June 4, 2014. Making its new facilities pay off, all-round improvements in efficiency, and more focus on specific consumers remain Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works’ (MMK) key strategic priorities, the company’s Business Development & Efficiency Management Director Maxim Lapin said at the 22nd metallurgical summit that was held in Moscow under the auspices of Russian Steel Non-Commercial Partnership.

Lapin believes that de-commoditization, that is, switching from supplying the market with non-specific, mass market goods (ingots, slabs, fittings, hot-rolled rolls, and standard-size section iron) that are typically used as intermediate products to producing high value-added goods aimed at specific customers, is going to become the new key trend in the sales policies in the metallurgical sector over the next decade.

‘The goods made within the ferrous metallurgy sector are unfairly classed as the raw stuffs market produce. We must gradually drift away from such an evaluation of our industry and work on de-commoditization of our goods. It is necessary to make products for specific customers and, where possible, to develop accompanying services that enjoy demand on these specific customers’ part. For instance, our cold-roll Mill2000 and our up-to-date galvanizing line should be focusing on a definite set of carmakers in order to secure their niche in this segment. One important thing in this connection is to carry on with getting our new steel types accepted by the car manufacturers and to learn to develop accompanying services for our customers,’ Lapin said.