Alastair Dickie
Director, Crop Marketing
Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA)
A graduate of Glasgow University and the University of London (Wye College), Alastair Dickie has spent the last 35 years as an economist and trader in the world's commodity markets. His experience includes trading in grains, soyabeans and meals, all vegetable oils (including managing softseed crushing plants), sugar, metals (ferrous and non-ferrous). He is also experienced in international foreign exchange and interest rate futures.
Working for Louis Dreyfus from 1977 to 1988, he was Head of European and Asian Trading there from 1983 to 1986. Back in the UK in 1987 he took over responsibility for the UK operations comprising grain and oilseed trading, feed compounding and oilseed crushing.
Following this he worked for Trading Companies in the ferrous and non-ferrous metal industries.
He set up Commodity and Financial Management (UK) Ltd in 1992 supervising the Marketing and Pricing for agri-businesses in Europe and South Africa in grains and oilseeds. His previous experience in different commodity markets covered all aspects of the risks associated with the trading business and he specialised in Market Risk Assessment and the use of Futures and Options, lecturing to commercial audiences in Europe and the Far East.
In November 1998 he was appointed as Chairman of the new HGCA Market Information Committee and is now the Director of the Crop Marketing department of the HGCA, the statutory body responsible for the cereal and oilseed industries in the UK. His department is responsible for the provision of market information and training, market development of cereals and oilseeds at home and the promotion of exports. British Cereal Exports (BCE) is part of his Department.
In 2002, he became involved with the infant biofuels industry and has subsequently been involved with the Treasury, DfT and defra with regard to industry needs from government. Working closely with biomass companies and other investors he has been closely involved in the hedging problems, market assessment and potential of bio-fuels (both bioethanol and biodiesel). Since the establishment of the UK RTFO and EU targets, he has been a regular contributor to the international discussions about biofuels, most recently involving the 'Food v Fuel' debate at conferences in the UK and Brussels.
