Mechel Acquires Turkish Steel Trading Company

The Russian company Mechel Services Global B.V. has acquired the Turkish steel trading group Ramateks Group for around $3 million. Mechel Services, a subsidiary of Mechel OAO, manages the company’s steel products retail and service network.

Ramateks, with storage capacities in Istanbul and Konya, Turkey, has as its main activity the distribution of construction and stainless steel long products as well as other types of steel products. The company also has equipment for steel product cutting.

In discussing the acquisition, Andrey Ponomarev, Mechel Service Global’s managing director, points out the acquisition will benefit the company’s move to strengthen its business in Eastern Europe, especially the Balkans regions. “In Romania alone, there are nine successfully operating branches of our Mechel Service Romania subsidiary. In 2009, we expanded our sales and service network to Serbia and Bulgaria. These subsidiaries primarily sell products of Mechel's Romanian plants,” Ponomarev says.

"We continue our active development in Eastern Europe to establish efficient and a well-diversified sales infrastructure, to educate personnel and enlarge our clientele by the time of final recovery of the economy. This will allow Mechel Service to become a significant player in steel sales and services in Eastern Europe," Ponomarev adds.