California Steel to Shuffle Top Management
05/09/2008 - California Steel Industries announces several changes to its top management staff, including the appointment of Vicente Wright to serve as President and CEO, and Masakazu Kurushima to serve as Chairman of the Board.
California Steel Industries, Inc. announced several changes to its top management staff, including the appointment of Vicente Wright to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2008. Wright currently serves as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.
Concurrently, Masakazu Kurushima, the company’s current President and Chief Executive Officer, will be appointed to the company Board of Directors, also effective July 1, 2008, where he will take the position of Chairman of the Board.
Both appointments are in accordance with the company’s policy of periodically rotating senior management positions between representatives of the company's shareholders, JFE Steel Corp. and Rio Doce Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Vale).
Wright has held the position of Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors since July 2004. He is also the
Managing Director for the Iron Ore and Pellet Sales—Americas and the Commercial Administration Department of Vale. He was named President and CEO in February 2003, after serving as its CFO from 1998 to 2003. He has held various executive positions with Vale, as well as serving as a board member of several steel and ferroalloy organizations in Brazil and overseas. He graduated from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis. with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration.
Kurushima has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since July 2004. He previously served as President of JFE Steel America, Inc., and has also served as Staff General Manager of the Export Department of JFE Steel Corp., Tokyo. He joined Kawasaki Steel Corp. in 1972 after graduating from Waseda University, Japan, with a degree in Economics.
California Steel Industries is the leading producer of flat rolled steel products in the western United States (the 11 states located west of the Rocky Mountains) based on tonnage billed, with a broad range of products, including hot rolled, cold rolled, electric resistant weld pipe and galvanized coil and sheet. Located near Fontana, Calif., the company has about 1000 employees.
