11 November 2013
Metinvest Group will launch Metinvest Distribution, a sales unit in Belarus, which will sell products manufactured by the group’s metallurgical plants in Ukraine from a warehouse in Minsk, in January 2014.
The decision to open the new sales point was part of Metinvest’s long-term strategy to create its own distribution networks in key markets. The company was registered in October 2013. Metinvest's sales to Belarus were previously carried out in carload quantities to large end customers and metals traders.
The new company will give Belarusian customers the opportunity to purchase commercial rolled products manufactured by Metinvest Group's enterprises in Ukraine. The products will be supplied from a warehouse in Minsk in batches from one ton, with prompt delivery to production or construction sites. State-owned enterprises can purchase metal goods through Belarus' Universal Commodity Exchange.
The warehouse will maintain a stock of inventory of approximately 10,000 tons: general purpose and low-alloyed plates, sheets, hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized rolled products, beams, angles, channels, bent profiles, rebar, wire rod and more.
Also, starting from the beginning of 2014, transit supplies of Metinvest products to the Belarusian market (except for rails and rail fasteners) will be carried out through Metinvest Eurasia (Russia). This will facilitate financial arrangements for customers from Belarus.
Ilya Koposov was appointed general director of Metinvest Distribution. He was previously the head of Metinvest Eurasia’s regional offices in Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar.
"The opening of the sales company and warehouse in Belarus will help us to strengthen Metinvest's distribution network in the CIS and concentrate our efforts on providing effective logistics, service, and a wide range of commercial and industrial products to our customers,” said Koposov. “We can also satisfy the needs of our Belarusian clients from different sectors, such as residential, civil and industrial construction, machine building and metal processing. I believe this is an important phase in the implementation of Metinvest’s customer-focused strategy."
- For editors:
Metinvest Group is a vertically integrated group of steel and mining companies that manages every link of the value chain, from mining and processing iron ore and coal to making and selling semi-finished and finished steel products. It has steel and mining production facilities in Ukraine, Europe and the US, as well as a sales network covering all key global markets. Its strategic vision to become the leading vertically integrated steel producer in Europe, delivering sustainable growth and profitability resilient to business cycles and providing investors with returns above industry benchmarks.
The Group reported revenue of USD 3.1 billion and an EBITDA margin of 15% in the first quarter of 2013.
The major shareholders of Metinvest B.V. (the holding company for Metinvest Group) are SCM Group (71.25%) and Smart-Holding (23.75%), which partner in the Group’s management.
Metinvest Holding, LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.