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Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Tata Steel promoted eCommerce company, mJunction Services Ltd, is gearing up for an international foray in the 2011-12 fiscal. The company which runs Web sites like metaljunction.com and coaljunction.in, through which it procures and sells steel and coal respectively, has plans of having an international presence through both the Web sites.
“coaljunction has already sold 90 million tonnes of coal for Coal India. We are planning tie-ups with South African miners to source thermal coal for Indian consumers. metaljunction.com has already become a popular online marketplace for steel and the plan is to take it outside India in the next fiscal,” said Mr Viresh Oberoi, Managing Director and Founder Chief Executive Officer, mJunction Services Ltd.
Commenting on the business opportunity for imported coal, Mr Oberoi said that coal imports are expected to touch 90 million tonnes this year. “I think there's a large opportunity in the imported coal space. With metaljunction.com and coaljunction.in going international, we do not see our compounded annual growth rate of 90 per cent being affected,” he said.
Benefits of Web site
Asked about the benefits for the Indian buyers of coal through the Web site, he said, “For the buyers, it's almost as if they are buying directly from the seller. Our margins are very low so it is almost as if there is no middle man.”
Not entering coking coal
He said that the company's focus would continue to be targeting large number of buyers and for this reason it will not enter into the coking coal space. “It doesn't make sense for us to go in for coking coal as the major steel players would go directly to the buyers and there aren't enough buyers for lower quantities of coking coal,” Mr Oberoi said.
The company's international plans also include its procurement Web site, Buyjunction.in. “We have had some early success with it as Tata Steel, NatSteel and Tata Steel Europe have come on board,” he said.
The Web site deals act as a single-window platform for suppliers of common needs to develop relationships with large credible buyers.
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