Minmetals wants to build steel version of Tmall

In the face of the continuing downturn in the steel industry, how to transform and upgrade and seek breakthrough has been a continuous challenge to many companies in the Chinese steel industry chain in recent years. Against this backdrop, the “Internet mindset” storm, which had previously shown significant “shocking” in traditional industries such as retail and finance, has also been scrapped to the steel industry.

Yesterday, Minmetals, the leading company in the domestic steel industry, announced that Xinyi Lian, a commodity e-commerce service platform built with steel products as a breakthrough, was officially commercialized. This large-scale state-owned enterprise with more than 60 years of history regards it as a transition to the e-commerce platform. Its goal is to “innovate the business model and lead the transformation and upgrading of the industry”.

“We hope to be able to become the 'Tmall' in the steel field.” At the press conference, Yu Engang, deputy general manager of Minmetals Development under Minmetals, directly took comparisons.

It is reported that as early as 2010, Minmetals began to deploy e-commerce strategy; in 2012, Minmetals developed some of the United Nations within the steel warehousing logistics, steel trade and other companies set up the "China Steel News through e Alliance"; subsequently, Minmetals further Clarified the basic model of the e-commerce platform, and finally introduced Xin Yi Lian, an inventory-based spot transaction as the core, supported by financial synergy services and high-end consulting services, and the nation’s leading third-party commodity e-commerce platform with full industry chain participation. .

Yu Engang introduced that Xin Yilian will first establish a platform window to shorten intermediate links and increase circulation efficiency; secondly, it will improve the level of storage informationization, realize cargo security supervision and transactions, and realize multi-regional resources through unified standards and heterogeneous integration. Interactive sharing of information and channels; again through financial synergy systems, effectively interfacing with financial institutions such as banks, effectively solving corporate financing difficulties; finally, through the effective integration of the aforementioned businesses, a harmonious symbiosis platform ecosystem is constructed.

It is worth mentioning that, not only the Minmetals, "electric shock" has now become a new landscape of the Chinese steel industry (market area), from steel mills to steel traders to some steel information intermediary agencies, have built e-commerce platform. According to statistics, at present, there are more than 100 commodity e-commerce companies involved in steel products.

“Industry figures believe that the steel industry is not expected to experience a difficult winter in three years, but if the e-commerce platform comes up, it may be able to speed up the pace.” At the same annual meeting of the first Chinese steel industry entrepreneurs held yesterday, the former vice minister of the Ministry of Metallurgy, the current incumbent Zhao Xizi, honorary president of the All-China Chamber of Commerce for SMEs, said.

Another e-commerce analyst pointed out that steel companies involved in hydropower companies help deepen the application of e-commerce in the iron and steel industry, accelerate the enhancement of the industry's informationization level, and lead the upstream and downstream enterprises in the steel industry chain to work together to effectively improve steel supply. The overall competitiveness of the chain.

For the other e-commerce platforms already existing in the industry, Minmetals stated that the company’s natural resources have “open” advantages, and at the same time, the diversified models of offline business accumulation for decades, industry credibility, and the digital warehouse system gradually created in recent years. Heterogeneous integration capabilities with the platform will help Xin Yilian to take the lead in the industry competition.