BlueScope poaches Tiwai Point smelter boss Gretta Stephens to head NZ, Pacific operations

Monday 9th April 2018

ASX-listed BlueScope Steel has poached New Zealand Aluminium Smelters chief Gretta Stephens to head up its New Zealand and Pacific Island operations.

Stephens will lead the Melbourne-based company's mining, manufacturing and downstream businesses in New Zealand and the Lysaght brand manufacturing and distribution businesses in the Pacific Islands, BlueScope said in a statement. She will begin in June and be based at subsidiary New Zealand Steel's Glenbrook steelworks, south of Auckland.

She's been general manager and chief executive of New Zealand Aluminum Smelters since 2013, a joint venture between Rio Tinto's Pacific Aluminium and Sumitomo Chemical Company. Stephens "will continue to work at NZAS until June while the process is underway to select her successor, ensuring business as usual and a smooth transition," NZAS said in a statement.

In November last year, BlueScope announced it was splitting tits Australian and New Zealand operations into two separate businesses "reflecting their individual importance to the company." John Nowlan was appointed to head up BlueScope's Australian Steel Products from Jan. 1. He is also the interim head of New Zealand & Pacific Islands until Stephens takes up the role.

According to BlueScope's web site, the New Zealand Steel and Pacific Islands business comprises the Waikato North Head mine, the Glenbrook steelworks, the Pacific Steel rolling mill and the Pacific Islands businesses. It is the only fully integrated steel producer in New Zealand and manufactures around 650,000 tonnes of steel slab and billet a year. The Pacific Islands business includes facilities in Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

BlueScope's ASX-listed shares last traded at A$14.78 and have declined 3.8 percent so far this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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