Michael Southwood

Prior to being hired as Market Analyst in 2019, this position had not existed at CBMM North America. As such, I was responsible for the creation and implementation of all market analysis activities as well as building upon existing commercial analysis for a region which accounted for approximately $250-$300 million in annual sales. CBMM is the global leader in the mining and production of Niobium, an additive used in the steel production process. While headquartered in Brazil, CBMM has regional offices in North America, Europe and Asia.

• Accumulation and tracking of detailed forecast, sales, and budget data utilizing Excel, SAP and Power BI
• Responsible for generating and distributing reports detailing CBMM North America sales volumes, sales forecast, and sales budget on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis
• Responsible for re-designing, streamlining, and re-branding detailed executive/board-facing internal reports including the Weekly Sales & Market Report and Monthly Sales Summary
• Conducted forecast/sales/budget comparative and variance analysis
• Provided analysis and reporting of steel supply and demand dynamics, key end use markets, and macroeconomic factors
• Drew from several data and information sources in order to develop relevant market analysis and generate weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, and ad-hoc reports and insights to assist the General and Commercial Managers
• Created and maintained numerous spreadsheets, charts, tables, and data sets in order to supply value-added analysis
• Assisted the Commercial and Regional Managers in creating content for their internal commercial and budget presentations for the Board and customer sales presentations
• Responsible for the in depth analysis and reporting of North American crude steel production, U.S Steel imports by product and country, U.S Capacity utilization rates, North American automotive production, U.S Auto sales, Ferro-Vanadium pricing, North American oil rig count and oil production, AISI producer shipments, and MSCI shipments
• Assisted Commercial Team set up customer accounts, leads and opportunities in Salesforce
• Project manager for initiative that entailed the analysis and internal reporting of the quarterly financial reports released by the company's top customers around the world, which included regular coordination with other analysts in the offices in South America, Europe, and Asia.

Responsible for the delivery of CRU aluminum publications, including the research, analysis, market participant interviews, and writing of the market outlook and industry news for North America

• Weekly Aluminum Weekly Outlook: Weekly assessment of current trends impacting the industry and changes in spot U.S
• Midwest and billet premia
• Monthly Aluminum Products Monitor: In depth coverage of the N.A
• Rolled products, extrusion, and scrap/secondary aluminum markets; performed Technical Analysis of LME aluminum prices
• Quarterly Aluminum Rolled Products Outlook: Detailed analysis of key demand dynamics in the North American rolled products market
• Key contributor in CRU’s external presentations and webcasts
• Frequent speaker presenting CRU’s market view at industry events such as the Aluminum Extruders Council Executive Meetings, the Aluminum Spotlight at ISRI National Conventions, CRU North American Trends Conference, and Aluminum Association Spring/Fall Meetings
• Regular contributor to the monthly Aluminum Association’s Market Highlights publication
• Interviewed and quoted in industry magazines and publications.

Responsible for the writing, research, and analysis in the daily Aluminum Morning Market, Aluminum Weekly Outlook, and monthly Aluminum Price Perspective publications

• Midwest premium analysis, industry news, relevant aluminum market/sector information
• Analysis and understanding drivers of short-term price movements
• Managed a Monte-Carlo price simulation model to make short-term hedge recommendations for producers and fabricators
• Prepared and presented a client-facing quarterly webcast providing an overview of the current dynamics in the aluminum market.

• Coordinated, supervised, edited, and published written content and analytical data with a team of analysts, writers, and consultants for the North American flat rolled products / extrusion chapter of the Aluminum Products Monitor publication
• Provided technical analysis of LME metal prices, oil, and currency for price trend and price turning points for clients in the LME Metals – Technical Analysis report.

• Responsible for publishing daily Aluminum Morning Market report containing aluminum and copper forward market prices, premia information, and daily metal news stories
• This was a 'first read' of the day for hundreds of industry insiders
• During my tenure, I streamlined and automated the process to collect data, format the report, and deliver to clients.