Centre launches online portal for small & medium steel traders

Introducing an online market place for medium and small scale steel manufacturers and traders Union Minister of Steel Chaudhury Birender Singh, in the presence of Union Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai, launched MSTC Metal Mandi in the capital. The platform would be a transparent and virtual market place with real price realisation. The steel ministry and MSTC launched the Metal Mandi initiative jointly as part of the ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives of the central government.

MSTC (formerly known as Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited) is a public-sector utility with Miniratna status. Through its portal www.mstcecommerce.com, the company sells mineral products such as iron ore, imported thermal coal, chrome, manganese ore, etc besides agricultural and forest products like tobacco, tendu leaf, and timber. It also supplies shredded scrap to various secondary steel industries in India. The portal, 'MSTC Metal Mandi', is aimed at improving the marketing potential of medium and small-scale steel producers. Steel product buyers across the country can make purchases on the portal and use e-payment or letter of credit for payment. 

"We hope to bring the market closer, especially to small and medium producers and to potential buyers through this initiative," said MSTC Chairman and Managing Director, B B Singh. "We have the technical expertise to do so and we hope to extend it in future to platforms based on mobile phones." Stakeholder meetings have already been conducted in Ranchi, Raipur and New Delhi. The project is being touted as the first just in time marketing initiative in the country and is proposed to provide competition against imported steel products, which have been flooding the market.