“Projects in 2023 include an increased construction activity at the PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia project for which Progesys is in a consortium providing PMC scope of work for the new Alumina refinery under construction,” Riad Faour, CEO, Progesys

Riad is the founder and CEO of Progesys, responsible for providing leadership and managing the growth of the company. He has over 23 years of experience in project management and executive leadership throughout North America and abroad. He started his career in the aluminium industry in Canada and then in the USA. He worked with owners of assets and projects and engineering firms before he founded Progesys in 2003 and has since been responsible for its growth and expansion to many industries and regions, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. He received the UQAM performance award in 2016 for leadership, entrepreneurship, and international development. 

Riad is a registered professional engineer. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering from École Polytechnique in Montréal, a Master of Project Management degree from the University of Quebec in Montreal, and the Harvard Business School's Owner President Management program.

AlCircle:How do you envision the global aluminium industry in 2023? What challenges will be the major to counter in the upcoming time?

Riad Faour: The global aluminium industry is expected to continue growing in the upcoming years when taking into account various developments in many industries around the world and based on current trends and forecasts. We can think of the influence of some drivers of growth of the industry in the past decade, such as the impact of emerging markets and the worldwide demand for aluminium for the construction and packaging industries and now also the increased need in transportation for aluminium in electric vehicles, it being a lightweight, durable and recyclable material.

For the challenges in upcoming years, environmental concerns around gas emissions and overall sustainability, along with trade tensions and geopolitical risks, are expected to continue to be the top subjects to be addressed. The industry will also need to train resources and upgrade their skills to integrate new technologies.

AlCircle: How do you think the high-interest rates will impact the aluminium business as well as the other industrial sectors? Is there any impact on Progesys projects?

Riad Faour: Higher interest rates will have an impact on the aluminium business. The impact may be reduced profitability for producing companies because of interest on loans, more pressure on projects to get approved and possible decrease of demand due to reduced activities in many industries consuming aluminium.
 
The inflation experienced worldwide has an impact on the projects we’re managing or contributing to. For planned projects, inflation and its impact on Capex required efforts to manage and define the financial feasibility. For ongoing projects, additional efforts are focused on mitigating the increased costs caused by inflation. The interest rates increase the pressure on planned and ongoing projects. But until now, the projects we are contributing to, in various phases, are continuing to see progress and are not put on hold or cancelled. A possible economic slowdown because of interest rates may change the situation and impact sustaining and capital projects.

AlCircle: How would you rate your performance for 2022? What areas need to be improved on the Progesys front?

Riad Faour: Progesys provides Project Management, Construction Management, Commissioning, and Operational Readiness services to clients in many regions. In the last 3 years, including 2022, our revenues grew above 20% YoY, and we expect the same for 2023. We had a solid performance, and we have increased the capacity of our teams, welcoming 2022 many great senior engineers and bright young resources. Our teams achieved several strategic projects for our clients.

Internally we have several plans in place to improve our organization and support its rapid growth. We will continue achieving these plans in 2023. The plans include improving our training and mentorship programs and training our resources on new technologies. They also include continuous improvement to our on-boarding process of new resources. 

In terms of market reach, we intend to expand our activities in some regions where we see high potential for our services and project management and transition to the operations value proposition.

AlCircle: What are your insights on sustainability? How is Progesys implementing sustainable measures in its projects, preferably aluminium?
 
Riad Faour: Progesys works with local communities to ensure that its projects contribute to the well-being of the community. This includes respecting cultural heritage, promoting hiring in the community and supporting education programs. The benefits of these actions are felt across the organization. We have an increased understanding of community concerns and objectives and projects that are better supported. Also, our employees are from all continents and many countries and have been for many years with the company with a diverse experience which creates a unique perspective on projects and a unique value for our clients.

We also promote economic sustainability by implementing cost-effective solutions that reduce project costs and increase efficiency. This includes the use of best practices and project innovative technologies that help to optimize resource utilization and reduce waste. Examples of this work in the aluminium industry include our implication on the construction completion and commissioning as part of the amperage creep program for the Alma plant, a carbon plant, and contributing to a major shutdown to replace existing equipment with a new system which allows the production of larger anodes that meet the new production criteria. This two-phase project first required changing the equipment and then restarting the plant, all without any impact on production. Another example is our implications on the Rio Tinto new remelt plant commissioned at its Laterrière smelter, adding 22,000 metric tons of recycling capacity to its aluminium operations in the Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. The remelt furnace is equipped with highly efficient burners to minimize its carbon footprint.

Progesys is also committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for all its employees, contractors, and stakeholders. This includes implementing safety procedures and training programs and continuously improving safety performance.

AlCircle: Can you share with us your new or upcoming projects? 

Riad Faour: Projects in 2023 include an increased construction activity at the PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia project for which Progesys is in a consortium providing PMC scope of work for the new Alumina refinery under construction, which PT BAI oversees developing, building, and operating. The Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR Project), with 1 million tonne alumina production capacity per annum, is in Mempawah District, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia.

We have several projects in installations (smelters, hydropower installations, or alumina refineries) for our clients, focusing on Project Management and Operational Readiness. There is also the management of sustaining capital programs which we already do for clients in other industries. 

This is being done in the Aluminium industry while we are also growing our services in many other industries and unlocking value in cross-collaboration between our teams.