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Taking over On 31 January 2020, Peter de Graaff, General Manager of Euro-Mit Staal, officially went into retirement after leading the company for 28 years. Following in his footsteps is Marco van Lomwel, who previously held the position of Manager Accounting & Finance at the company. Q: Mr van Lomwel, could you tell us a little bit about your background? A: I was born and raised in Zeeland. I currently live in OostSouburg. My professional background lies in accounting and finance. After working in the financial department at a different company for several years, I started working for Euro-Mit Staal in 2002. Back then, around 30 people worked at the company, and I was the only person in the accounting department. Then we started growing. Our employee numbers grew along with the tonnage we handled. We now have 75 people working here.
Q: How did you end up in your new role as general manager? A: We discussed Mr de Graaff’s retirement within the management team, and I was approached for the role. Working as general manager will be quite different from accountancy, but I am up for the challenge. I especially look forward to
communicating with all the different departments. We have a great group of people at Euro-Mit Staal, so I thoroughly enjoy getting the opportunity to work with them.
Q: What have you learned from your predecessor? A: I have worked with Mr de Graaff for many years. He was here from the start, when our current site was nothing but a grassy field. Together with Mitsui in Japan, he built up our company from scratch. It is now up to the rest of us to pick up where he left off. The social character that Mr de Graaff has provided the company with is definitely something I want to continue. I believe people achieve most when they enjoy their job, when they can continue their self-development through training, and when they feel supported. I am dedicated to making that effort.
Q: How did Euro-Mit Staal end up in Vlissingen? A: Euro-Mit Staal is part of Mitsui & Co, a large Japanese trading firm with numerous branches. The electrical steel that we handle was already part of their product portfolio. Mitsui used to supply electrical steel for the European transformer industry all the way from Japan. If a customer needed another steel coil, it would sometimes take six months to arrive. For that reason, they started looking for a suitable location for a European affiliate. They considered Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Antwerp, but none of those ports ticked all the required boxes. Vlissingen, however, did. And so Mitsui built their European
MArcO vAn LOMwEL, GEnErAL MAnAGEr OF EurO-Mit StAAL.
All photos courtesy of Scherp! Fotografie
12 I PortNews
Euro-Mit Staal.indd 12
12-02-20 09:47
