The results of the elections for our new leadership team have been announced. Mr Jordan Lea (Chairman, Eastern Trading Company, USA) takes on the role of ICA President.
Jordan will be supported by Mr Jean-Marc Derossis (Head of Physical Cotton Trading, BTG Pactual Commodities, UK) as First Vice President and Mr Jürg Reinhart (Chairman, Paul Reinhart AG, Switzerland) as Second Vice President.
New to the board are Mr Nick Hungate (Cotton Trader, Hungate Consulting, UK), Mr Azeez Abdul Syed (Senior Vice President, Olam International, Singapore), Mr Axel Trede (Managing Director, Cotton Service International GmbH, Germany) and Mr Yahya Saleem (Director, Nishat Chunian Ltd, Pakistan).
Now comprising 22 members, our new board line-up continues to represent the ICA’s global membership across all sectors of the supply chain and builds on our commitment to engage the entire global cotton community.
On accepting the role of President, Jordan paid special tribute to outgoing President, Mohit Shah and to the Association’s past presidents and its members:
“It is with honor, with privilege and with gratitude that I accept the responsibility of navigating the ICA into the coming year as President. ‘Thank you’ Mohit for a job well done – not just for last year as our President, but for many years of service to this esteemed organisation.
“Our past five Presidents have come from five different continents and five different companies. Our board of directors is drawn from across the globe and it directly resembles our membership – a very valued membership that is made up of players from every segment of our industry and from absolutely every market. I look forward to working with our members, the ICA board and with Vice Presidents Jean-Marc and Jürg to continue the momentum we have inherited and maintain our efforts to discourage trading with defaulters and provide a safe trading environment for all participants in the cotton trade.”
A graduate of North Carolina State University, Jordan began his cotton career working for Dunavant Enterprises in Memphis, where he worked in various capacities from 1990 until 1996. He now owns and operates Eastern Trading Company with his business partner, Phil Canale. Based in Greenville, South Carolina, USA, Eastern Trading was founded in 1986 and purchased by Jordan and Phil in 1998.
Jordan joined the ICA Board of Directors in 2009. He is an ICA Arbitrator and also the current President of Cotton Council International (CCI) and Past Chairman of the American Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA). He serves on the board of directors of the National Cotton Council, the Cotton Committee for the Intercontinental Exchange and the Exchange’s Warehouse and Delivery Committee. He is a member of the CFTC Agricultural Advisory Committee as well as their High Frequency Trading Committee.
