Krisztina Kalman 

Krisztina Kalman is the Director of MM Markets, an international management consultancy providing strategy, as well as a commercial and technical consulting services for the metal, mining and material sectors. 

Krisztina has gathered over 20 years of expertise in strategy and management consulting. Her commodity focus has been copper, nickel, aluminium, chromium, steel, gold, PGMs and diamonds. She developed and led a number of relevant projects for clients including several mining majors, metal producers, junior mining companies, investors, and sector bodies. She has a Bachelor degree from the University of Cologne, Germany, and an MBA from NYU Stern Business School New York, USA. 

In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Colin, Krisztina and Dominic discuss the copper industry and its impact on international relations. The recent thriving in the copper industry is not a surprise. With the high demand in the green energy transition, EV boom production, and AI development which requires copper in its semiconductor production, copper has become one of the most strategically important metals of the century. Top producers of copper are developing world states with unstable domestic situations, such as Peru or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some of these producers pose a threat to U.S. national interests, such as

China, leading to economic or trade wars and instability in the business sector. Additionally, countries like Russia, involved in open military conflict with its neighbour and heavily sanctioned by other states, complicate the landscape.