SSAB Office
SSAB Office

Group Executive Committee

Johnny Sjöström

President & CEO

PhD (Material Science) and MSc (Physics), Karlstad University, EMBA, Stockholm School of Economics

Born 1974
Nationality: Swedish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2019.
Employed at SSAB 2012-2014 and since 2019.

Previously: President at Uddeholms AB,
Managing Director at Scana Leshan (China),
SVP Technical and Market Development SSAB APAC,
VP Product manager Outokumpu,
General Manager Technique and Quality Outokumpu

Johnny Sjöström - EVP and Head of SSAB Special Steels
Per Elfgren

Per Elfgren

EVP and Head of SSAB Special Steels

MSc (Material Physics)

Born 1971
Nationality: Swedish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2024.
Employed at SSAB since 1996.

Previously: Head of Market Development and Head of Abraservice (fully owned subsidiary).
Several management positions within SSAB Special Steels.

Shareholding (SSAB): 2,034 B shares

Olavi Huhtala

EVP & Head of SSAB Europe

BSc (Engineering)

Born 1962
Nationality: Finnish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2014.
Employed at SSAB/Rautaruukki since 1987.

Previously: EVP: Ruukki Metals, President: Ruukki Fabrication and
Executive roles in Sales and Production: Rautaruukki Metform.

Olavi Huhtala - EVP and Head of SSAB Europe
Charles Schmitt - EVP and Head of SSAB Americas

Charles Schmitt

EVP & Head of SSAB Americas

BSc (Business Administration/Finance)
The University of Texas at Arlington, two-year steel fellowship at the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Born 1959
Nationality: American

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2011.
Employed at SSAB/IPSCO since 1990.

Previously: Several positions: US Steel Corporation and VP of the Southern Business Unit: SSAB Americas.

Lars Sjöbring

Lars Sjöbring

Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Master of Laws (Lund University, Sweden; Univ. of Amsterdam, Netherlands and Fordham, USA)

Born 1967
Nationality: Swedish and American

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2023.
Employed at SSAB since 2023.

Previously: General Counsel positions with Veoneer, Autoliv and Transocean. Private practice at Skadden, Arps, a New York lawfirm.

Leena Craelius

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

MBA, Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki

Born 1971
Nationality: Finnish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2021.
Employed at SSAB/Ruukki since 2005.

Previously: CFO: SSAB Europe Division, Head of sales controlling; SSAB Special Steels division,
Head of operations controlling; Ruukki Metals Division

Leena Craelius - Executive Vice President and acting Chief Financial Officer
Christina Friborg - Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainability

Christina Friborg

Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainability, Ethics & Compliance and Health & Safety

LLM, Uppsala University

Born 1969
Nationality: Swedish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2018.
Employed at SSAB since 2018.

Previously: Head of Sustainable Business at Sandvik, founder and partner at Ethos International and various positions at Sida, UNHCR and OSCE.

Maria Långberg

Executive Vice President, People, Culture and Communication

BSc (Business Administration), Uppsala University
MBA, Stockholm School of Economics

Born 1970
Nationality: Swedish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2016.
Employed at SSAB since 2013.

Previously: President Merox and VP Group Sustainability, SSAB,
EVP & Head of Group Communications, SSAB,
Senior Consultant, JKL, SVP Group Communications, Gambro.

Maria Långberg - Executive Vice President, People, Culture and Communication
Martin Pei - Executive Vice President and CTO

Martin Pei

Executive Vice President and CTO

PhD, The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm

Born 1963
Nationality: Swedish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2007.
Employed at SSAB since 2001.

Previously: EVP, Head of business area: SSAB APAC; EVP & Head of Technical Development: SSAB;
General Manager Slab Production: SSAB Plate Division; Manager R&D Primary Products: SSAB Plate Division

Eva Petursson

Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Innovation

Civil engineer and PhD in Steel Structures, Luleå University of Technology

Born 1968
Nationality: Swedish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2018.
Employed at SSAB since 2005.

Previously: Assistant professor in Steel Structures at Luleå
University of Technology, Design specialist and research leader at SSAB Knowledge Service Center, Head of Strategic R&D at SSAB.

Eva Petursson -  Executive Vice President, Research and Innovation
Viktor Strömberg - Executive Vice President, Strategy and Digitalization

Viktor Strömberg

Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy and Digitalization

MBA, INSEAD, France and MSc in Industrial Engineering & Management, Linköping University

Born 1973
Nationality: Swedish

Member of the Group Executive Committee since 2018.
Employed at SSAB since 2011.

Previously: Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, product manager at SAP and consultant at IBM.

The Group Executive Committee is responsible for formulating and implementing the Group’s overall strategies and addresses matters such as acquisitions and divestments. These matters, as well as major capital expenditures (in excess of SEK 100 million), are prepared by the Group Executive Committee for decision by the Board of Directors of the parent company.

 

The President is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Company in accordance with the Board of Directors’ instructions and guidelines. The Group Executive Committee consists of:


President & CEO

Executive Vice President & Head of SSAB Europe
Executive Vice President & Head of SSAB Americas
Executive Vice President & Head of SSAB Special Steels
Executive Vice President and Head of Legal, M&A and Procurement
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Executive Vice President and Head of People, Culture and Communication
Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Innovation
Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy and Digitalization
Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer
Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainability , Ethics & Compliance and Health & Safety


The Group Executive Committee holds monthly meetings in order to discuss the results and financial position of the Group as well as divisions/subsidiaries. Other issues addressed at Group Executive Committee meetings include strategic issues and follow-up on budget and forecasts.


The head of each division and subsidiary is responsible for the respective income statement and balance sheet. Overall operational control of the divisions takes place through quarterly performance reviews and, in Ruukki Construction and Tibnor, through each Board of Directors. The President of the parent company is the Chairman of the Board of each of the directly-owned major subsidiaries and these boards also include other members from the Group Executive Committee as well as employee representatives. The Boards of the subsidiaries monitor the ongoing operations and determine strategies and budgets.