Client Situation

Our client is a major multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo. It has revenues of $165 billion and employs over 60,000 people around the world. The company was established in 1867 and focuses on energy, automotive, heavy industrial equipment, and steel. About 7 years ago, it changed its operating strategy from “owner-operator" to “investor" in many of it served markets. In the case of this project, Cedar worked with the company’s Tokyo and Chicago area offices in the areas of steel mill products and distribution. Since 1998, Cedar has completed work for this company covering hot rolled steel coil, cold rolled steel coil, steel plate, plate-in-coil, billet and strand, SBQ bar and forgings.

Cedar’s Approach

In this program, Cedar was mandated to provide a detailed market assessment of North American steel mill products market and its distributions channels, notably, Steel Service Centers (SSCs).

  • Collected secondary information regarding steel production and distribution from government sources and the AIST.
  • Interviewed the leading steel mills and SSCs in the North American market.
  • Segmented and forecasted the North American market by steel mill product, distribution channel and end use application.
  • Determined the highest growth sectors and identified the key mills and SSCs serving those subsegments.
  • Identified SSCs who participated in high growth steel segments in North America.

Outcome

The program resulted in a detailed analysis of the North American steel mill products market and SSCs. The results included:

  • Collected secondary information regarding steel production and distribution from government sources and the AIST.
  • Provided a detailed and accurate quantification of the North American steel mill products market and distribution channels.
  • Identified key SSCs serving the North American steel industry.
  • Identified the key North American SSCs as potential acquisition candidates.
  • Resulted in the successful development of new partnerships in the North American steel industry.
  • We made Strategy Work.

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