal industry. He worked as the Vice President of sales and marketing for the Americas for India’s Vedanta, prior to which, he also worked as the global sales director in a rolled products manufacturer Aleris International.

Rusal in mid-April landed its first investment in the United States since Washington lifted sanctions. It has collaborated with Braidy Industries Inc. to construct an aluminium rolling mill in Ashland, Kentucky, USA in order to produce flat rolled aluminium products for the US automotive industry. The mill is expected to produce 500 thousand tonnes of hot rolled and 300 thousand tonnes of fully finished cold rolled products per year. 

The United States had imposed sanctions on Rusal and its co-owner Oleg Deripaska in April 2018. In January 2019, sanctions against Rusal and its parent En+ got lifted after Deripaska reduced his stake after months of talks and several extensions of the deadline for sanctions to take full effect.