Stemcor
| Private company | |
| Industry | Steel trading |
| Predecessor | Coutinho, Caro & Co (London) Ltd |
| Founded | 1951, London |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
Number of locations | 145 (in 45 countries) |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Oppenheimer family |
| Products | Semi-finished, Flat, Long Tubes & Pipes, Stainless steel |
| Services | Steel Trading, Shipping and Logistics, Distribution, Stock holding, Finance, Mining and Raw Materials |
| Revenue |
 US$10 billion (2011) |
Number of employees | 2000 |
| Website | stemcor.com |
STEMCOR - Steel Marketing Corporation, is a British steel trading company. The company is based in London, UK, and has 145 business units in 45 countries around the world, employing more than 2000 people.
Stemcor is the world’s largest independent steel trader. In 2009 the company was ranked as the third largest privately owned company by turnover in the United Kingdom by The Sunday Times' Top Track 100 list.[1] The company does not own any steel producers, and the majority of the shares are held by the Oppenheimer family.[2]
History
In 1951 Mr. Herbert Coutinho, Majority Shareholder of Coutinho, Caro & Co Hamburg, Germany's oldest large Trading Company ( established in 1895), opened a subsidiary in London and went into a 50/50 % Partnership with a Mr. Hans Oppenheimer. The German company was sold to J McDermott in 1984, and in 1985 Hans Oppenheimer died passing his 50% ownership of the London company to his children. In 1987 Ralph Oppenheimer negotiated his family's purchase of the remaining 50% of the company. Upon completion of the deal in February 1988 the London company name was changed to Stemcor, an abbreviation of Steel Marketing corporation. In 2007 Stemcor acquired SPS which supplies steel plates to the oil and gas industries.[3]
Presently Oppenheimer's son Ralph is executive chairman, while daughter Margaret Hodge MP is a shareholder.[4] Julian Verden is the newly appointed CEO of Stemcor. Stemcor trades around 20 million tonnes of steel and steel-making raw materials employing 2,000 people in a network of 145 business units in 45 countries across the world.[5]
Major acquisitions
- Steel Service Center - Finland, Belgium, Portugal
- Aryan Mining & Trading Corporation - India
- Barclay and Mathieson - United Kingdom
- Brahmani River Pellets - India
- Steel Plate & Sections Ltd - United Kingdom
Stemcor's services
- Steel trading
- Shipping and logistics
- Distribution
- Stock holding
- Finance
- Mining and raw materials
Global locations
- Africa - South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco
- Australasia - Australia, New Zealand
- Caribbean - Jamaica, Trinidad
- Central and Eastern Europe - Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine
- South Asia - India, Pakistan
- Western Europe - United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Italy, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Belgium, Austria
- Middle East - UAE, Egypt
- Far East - Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand
- North and Central America - USA, Mexico
- South America - Argentina, Brazil, Chile
Financial Crisis
In May 2013, Stemcor was faced with a financial hurdle when creditors called in loans totaling more than USD 1B. Since then, Stemcor has been trying to refinance its loans whilst at the same time began a process of restructuring. , ,
As of April 16th, 2015 reports were circulating of a potential buy out from Apollo Group
References
- ↑ "Stemcor". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
- ↑ "About us". Stemcor. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
- ↑ http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Top_Track_00/article102260.ece
- ↑ Harris, John (2010-03-13). "Griffin vs Hodge: the Battle for Barking". The Guardian (London).
- ↑ http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/top_track_100/article6617969.ece