Platts Agriculture Week, Day 2:
Biofuels Forum

Patrícia Luís-Manso has +15 years’ experience in analytical and leadership roles in commodities, investment banking and network industries. In her current role at S&P Global Platts, Patricia is responsible for Agriculture and Metals Analytics, leading a global team of experts in Sugar, Grains, Oilseeds, Biofuels and Metals to generate essential data and intelligence for the Energy and commodities markets.

Prior to this role, Patrícia was Head of Sugar and Ethanol Research at Louis Dreyfus Commodities, where she managed a global team with focus on developing critical market analysis to design trading strategies. Patrícia has also worked at Kingsman SA, now part of S&P Global Platts, for 7 years  as Senior Analyst and Head of Research & Reports.

Patrícia holds a PhD in Regulatory Economics from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, in Switzerland. She also holds a Diploma in Organizational Leadership from Oxford University and a Msc. in Economics from Nova SBE in Portugal.

Karim works on the agriculture desk in London covering EMEA biofuels and was previously covering the Black Sea grains market. He worked as an investment analyst and an equity analyst covering Middle East-listed fertilizers and chemical companies. He holds a BA (Combined Hons) in Economics and International Development from the University of Liverpool, and an MSC (Hons) in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He wrote his Masters’ dissertation on the impact of agricultural liberalization on the Egyptian wheat market and food security.

Nicolle Monteiro de Castro acts as Sugar and Ethanol senior price specialist for S&P Global Platts covering Brazilian Center-South and Northeast regions. Having started her professional life in the shipping market, focusing on bulk cargoes, she has been developing her career in the sugar and biofuels chain, having more than a decade of experience. Nicolle joined Platts back in December 2014 as the person in charge of the Brazilian sugar pricing coverage and then expanding her pricing activities into the Brazilian biofuel market. She holds a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs', has a Master's degree in Finance with focus in Capital Market from Fundação Getúlio Vargas - FGV, and currently studying her second Master’s program in Agribusiness by FGV school. Nicolle has worked in the anhydrous ethanol assessment for the Brazilian North-Northeast region, the regional benchmark, and started in 2020 to develop the Brazilian biodiesel spot market assessment parameters.

Sophie heads the growing S&P Global Platts Americas Agriculture pricing team, with a team of 10 full -time pricing specialists that cover the exciting biofuel, sugar, oilseeds and grain markets in North and South America. Sophie started her time at Platts in the London oil team focusing on refined products before transferring to Houston to lead and drive the expansion of Platts Agriculture . Under Sophie’s leadership Platts agriculture coverage has expanded to grains, oilseeds, vegetable oils and renewable fuels. Sophie holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The University of Nottingham, and a master’s degree in international finance from Kingston University.

George Duke joined S&P Global Platts Agriculture as an Associate Editor in September 2019. Based in London, George was responsible for price assessments and market insights on oilseeds in EMEA before moving onto renewable distillates on the Biofuels desk. Prior to joining Platts, George was a Commodity Analyst for an agricultural pricing and analytics company. George holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Southampton.

Loren Puette is a biofuels analyst at S&P Global Platts Loren Puette where he covers Asian ethanol and biodiesel markets, including supply and demand forecast, trade flows and regulatory updates.

Loren is an agribusiness expert with 10+ years of experience conducting economic, trade, and field research in global agricultural markets, authoring agricultural commodity reports for both public and private sectors. He has on-the-ground agricultural market research experience in Russia, Tajikistan, Taiwan, East Africa, and the Middle East. Loren launched and operated ChinaAg.org, a market intelligence web site and contract consulting service, dedicated to providing insights into China’s agriculture sector, including assessing regulatory developments and analyzing market trends within the farming and food industries. Loren holds a Master of Arts in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Baylor University in the US. He is fluent in Russian, French, and Mandarin Chinese.

Josh Pedrick has covered the US biofuels market through Presidential administration change and growing blending mandates. He focuses on domestic markets and policy as well as global trends. Incentives for low-carbon fuels have spurred investment and interest in next-generation products amid global energy transitions, an area in which Josh has analyzed pricing and market development.

Emma is the managing editor for biofuels and sugar on the Platts agriculture pricing desk for the EMEA region. Emma previously worked in the EMEA middle distillates pricing team, specialising in jet fuel, while also reporting on the emergence of Sustainable Aviation fuel and the wider aviation sector.