OREANDA-NEWS. July 11, 2013. ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products GmbH, Essen, has acquired the business of metal commodity trading company BenMet NY, headquartered in New York.

The companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. With the acquisition, ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products is significantly expanding its activities in North and South America and widening its product portfolio appreciably.

BenMet trades nonferrous metals and has a similar business model to ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products: Its product range comprises nickel, cobalt, cobalt oxide and minor metals and will be supplemented by the product portfolio of ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products. BenMet is active mainly on the North and South American markets, with a strong focus on the USA. The company primarily supplies customers in the super alloys sector and the alloying and foundry industries. The raw materials are held in warehouses in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

The business activities of ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products and BenMet in North and South America are to be combined as soon as possible: “This will strengthen our local customer and supplier structures, enabling us to develop market share for existing and new products in a targeted way and achieve further strategic growth,” explains Mr. Kai-Norman Knotsch, Managing Director of ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products. “We see potential new business e.g. in the area of cobalt in Europe.”

Mr. Derek Benham, President of BenMet NY, is delighted to have found a partner eager to expand into the US market that will allow the business he has developed to grow further. The trading team at BenMet will continue under the new ThyssenKrupp ownership and Mr. Benham will continue to manage the team through the transition period and the next few years.