Mr Ritesh Maheshwari
December 26, 2022
“With new policies towards decarbonisation and active promotion of green steelmaking across the globe, companies which can adapt quickly to changing environments and with robust flexibility, built into their supply chains, are likely to do better,” says Director, Shabro Metallic Ltd, Ritesh Maheshwari in conversation with Supriya Sundriyal, Corporate Communications. Ritesh shares his views on the commodity market and how his Company manages to keep the trust of the customers in place.
Tell us about yourself.
I was born in 1985 in New Delhi. I studied Mathematics (Hons) at St. Stephen’s College and did an MBA in Finance from Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management. I started my career with The Smart Cube as a financial research analyst and continued there for two years. It was then that I realized that my passion was always towards the world of trade, national and international. My inclination towards the commodity market was another interest area. I wanted to have a first-hand experience in the field of handling and supplying key materials. Therefore, I joined Shabro Metallic Ltd. which continues to be my major source of learning.
When I started off at Shabro, my initial years were focused on importing and trading Manganese ore with various Ferroalloy producers in India. Subsequently, we shifted our focus to the scrap business.
Currently, I am the Director of Shabro Metallic. We are supplying raw materials to more than 20 countries and handling different products of scrap – Ferrous, Stainless, and Non-Ferrous grades. The Company was established by our Founder – Mr Vijay Sharda, Chairman, Shabro Metallic. He is a veteran in the Iron and Steel Industry. I owe a lot of my professional growth to him.
While professional success is important to me, I believe that a person feels a greater level of satisfaction when s/he is able to solve a real-world problem, and supplying key materials to customers is one of them. For example, we started supplying high-nickel battery scrap to Jindal Stainless. This was a key milestone as exploring new products is always exciting for me.
I believe in doing things differently and aim to win a larger market share of our customers by understanding their critical requirements and further catering to them.
What are some of the challenges you face in your line of business?
Some of the challenges that we face are finding the right material for the right customer from a global-sourcing field, meeting the delivery deadlines – even when the crucial aspect of shipping logistics is beyond our control, and last but not least – quality claims.
How does Shabro Metallic Ltd help its clients in overcoming daily industrial challenges?
Our Chairman and leaders always encourage us to keep our focus on customer needs. This is what we strive for. Shabro Metallic maintains an eagle-eye view of all its shipments with 24-hours monitoring.
Some of the commandments that we follow to ensure that our customers are satisfied are:
• Competitive pricing to match customer expectations
• Advance intimations of shipment and delivery commitments
• Quality assurance of material goods
• In case of any grievance, we ensure the same is acted upon immediately without delay
• Always maintaining open interaction with our customers as well as suppliers to share market intelligence, trends, and understand future forecasting
When and how did your journey with Jindal Stainless begin? What sets us apart from others?
We started focusing more on scrap in 2015 and that’s when our journey with Jindal Stainless began. With the help of Mr Hitesh Agrawal Ji’s guidance and owing to the relationship that we share with Mr Vishal Wadhwa, Mr Devbrat, Mr Lekhraj, the journey has been smooth and worth it. Over the years, our relationship with Jindal Stainless has only matured.
We at Shabro appreciate that Jindal Stainless is open to trying new types of raw materials. It is a great motivator for suppliers like us, who are always coming up with something new.
Another aspect that we appreciate about Jindal Stainless is how approachable everybody is. This gives us the confidence to share our issues with them freely and surety that our grievances will always be heard. We are grateful to be an enabler of Jindal Stainless’ growth and wish to cater to their requirements efficiently.
Your view on the commodity market and how it will shape the future?
What I have observed and seen in the last couple of years in this business is that the commodity market is dynamic and volatile. All the leading economies of the world are increasingly becoming more and more aligned with international markets.
The dynamics of the commodity markets will keep changing at an ever-changing pace. Therefore, being globally present with a sharp focus on the domestic market is the key. Further, with new policies towards decarbonisation and active promotion of green steelmaking across the globe, companies which can adapt quickly to changing environments and with robust flexibility, built into their supply chains, are likely to do better. We all need to take wise decisions each day basis the emerging market situations.
All in all, the commodity market will always remain volatile and stainless steel will continue to play a major role in the future, as it continues to be the fastest-growing metal.
