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Session 25: International Raw Materials Prices
The session will cover global raw materials issues including the European perspective and China’s influence as an elephant. This session will be particularly helpful to those advising purchasing managers or wanting to gain a deeper understanding of issues driving raw materials prices.
Presentations
Heinz-Jürgen Büchner, International Raw Material Prices: A Risk for
the Recovery of the World Economy? (PDF, 223 KB)
Thomas Kevin Swift, International Raw Materials - Chemicals (PDF, 369 K)
Links of Interest
Deutsche Industriekreditbank (English home page)
Speakers
Heinz-Jürgen Büchner
Vice President, Economics and Research
IKB Deutsche Industriekreditbank
Dr.Heinz-Jürgen Büchner is Vice President, Economics and Research, at IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG in Düsseldorf.
He has been with IKB since September, 1990. Prior to that, he was with the Landesbank Rehinland-Pfalz in Mainz, and from 1981 to 1987 was an Assistant Professor at the Economics Department of the University of Bonn.
He studied economics at the University of Bonn, where he received his Ph D. His dissertation was on “Economic theories of tax evasion”.
Thomas Kevin Swift
Chief Economist and Senior Director – Economics & Statistics
American Chemistry Council
A native of Buffalo, New York, Dr. Swift is a graduate of Ashland College with a BA degree and a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with a MA degree in Economics. He has also completed the Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting Program and other studies at Harvard University, as well as a DBA (doctorate in business administration) at Anglia Polytechnic University.
Dr. Swift is employed by the American Chemistry Council in Arlington, Virginia where he is responsible for economic and other analyses dealing with various business, trade, tax, energy, and related issues. He is also responsible for monitoring business conditions and industry structure, as well as identifying emerging trends. Dr. Swift is also involved in collection and dissemination of industry data, information and analysis to member companies, the media, and the public in general.
Prior to joining the American Chemistry Council, Dr. Swift held several executive and senior level positions at several business information/database companies, directing business research, forecasting, and consulting efforts as well as domestic and international business forecasting services and related on-line databases. He also conducted industrial market research and related projects. Dr. Swift started his career at Dow Chemical USA.
Dr. Swift is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and is a member of NABE's panel of 40 professional forecasters and a participant in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's forecasters' survey. He is also a member of the Commercial Development and Marketing Association and the Société de Chimie Industrielle. Dr. Swift is also on the editorial advisory board of Chemical Management Review and has authored articles in such diverse journals as Business Economics, Chemistry Business, Chimica Oggi, Cost Engineering, and Hydrocarbon Processing, among others. He has also appeared on Bloomberg TV.
