When Kevin Yu showed up at Mardie in a fluorescent orange hi-vis, all eyes were on him. It had been seven years since BCI’s China Country Manager had visited the Mardie Operation, and a lot had changed, including the uniform.
Back then, Mardie was little more than a handful of shipping containers and a team exploring for iron ore. Today, Kevin returned to a fully-fledged salt operation, and the scale left him stunned. As BCI’s second-longest-serving employee, he’s witnessed every twist and turn in BCI’s evolution, but with first salt on ship on the horizon, he says he’s never felt more energy in the air.
Based in Beijing, Kevin is BCI’s eyes and ears in one of our most important markets, providing real-time insights and building relationships that will shape our customer base. His career has spanned steel mills, metallurgical equipment, iron ore and now salt.
Learn more about Kevin’s journey below.
What is your role and what does it involve?
I’m BCI’s China Country Manager. My role is to market our product, engage with customers, and, once the product is up and running, I’ll move into sales.
I started in 2017, and BCI is very different today. A lot has happened over the last two to three years, and people have more clarity on the direction of the business, especially now we’re in operations.
I can feel the excitement from the Chinese customers. We’re close, and we can tell them we’ll be up and running by the end of next year, which is news they love to hear.
What was your career journey before BCI?
I started off as a commercial manager for a steel mill in China. My job was to sell blast furnaces to customers in India and Pakistan. When I was in my 20s, I was based in India for a year, ensuring construction work for the blast furnaces came through.
After that, I joined an Italian company in Beijing, which was one of the world's top metallurgical equipment suppliers. My main role was to sell the equipment to steel mills.
From there, I joined Rio Tinto as a country manager for iron ore. I then moved onto BCI, which was initially iron ore before we transitioned to salt.
What was the transition like for you when BCI began pursuing salt?
There’s not a big difference, especially when it comes to the contract terms and the commercial details, they’re both bulk commodities.
In sales, you need to be a people person, have established customer relationships, and understand the customers’ needs and wants. However, I find salt is more complicated than the metallurgical world. If you look at the product tree, we always say salt is the mother of the chemical industry, and it can be turned into so many things.
I’m still on that learning path. A lot of people think it’s boring, but it’s a good product to sell because there’s so many aspects to it and you can touch so many different industries.
You recently visited Mardie for the first time in years, how different was it this time round?
I was amazed. When I was last at Mardie, there were just a few containers, and I flew in on a helicopter because it was the only way you could get there. It was great to witness the scale and size of the operation, find out what is happening and ask questions. I can feel the excitement there, and I was really overwhelmed with what I saw.
When I return home, I’m excited to share the dedication of our people with potential customers. Everyone was so welcoming and focussed on their work. There is so much cooperation, and people are excited to talk and contribute.
What do you like to do with your spare time?
I consider myself a quiet observer. I’m not a very adventurous person. I was born in the 70s, and at this point in my life, I enjoy reflecting on my experiences and focusing on intrinsic growth.
From time to time, I’ll play badminton and tennis. I love my family, and I spend a lot of time with my dog and cat. I wasn’t a big fan of dogs initially, but my daughter, Mona and her classmate saved my dog, Gaoxing, and he has been with us for four years now.
What would be your advice to your younger self?
My advice would be to improve yourself and try your best to reshape yourself, rather than passively adapting to the world that confronts you. No matter where you are or what age, you’re always confronted with challenges. Don’t just complain, work on improving yourself.