Satoru Iijima has been appointed as CEO and chairman of Primetals Technologies, effective 1 April. He succeeds current CEO and chairman, Yasukuni Yamasaki, who will continue to serve as a director of the board.
“This is the perfect time for Satoru Iijima to become Primetals Technologies’ next Chief Executive Officer. We've chosen a very strong leader after we have grown together as one company,” said outgoing CEO Yasukuni Yamasaki. “Our new CEO needs to ensure that the company can thrive in a highly dynamic environment, to be capable of accelerating what we have started and further develop what is working well already. Mr. Iijima will translate our vision and strategy into world-class execution and drive results.”
Mr Iijima said he was honoured to have been chosen to lead 'this exciting company' in its next growth phase. “I look forward to further developing the positive progress made by Primetals to date, and will work to leverage the expertise and passion of our worldwide employees to achieve sustainable growth.”
Iijima began his career with Mitsubishi Corporation in 1986 in the heavy machinery department in Tokyo. From 1990 to 2014, he held project development, export business and machinery systems management positions at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Dusseldorf, Germany and Chicago, United States. In 2015 he served as president and CEO of Primetals Technologies USA, a group company of Primetals Technologies. He is a native of Kanagawa Prefecture and holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Waseda University in Tokyo.