Currently, China has 200,000 steel distributors and over 1,000 steel markets. However, the steel trading industry as a whole presents a situation of "scattered, chaotic, and poor" with mixed quality. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the industry's survival space has become increasingly narrow. Some steel trading companies engaged in irregular operations, repeated pledges, and steel speculation, ultimately leading to frequent margin call incidents, and the "credit crisis" looms large. Traditional profit models are facing challenges, and it is difficult for individual enterprises to transform.

　　"In this context, if the steel trading industry does not transform, there is no way out," said Yao Ziping, Vice President of China Minmetals Corporation. "For the steel trading industry to develop, it must have an efficient logistics system and a modern steel trading development model."

　　On April 10, 2012, China Minmetals Development Co., Ltd. under China Minmetals Corporation, together with some powerful domestic steel warehousing and logistics, steel trading circulation, and information technology service enterprises, established the "China Steel Circulation e-Alliance" in Beijing, creating a national steel circulation platform and online supermarket.

　　Industry observers see this as an innovative attempt by steel traders to huddle together for warmth and solve urgent industry problems. Cai Jin, Vice President of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, believes that not only that, China Minmetals is the first to build such a national network platform in the bulk commodity circulation field, accurately grasping the future trend of the bulk commodity sector. "Steel overcapacity is severe. In an overcapacity economy, logistics must be highly organized, specialized, and networked, able to quickly mobilize resources, conduct fine management, achieve full coverage of products and services, and build a one-stop steel logistics industry. Only in this way can it stand out in market competition," said Cai Jin.

　　According to reports, the e-Alliance takes the upgrade and transformation of warehousing facilities owned by alliance enterprises as its starting point. By building steel digital warehouses that meet alliance standards, promoting unified information-based warehousing management standards, it aims to achieve real-time sharing of real logistics data information, resources, and business among enterprises, establish a nationwide digital steel warehousing and logistics network system, and lay the foundation for building a national steel e-commerce trading platform.

　　Currently, the alliance's member units have grown from 12 at its inception to 16, and some enterprises are still in negotiations to join. Yao Ziping stated that the most important thing is that the warehousing system within the alliance must undergo unified digital transformation and connect to a data platform, conducting business according to a unified business process model, like a chain store.

　　According to reports, compared with the past, through the e-Alliance, steel traders will increasingly change their "way of working," moving from selling goods to selling services. On the one hand, the e-Alliance will provide steel mills with stable sales channels; on the other hand, it will form a unified database, record real-time steel conditions in the Chinese market, and release a steel industry prosperity index, providing further services and suggestions for the steel industry.

　　Geographically, the e-Alliance has huge space for service expansion, enabling remote deposit and withdrawal of steel and exchange of different steel varieties, saving substantial logistics costs. The e-Alliance can also cooperate with banks to ensure safe supervision of goods and provide financing services for steel mills and steel traders.

　　Experts point out that the e-Alliance will gradually change the profit model of steel traders, no longer profiting solely from price differences, but also able to profit when steel prices fall. At the same time, the alliance integrates high-quality and efficient resources, enabling member enterprises to promote each other and develop collaboratively, squeezing out low-quality and inefficient resources and purifying the industry landscape. "The margin call incidents in the past were the outbreak of industry crises accumulated to a certain extent. We want to make efforts to ultimately create a harmonious and symbiotic industrial form," said Yao Ziping.

　　It is disclosed that while the e-Alliance is gradually expanding its scale, the Minmetals e-commerce platform based on the e-Alliance has entered the final stage of integrated construction and will be launched for online operation in early 2014.

　　Experts point out that they hope the e-Alliance can effectively optimize resource allocation, accelerate the reshuffling and transformation of the steel trading industry, and ultimately form an "aircraft carrier" in the steel trading industry, driving the industry's healthy development.