Metal Exchange Corporation is pleased to announce that Vijay Natarajan, global business manager, has been promoted to executive vice president of trading. In addition, Ben Evans, president of trading transitions, is now vice president of corporate development, effective January 1, 2020.

Over the last 13 years at Metal Exchange Corporation, Natarajan has built strong customer relationships while progressing through roles of increasing responsibility in the Scrap, RSI and Value Added Product businesses. He lead the strategic development of the Semi-Fabricated Products business unit at Metal Exchange Corporation and was most recently responsible for Global Primary Products, with oversight for the Risk Management function. In his new role, Natarajan will be responsible for Metal Exchange Corporation's Global Trading Division and will lead initiatives and strategy throughout the headquarters in St. Louis, MO. Additionally, Natarajan will oversee Metal Exchange Corporation’s international footprint, consisting of locations in Shanghai, Zurich, and Singapore.

As vice president of corporate development, Evans will focus on the significant growth and development opportunities for Metal Exchange Corporation. These initiatives will be defined by an operating plan, and the scope of this work will be enterprise-wide, including the Global Trading business, Pennex Extruded Products, MEC Cast Products, and ElectroCycle. Evans brings more than 20 years of experience within the aluminum industry to this new role.

“Vijay’s successful track record of leading teams and growing businesses make him the ideal candidate for Executive Vice President of Trading. We have an outstanding team of people throughout our Trading Division and we are extremely confident in its future under Vijay’s leadership,” stated Metal Exchange Corporation CEO Rick Merluzzi.

“We are very excited to move to a more proactive effort on corporate development,” said Mike Lefton, executive chairman of Metal Exchange Corporation. “Ben has the experience, skills, and the knowledge of MEC to make a significant impact on the enterprise, and to execute our corporate growth strategy,” Lefton continued.