Thank you for joining the Energy Council here for this executive interview – to kick things off please can you tell our members all about Steelboso!

Firstly, we are very honored to be part of the APAC Energy Capital Assembly, and thank you for the great hospitality you have shown us during the assembly.

To start, Steelboso is a young company aiming to revolutionalize the way we trade materials in the Oil and Gas, Petrochemicals, Power Generation, Marine and Shipbuilding, and other large EPC projects. You can think of Steelboso as a one-stop shop. Before, trading and procuring industrial and other plant materials required offline meetings, lengthy processes and tedious paperworks, often stretching for months. With Steelboso’s innovative services, buyers can be matched to a seller of a particular material in a very quick manner. You can even compare companies and their offers as you can receive up to three comparative quotations to help you choose the right vendor. Sellers, on the other hand, can have access to a global pool of buyers and offer competitive quotations.

We currently have 2500+ listed materials ranging from pipes, flanges, fittings, valves, metal plates and sheets. Other steel components can also be traded as long as they meet ASME standards.. Listed materials are verified by our team of experts and strictly follow international standards. Currently, we have ASME-certified products, with plans to include JIS and KS grade materials this year.

Steelboso has been actively reaching audiences outside of Korea this year – tell us about the strategy here and what’s next?

Yes we are very eager to enter the international market and our current strategy is to target the Asia-Pacific region first. Being close to home, we believe it will be logistically best for us to penetrate Southeast Asia and to capitalize on the economic potential of the region.

We are also happy to announce that we will be opening an operations base in Singapore this year. Being the hub of trade in Southeast Asia, we can be more accessible to potential partners and projects. Eventually, we will also be expanding into MEA, and North America.

We had the pleasure of welcoming the Steelboso at our annual Asia Pacific Energy Capital Assembly last June – what were your key observations and takeaways from the assembly?

As our first time attending an international assembly/conference, we were blown away by the magnitude and scope of the assembly. Being attended by key industry decision-makers, we believed it was the right platform for us to increase our brand awareness and to meet people who we have shared interests with. The topics discussed were also timely and necessary to address the key issues in the industry. Overall, a very well-planned and worthwhile event.

Access to finance and investment for organisations and projects across the ASEAN region was a key discussion point – how are Steelboso approaching this issue?

As I have mentioned earlier, our primary focus is ASEAN. As a budding company, we are very keen to attract finance and investment opportunities in the region. We are actively discussing with several investors and partners that might be interested in partnering with us. Finding the right investors has been a long-standing hurdle for start-up companies, but we believe we are on the right track to achieve our investment goals.

Other important discussion points centred around decarbonization and the transition in an APAC context – how are Steelboso set here?

You might remember that during the second day’s drinks reception, our Global BD Manager presented a slide about the environment and how we plan to tackle the issue of pollution and wastage. We also laid out our ESG commitments. By using our platform, we can solve one of the perennial problems in the EPC world — unused materials that have been stacking up in the warehouse. The incredible thing is that most of these materials are in excellent condition and can be repurposed or used in a brand new plant construction. Unfortunately, in many cases, these materials will be left to rust away, and even disposed of altogether. Even if the caretakers of these materials wants to sell, they don’t know where to. Same for prospective buyers, they do not know where to buy second-hand materials. This is where we come in!

Through our marketplace, the owners of these materials can list them on our platform, resell them, and make a profit. Buyers, on the other hand, can have access to quality materials for a fraction of the cost, benefiting from the circular economy concept and saving valuable resources. By reusing perfectly good materials that would otherwise go to waste, we're helping to reduce carbon emissions and energy usage that would be required for recycling or producing new materials. We believe this is a win-win situation for both the buyers and sellers, and a triumph for the environment. It's a small but impactful step towards a more sustainable future for our planet, and for the industry we’re all involved in.

Lastly, what is your message to our audience?

We extend our sincerest thanks to all the assembly attendees who welcomed us on our first foray in international gatherings. To the wider network of industry professionals, we also thank you for your continued interest in our services. We might be a young and small company, but our intentions to provide a more sophisticated and improved trading experience is big.

We're not content with the status quo, and we're committed to disrupting the traditional processes to make the trading materials easier, faster, and more sustainable. Our mission goes beyond just convenience. We're also passionate about the environment and we actively advocate for sustainable practices.

So, if your members are in the market for procuring plant materials, or looking to construct or upgrade your plants and other projects, check out Steelboso and become a member for free.

Steelboso are a sponsor of the Asia Pacific Energy Capital Assembly, held in Singapore in June 2024.