Russian steelmaker NLMK Group has announced that it has launched NLMK Slab Shop, an online platform for slab sales. The service, unique for the global steel market, will enable customers to buy slabs in small batches starting from 60 mt.
NLMK Slab Shop aggregates orders for small batches from 60 mt to 2,400 mt. Orders with the same parameters are combined into a single lot for production at NLMK. Each customer can form a request for any product range of the required volume or join an already created request.
According to the company’s statement, flat rolled product manufacturers face difficulties in meeting their need for small volumes of semi-finished steel products made of special steel grades in the commodity market due to technical limitations on minimum batch production, and so rolled product manufacturers are forced to use less effective solutions: to produce the required slabs themselves or place orders for excess volumes.
“NLMK Group’s new service will offer our customers a quick and convenient way to purchase steel for further rerolling: no prepayment is required for processing the request, and the transaction is approved promptly. We want to enable our customers to focus on the efficiency of their processes by taking on the management of quality and delivery risks ourselves,” Ilya Gushchin, NLMK Group vice president of sales, said.