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| Company | Country | Strategic opportunity |
| Anshan | China | Merger with Fujian Sanming Iron and Steel Group |
| ArcelorMittal | Luxembourg | Sale of selected Central European steel assets. Mine safety improvements in Eastern Europe. Longer-term downstream pursuit of construction markets, including building design / fabrication / distribution / erection jv's in Asia |
| Ascometal | France | Get away from dependence on European auto sector by geographic diversification to high growth auto markets and know how transfer. Further near-term rationalisation of production sites in Europe required also. |
| Azovstal | Ukraine | Leverage of cost advantage / strategic localisation through regional M&A |
| Baosteel | China | Steelmaking capacity of 50 mt/year by 2012 and 66 mt/year by 2015 |
| BlueScope Steel | Australia | Disposal of downstream cold rolling / coating ventures [Asia Coated Product Operations] in Thailand and Indonesia; perhaps also of North Star joint venture in the USA to a large CIS steel group |
| Bohler Uddeholm | Austria | Special steels opportunities in Eastern Europe |
| Cleveland Cliffs | USA | Corporate governance issues |
| Corus | UK | Long term exit from iron ore based steelmaking in UK. Purchase of semis for UK with more emphasis on downstream development / value added / EAF process route |
| Dneprospetsstal | Ukraine | Environmental performance improvement, especially airborne emissions |
| Erdemir | Turkey | Creation of Black Sea Steel Group |
| Evraz Holdings | Russia | Front end modernisation, including Nizhny Tagil open hearth furnace closure |
| Gazmetal | Russia | Creation of a leading Euroasian iron-ore and steel alliance |
| Gerdau | Brazil | Expansion of engineering steel production [SBQ steel] in new geographies beyond Brazil and Spain |
| GIIC | Bahrain | Middle Eastern partnership to create Brazilian iron ore supply deal |
| GSHL | Nigeria | Long-term start-up of Ajaokuta driven by medium-term ramp up of downstream production |
| Ilyich | Ukraine | OHF closure; investment in continuous casting; downstream mill modernisation |
| Industrial Union Donbass, IUD | Ukraine | Iron ore supply partnership |
| Isdemir | Turkey | Consolidation of Turkish long product sector |
| Kremikovtsi | Bulgaria | Reorientation to higher value downstream steel processing; under new ownership perhaps? |
| Marcegaglia | Italy | Purchase of East European flat rolled plant - for in-house supply of hot rolled steel coil |
| Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Kombinat [MMK] | Russia | Reorientation to (higher value) flat products |
| Mittal Steel Krivoy Rog [formerly Krivorozhstal] | Ukraine | Switch (perhaps just partial initially) from long to flat hot rolled products, making use of local iron ore for the production of higher quality steels |
| Mittal Steel Termitau [formerly Karmet] | Kazakhstan | The priority need seems to be mining health and safety improvements |
| Nippon Steel | Japan | Merger is planned with Sumitomo Metal Industries and is scheduled to take place in October 2012. Presumably this will then be followed by facility rationalisation and internal restructuring |
| NLMK | Russia | 22 million tonnes of Russian crude steel output by 2015 |
| Nucor | United States | Upstream emphasis on iron unit sourcing. Downstream continuation of pursuit of opportunities in construction |
| Outokumpu | Finland | Expansion of Tornio facilities for CIS / Asian markets |
| POSCO | Korea | Pursuit of international ventures especially in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia; acquisition of [or much closer production oriented collaboration with] Vietnamese steelmakers; active development of stainless steel production potential for SE Asian markets |
| Rautaruukki | Finland | Switch to cleaner steelmaking at Raahe. Expansion into pre-fabricated building markets / construction supplies, driving South |
| Riva | Italy | European merger |
| RusSpetsStal | Russia | Consolidation of Russian stainless steel production assets (beyond Red October) to form a 'Special Steel Holding' involving mutliple suppliers |
| SAIL | India | Purchase of coking coal assets outside India [maybe Australia?] |
| Severstal | Russia | Sale of Severcorr and other North American assets [e.g. to CSN] to help with debt repayment. In Europe, conversion perhaps of Lucchini Piombino facility to EAF steelmaking |
| Shougang | China | Reverse takeover of Tangshan to form dominant 25 million tonne steelmaking Group |
| Sumitomo | Japan | See entry under Nippon steel above |
| System Capital Management | Ukraine | Iron ore price control through dominance (via MetInvest / Smart) of Ukrainian supply |
| Tata Group | India | Development of global assets, capabilities and brands. Much deeper integration of Corus with slab sourcing from Jamshedpur plant in India and / or from new greenfield steelmaking facilities in African continent [e.g. Liberia] fed by local iron ore and low cost local gas |
| ThyssenKrupp | Brazil | Coking coal and iron ore pellet supply issues |
| ThyssenKrupp | Germany | Joint ventures / partnerships looking East |
| TISCO | China | Melt shop upgrade & capacity expansion; reorientation to special steels |
| Trinecke Zelezarny | Czech Republic | Upstream integration with Moravia Steel |
| U.S. Steel | USA | Acquisition led business growth and / or greenfield investment in South America |
| Vale | Brazil | Investment in steel plants in Brazil with emphasis on local addition of value to domestically produced iron ore |
| Voestalpine | Austria | Growth beyond 500km hinterland - development of larger scale via greenfield Central or East European CSP plant, possibly in the Black Sea region |
| Wuhan | China | Merger with Panzhihua Iron and Steel |
| Zaporizhstal | Ukraine | Closure of Siemens-Martin OHF furnaces - steel shop modernisation to BOF steelmaking |
To discuss these or any other strategic options, please contact MCI.
We charge Euro 200 for a short consultation (up to 15 min by phone) or Euro 1000 for a short written report including a SWOT diagnosis covering any single firm in the list shown above.
The appraisals above cover expected plans / opportunities for performance improvement or strategic turnaround as identified by MCI around Q2 2013. The opportunities as shown do not necessarily concur with management plans. Indeed, in most cases the ideas shown are those of MCI, written by MCI from our own deliberations about company strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities without Board or Management consultation. The SWOT analyses behind each of these analyses, together with a short explanation of the underlying strategic reasoning can be supplied at a small cost. For further information, please contact Metals Consulting International by email or call +44 775 149 0885.
