Koch Metallics to procure metallics for Big River Steel

The partnership is designed to offer metallics suppliers and steel consumers enhanced transaction and trading opportunities, the steelmaker says.

Big River Steel strip mill

Big River Steel

Big River Steel (BRS), Osceola, Arkansas, has entered into an agreement with Koch Metallics LLC, a subsidiary of Koch Minerals & Trading LLC, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, through which Koch will act as the exclusive agent to Big River Steel for metallics procurement. BRS says the strategic partnership will allow the steelmaker to further improve metallics procurement by leveraging Koch’s networks, capabilities and potential for providing additional services in support of the company’s growth initiatives.    

“Koch is a significant investor in Big River Steel, and I look forward to broadening our relationship as we jointly advance in the metallics space,” says Dave Stickler, chief executive officer of BRS. “Entering into this agreement will accelerate several initiatives Big River Steel has underway that provide alternatives to the ways metallics and flat-rolled steel have historically been bought and sold.”

Koch is a global supplier of bulk materials, supported by its parent Koch Resources with an S&P credit rating of AA- and world-class capabilities in vessel, barge, rail and truck transportation, as well as bulk material handling, BRS says in a news release about the partnership. These capabilities position Big River Steel for improved earnings by providing scale and efficiency gains, thereby reducing raw material costs.

BRS operates a Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design certified scrap metal recycling and flat-rolled steel production facility in Osceola and is in the process of doubling its annual steel production capacity from 1.65 million tons to 3.3 million tons. According to the company, the capacity expansion is ahead of schedule and is expected to be completed prior to the end of the year, more than two months ahead of expectations.

Effective with this announcement, BRS Metallics Procurement Manager Martin Baker will join the Koch team as metallics procurement and conversion manager. “Martin is a proven professional, and I am fully confident that Martin joining the Koch team will lead to new and expanded relationships with forward-thinking domestic and international metallics providers and steel consumers,” Stickler says.

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