BSRM Steel, Bangladesh: growing from

building safety to caring hearts

Mir Mohammed Nurul Absar, Sadia Akhter and Ritu Srivastava

Introduction Mir Mohammed Nurul

Absar is based at CIU
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Business School,
Chittagong Independent
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
University, Chittagong,
Bangladesh. Sadia Akhter
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
is based at the Department
of Business Administration,
Into each life some rain must fall.
Premier University,
Chittagong, Bangladesh.
These lines from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow suddenly crossed Aameir Alihussain’s
Ritu Srivastava is based at
mind as he looked up at the swollen sky packed with dark heavy clouds. It was the
the Department of
drizzly morning of June 17, 2021, in Chattogram, Bangladesh. The wettest and most Marketing, MDI Gurgaon,
poetic season of the Bangla calendar had just crept in and was here to stay over the Gurgaon, India.
next two months. On this gloomy weather, the Managing Director and CEO of the BSRM
group, Alihussain, saw the sun shining very bright all over the sky of the BSRM group.
While browsing the local newspapers, his eyes got fixated on a news story (The Daily
Star, 2021) – “BSRM’s profit soared 197pc in Jul-March”. Alihussain’s heart filled with
joy as he started reading the news. It featured BSRM’s unprecedented growth in the
first three quarters of the fiscal year 2020–21. BSRM group, the pioneering steel
manufacturer, led the country’s steel industry with its single business model (long steel)
since 1952.
With an aspiration to set high industry standards, Alihussain joined the family business
soon after his postgraduation in 2001. BSRM maintained market leadership and
substantial cash inflow over the years by dint of the first mover’s advantage, superior
product quality, positive market image, innovation and large-scale operations. As per
Alihussain’s educated guess, their growth momentum would continue at least for the
next 20 years. The growth was primarily attributed to the present government’s vision to
make the nation a developed one by the year 2041. However, managing the growth, in
the long run, would require fresh investments, new infrastructure, different resources The authors are grateful to
Mr Aameir Alihussain, the
and capabilities. As soon as he finished reading the news, a big question mark started managing director and CEO
lurking in his mind about which growth strategy to pursue to maintain the overall of BSRM, for his valuable
time and all-out support in
sustainability of the business. While the amount for investment was limited, preparing this case.
opportunities were plenty in a country such as Bangladesh. Keeping that in mind, Disclaimer. This case is written
solely for educational purposes
Alihussain was contemplating investing in a business with high growth potential and and is not intended to represent
aligning its strategy to keep its existing business sustainable. Would BSRM concentrate successful or unsuccessful
managerial decision-making.
more on their long steel business? Would they go for backward or forward integration? The authors may have
disguised names; financial and
Related diversification? Or could they opt for unrelated diversification to less other recognizable information
competitive industries and build their forte there? to protect confidentiality.

DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-10-2021-0324 VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022, pp. 1-23, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 1
 BSRM group
BSRM group with the tagline “building a safer nation” [1] set up Bangladesh’s first-ever
steel mill in 1952. In 2021, BSRM group led the steel industry with two sister concerns,
namely, Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited (BSRM LTD) and BSRM Steels Limited.
Both the concerns were listed under Bangladesh’s two stock exchanges – Dhaka Stock
Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). For around 70 years since 1952,
BSRM had been producing a single product – long steel. The financial position and
performance of both the concerns of BSRM in the year 2019–20 are stated in Exhibits 1
and 2.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, when the government imposed strict lockdown, the
economic activities were almost suspended in the past quarter of the financial year
2019–2020. In spite of that, BSRM Ltd. and BSRM Steels Ltd. managed to earn profit during
2019–2020. The group was financially sound with reserves and surplus of around BDT
38,329m [2]. Along with the government’s support through financial incentives and relaxed
lockdown, the earning per share (EPS) of both the concerns increased almost threefolds in
the past three quarters/nine months of the financial year 2020–21.

Bangladesh’s transition towards becoming a developing nation

Bangladesh had been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world since 2010 (Absar
et al., 2021a). The Wall Street Journal identified the country as the “economic bull case” in
the South Asian region. With a per-capita income of US$2,000 and a gross domestic
product (GDP) growth rate of 8%, Bangladesh was expected to become a developing
nation by 2026 (Byron & Mirdha, 2021). The country also aimed to achieve the sustainable
development goals by 2030 and become a developed nation by 2041 (Absar et al., 2021b).
A total of 22% of the 160 million people belonged to the middle class, which was predicted
to become 33% by 2030 (Mujeri, 2021). Because of the rising middle class, the country was
expected to shift more towards domestic demand-led growth. Moreover, Bangladesh had
four large urbanites, 58 medium-sized and around 400 small urban areas (Ahmed, 2021). It
had been projected that by 2030, almost half of the population would belong to urban
areas. By mid-2021, almost 99% of the population had electricity connections
(DhakaTribunem 2021).
Bangladesh’s largest sector was agriculture, which employed almost 50% of the population
(Imdad, 2021). To increase agriculture’s overall share to GDP and improve the impact of
investments, Bangladesh needed to promote crop diversification, deploy advanced
research and development and expand the farm size. The government emphasised the
importance of agriculture in nation-building and pledged to provide its all-out support to
ensure food sufficiency of the people, farmer remuneration and the development of an agro-
based economy. In spite of that emphasis, over 21 million people still could not afford a
nutritious diet (The Financial Express, 2019a). Apart from affordability, the local food culture
of eating nutrient-poor food had primarily played a role.
Several government megaprojects were under construction: for example, a tunnel under the
Karnaphuli river, the Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Metrorail, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant,
Elevated Expressway and Maheshkhali–Matarbari Integrated Development Projects.
Moreover, 24 Hi-Tech parks and 100 special economic zones were also underway.
Economic development was closely tied to the consumption of steel products. Furthermore,
Bangladesh was already at par in power production as of 2021 and had a massive capacity
expansion plan by 2030 to generate 40,000 MW. Thus, the steel industry witnessed
tremendous growth from the year 2010, backed by the government’s mega infrastructural
development projects, development of the real estate sector and an overall increase in
usage of steel by households (Exhibit 3).

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Steel industry of Bangladesh
There were around 400 steel producers in the industry, all of which were privately owned.
However, only 45 were Bangladesh Steel Manufacturers Association (BSMA) members.
BSMA members used high-tech machinery in producing graded steel products and
captured around 80% of the total market share (The Financial Express, 2019b). Others
made ungraded steels through manual or semi-automatic mills. The government of
Bangladesh did not own any steel manufacturing venture, unlike other emerging markets,
such as India. On the other hand, the government imposed substantial import duty on
finished and semi-finished steel to protect local producers, making importing almost
infeasible. Essential information about the steel industry of Bangladesh is provided in
Exhibit 4.
To use the opportunities of the flourishing steel industry, many new competitors entered and
made huge, fixed investments in the industry resulting in overcapacity and tough
competition. Some foreign companies were also interested in investing in this industry to
meet the growing market demands. Kunming Iron and Steel Holding Company (KISC) of
China (with an initial proposal to invest US$2.3bn), Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal
Corporation of Japan (with a proposal to invest US$60m) and Tata Steel of India were keen
to invest here in integrated steel plants (IDLC Monthly Business Review, 2019). According
to the industry data of 2020, the country’s total installed capacity for long steel products was
nine million metric tonnes, and the demand size was 7.5 million metric tonnes. Although the
steel demand seemingly fell below the industry capacity, the optimal capacity utilisation
was 70%–75% (Habib, 2019). Many local steel producers also eyed opportunities beyond
national boundaries. BSRM established a joint venture in Kenya to produce steel. Another
player, GPH Ispat, started exporting billets to China. Neighbouring countries such as land-
locked North-Eastern India, Nepal and Bhutan would also be potential destinations for
Bangladeshi steel exports.
Bangladesh’s per capita steel consumption had become more than double. From only 24
kg in 2010 (Ahmed & Noyon, 2020), it now stood 55 kg (Babu, 2021). Still, it was far lower
than the global average of 208 kg and the Indian average of 65 kg. According to industry
experts, the per capita steel consumption of the country would reach 75 kg by 2024 (Hasan,
2020). This projection suggested the industry’s enormous scope to grow. The government
was the largest customer of steel products to support its ongoing mega infrastructural
projects. Moreover, the country’s per-capita income was proliferating year to year, creating
customers with rising purchasing power. There was a vibrant and extensive market in the
retail sector across Bangladesh because of incoming remittances and the general
tendency of investment in the private sector. As a result, households were the second-
largest users of steel, followed by construction firms or real estate companies. The data of
steel usage are given in Exhibit 5 (New Vision, 2020).
Bangladesh did not have iron ore mines. Globally, there were two key steel-making routes
based on the consumption of raw materials:

1. the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) technology (integrated); and

2. electric furnace (EF) technology (recycled).

EFs were also of two types – electric arc furnace (EAF) and induction electric furnace (IEF).
None of the steel producers here had ever used BF-BOF technology. Instead, EF
technology was used to process the scrap, iron ore, coal, limestone into billets and then
process the billets into finished steels. Bangladesh was self-sufficient in producing finished
and semi-finished (billet) steel products.
Top producers set up billet plants as a part of their backward vertical integrations to
produce steel products. They had to import 90% of the raw materials (iron scrap) from the
USA, Canada, Italy, the UK and Australia. Bangladesh is one of the top five iron scrap

VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 3

 importing countries in Asia. Although Bangladesh had the world’s largest ship breaking/
recycling yard, its share as a raw material supplier to billet production was declining
gradually because of an unprecedented increase of local demands. Moreover, the ship
breaking industry of Bangladesh was facing hindrances because of its contribution to
environmental and human hazards. Additionally, most of the chemicals had to be imported
for steel production. Thus, the steel industry was challenged by the high dependence on
foreign suppliers for raw materials, the volatility in their prices and the shipping of raw
materials. Especially during the global pandemic, steel producers suffered a great deal
because of lockdowns imposed in different parts of the world that halted export and import
businesses.
Steel mills required massive and uninterrupted electricity and gas supply. Ensuring
continuous supply was considered a key challenge towards the country’s industrial
development. In spite of the government’s massive investment in power generation, the
private sector was also involved in power generation with generous government policy
support. However, the distribution was solely done and controlled by the government.
Bangladesh was almost self-sufficient in meeting electricity demands now. Even then, some
steel manufacturers had set up their own power generation plants to ensure an
uninterrupted power supply. BSRM also got approval from the government for installing a
power plant, and they were doing initial paper works for setting it up.
Besides long steel, usage of flat steel in the forms of corrugate iron (CI) or galvanised iron
(GI) was famous in Bangladesh. Because of lower prices than long steels, CI/GI sheets
were heavily used by the lower and middle-class people. Around 42% of fencing and 81%
of roofing of rural and urban households were constructed by CI/GI sheets (EBL Securities
Limited, 2019). Besides, many government projects, NGOs, industrial firms, agro-based
industries and construction firms used CI/GI sheets for the same purpose. The growth in the
complementary industries such as cement (7.4%, 2019) (Ovi, 2020), ceramic (200%, 2020)
(Rahman, 2020) and bricks (3%–5%, 2019) (The Daily Star, 2019) had also been significant
to keep pace with the overall infrastructural development momentum of the country.

Players and the nature of competition in the steel industry

From being an oligopolistic market, the long steel industry gradually became a competitive
market once many new competitors started entering the industry. Key players such as
BSRM, AKS, KSRM, GPH Ispat, Rahim Steel and RSRM met 59% of the total demand.
However, only three major players (BSRM, AKS and KSRM) possessed around 50% of the
market share (Exhibit 6; Hasan, 2020) Besides, several small companies were proliferating
to fulfil the escalating demand and making the competition even more challenging. While
the big players primarily engaged in supplying rods to the government’s mega projects and
the country’s infrastructural development, small players mostly met the demand of the retail
segment and real estate firms.
The market leader, BSRM, had a senior management team with vast experience and
professional qualifications in the steel industry. After being in the business for almost
70 years, the company had developed their competitiveness quite a lot and was able to
sustain the ever-increasing competition of the industry. BSRM already had the installed
capacity to produce 1.6 million tonnes of re-rolling steel and two million tonnes of MS billet
annually (Ahmed & Noyon, 2020). They pioneered making steel through EAF and EIF
methods and became the world’s largest producer through these routes. For construction in
saltwater areas, they introduced a unique epoxy-coated bar. They were the first to execute
consumer branding on a commodity-type product (i.e. steel) through a 360-degree
advertising campaign [3] in 2008 while they launched their iconic product “BSRM Xtreme”
(BBF Digital, 2015). They consistently focused on product quality, branding, research and
development and employee training and bonding. Consequently, BSRM achieved the “Best

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Brand Award” for the tenth time in 2021. They had also developed the largest steel dealer
network of 600-plus dealers.
On top of that, BSRM introduced the country’s first construction solutions and service
centre, the FastBuild Service [4]. Through this, they offered customised rebar solutions (bar
bending schedule development, cut and blend) and automated machine-manufactured
graded stirrups for all construction-related needs. Thus, BSRM FastBuild saved customers
from using unskilled labour in bar cutting and bending, and the cost and wastage resulted
from that.
The close second position in long steel was held by privately owned Abul Khair Steel (AKS) –
a concern of Abul Khair Group. After its establishment in 2009, AKS quickly gained a
strong foothold in the industry and was now competing head-to-head with BSRM Steel15.
AKS was the first player to install EAF in steel production and was efficient in resource and
energy use and environmental conservation (Abul Khair Steel, 2022). To quickly gain a large
chunk of the market, AKS opted for price adjustment and compelled other producers to
follow suit11.
After BSRM and AKS, the following prominent player was Kabir Steel Re-Rolling Mills
(KSRM), which started its business in 1984. KSRM used European POMINI technology on
automated rolling mills to produce reinforced steel and deformed bars (KSRM, 2022). In
spite of being a key player in long steel, not much notable development had been currently
evident on KSRM’s part. However, KSRM’s close competitor – GPH Ispat – was moving
more prominently. GPH Ispat, although a late entrant, attracted much media attention
because of several recent developments. The company had already got publicly listed.
They increased their rod production capacity several folds (from 0.15 to 0.76 million
tonnes), increased billet production capacity, installed EAF for production and started
exporting billet to China in large volumes as well (The Daily Star, 2020a).

Consumer expectation and behaviour in steel buying

“Most of the end-users or individual home builders (IHB) constructs one house during their
lifetime, and their level of expectation is quite high”, Alihussain expressed. “For them, this
once-in-a-lifetime purchase is important as they want to create and hand down an asset to
their next generations”, he also added. While buying steel, IHBs expected durability,
performance and safety from natural calamities such as earthquakes. Over the past
decade, BSRM observed consumers becoming more quality-conscious in the case of steel
purchases. This consumer trait, paired with rising income, turned out to be very positive for
a company such as BSRM that consistently produced the best quality steel of international
standards.
BSRM stood as a “brand” of trust and reliability to its customers. Thus, customers held high
expectations from the brand. They believed the brand could provide them with sustainable
performance and security not only for their lifetime but also for their next generation. They
were even ready to purchase at a premium price because they knew BSRM ensured
product quality and the whole journey with the brand would be smooth. Using BSRM in their
constructions gave them a feeling of excellence and pride. BSRM, being the oldest brand in
the country, also developed a strong emotional bonding with their customers.

BSRM’s strategic options

After leading the country’s steel industry for almost seven decades (1952–1921), Alihussain
realised that this growth momentum of the steel industry would continue until the nation
becomes a developed one by 2041, as envisioned by the present government of
Bangladesh. Until then, BSRM could ensure satisfactory earnings from its core business.
However, Alihussain knew that BSRM should not put all eggs in one basket. Now was the

VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 5

 time to start exploring new opportunities so that by 2041, BSRM would develop a balanced
portfolio of businesses. Thus, Alihussain, in mid-2021, was thinking of strategic options he
could use to manage the growth of BSRM.
As the first option in managing growth, Alihussain always emphasised BSRM’s core
business – long steel, including rebars for construction, angles, channels and square bars
used in various steel fabrications. For now, this seemed safer and more comfortable to
pursue as there would be a little challenge in terms of resource allocation and capacity
building. The return on investment (ROI) of the long steel business was 15%. However,
Alihussain was concerned about the forthcoming slowdown of the development works after
2041. He also feared that the competition could be more severe in the coming days if
foreign giants such as KISC, Nippon and Sumitomo Tata would enter the market. Thus, he
was thinking of strengthening the company’s position in long steel by vertical (through
backward and forward integration) and horizontal growth.
Under backward integration, Alihussain was considering installing a power plant to
ensure an uninterrupted power supply to BSRM’s steel plants. As the firm’s steel
production capacity expansion was further underway (The Daily Star, 2020b),
Alihussain saw a future need for power to ensure overall power security and superior
value addition. He was considering pursuing one of the two options. One is a solar
power plant of 200 MW (required investment: BDT 13,200m, expected ROI: 8.5% per
annum), and another is a power plant run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) of 200 MW
(required investment: BDT 21,000m, expected ROI: 14.5% per annum). Additionally,
BSRM already had introduced some innovative steel products under the name BSRM
FastBuild to achieve forward vertical integration. BSRM FastBuild would provide unique
solutions to bar cutting and bending, thus reducing customers’ monetary costs by
2–3% and ensuring their mental peace.
Additionally, BSRM could aim for organised steel retailing by establishing their branded
retail store to control the distribution, especially households. According to a study, super
shops held only 1.6% of Bangladesh’s local retail market industry. Although this seemed an
insignificant share of the local retail market, the sector had good potential. Since 2014,
modern retailing had been growing annually at a rate of 15% because of increased
urbanisation, growth of middle-class population and rising per-capita income (The Daily
Star, 2018). People gradually became fans of supermarkets’ well-decorated, comfortable
and hygienic environment. However, customers usually had to pay an average VAT of 5%
on super shop purchases, which remained an issue for price-sensitive customers. Also, the
cost of setting up a 4,000 square feet retail store could mount up to BDT 45m, and the profit
potential is 15%–16% of total sales on average (Islam, 2021).
BSRM could enter the organised (or modern) retail industry by establishing their own retail
outlets to exhibit all the products and give consumers an exclusive steel purchasing
experience. This initiative would de-commoditise and differentiate BSRM’s steel and
develop its brand equity. Owning branded retail outlets would provide BSRM with more
control over branding and sales, albeit at the exchange of considerable investments of
capital, time and effort in setting up and managing a retail distribution network. Also, there
was a possibility of facing adverse reactions from existing dealers.
Alihussain was also planning to achieve horizontal growth by expanding his steel business
in foreign markets. Globally, steel was the second largest industry with an approximated
turnover of US$900bn after gas and oil (Ongwae, 2020). Recently, BSRM performed a
feasibility study about Kenya. BSRM planned to invest US$4.67m to own 18% share of BMS
Steel Limited, a joint venture company incorporated in Kenya to produce long steel
products. However, the market in Kenya was comparatively smaller, only two million tonnes
per annum. BSRM expected an ROI of 12% per annum from that venture. The industry
included five to six major steelmakers with a growth rate of 8–10%.

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Like Bangladesh, Kenya was going through massive infrastructural development under the
Kenya Vision 2030. Steel structures were increasingly becoming popular there. However,
Kenya was almost 20 years behind Bangladesh regarding industry development and buyer
expectations. Quality consciousness of the Kenyan customers just started growing,
whereas existing players remained stuck with old technology and the high cost of
production. The market needed a player like BSRM to create awareness of quality. BSRM
would bring in an experienced branding initiative and technical knowledge to efficiently
produce good quality steel in Kenya. Thus, BSRM would have an advantage over local
players.
Next, BSRM was already on the way of related diversification by investing BDT 4,590m
(70% of which would be bank financing; expected ROI: 12%, and growth rate: 10% per
annum) in a wire manufacturing plant. Being the first of its kind in Bangladesh, the plant
would have the production capacity of 24,000 tonnes of wire rods and would produce four
types of wires from wire rods: galvanised wire, low relaxation prestressed concrete (LRPC)
wire, welding electrode and CO2 wire. To be christened as “BSRM Wire”, these would be a
total import substitution project and solve the price inflation of the imported wires (Alo,
2019). These wires would be used in cable production, security fencing and chain link
fencing, prestressed concrete girders for construction works and various welding jobs.
BSRM had a good chance of capturing uncontested sales from the booming cable industry
(growth rate: 15%–20%) (Chakma, 2018). Basically, from “wire rod”, these wires were to be
produced, and the production process of “wire rod” had some similarities with the
production of long steel. BSRM’s long experience in research and development,
production, marketing, sales, distribution and customer service in industrial goods (long
steel) would help the company reap the benefits of related diversification through
transferring, leveraging and sharing resources and capabilities.
As the final option for managing growth, Alihussain was thinking of unrelated diversification
through investing in cashew nut, a popular heart-healthy snack processing plant to impact
the rural economy and people’s nutrition, again for the first time in Bangladesh. It was also
an import substitution project with a proposed initial investment of BDT 500m with an
expected ROI of 10% per annum (Chakma, 2020). The local demand for cashew nuts was
50,000 tonnes in the year 2020, among which only 1,323 tonnes of cashew were locally
produced in the fiscal year 2019–20 (Irani, 2020). According to industry insiders, the local
demand grew at 15%–20% (Ali, 2021). Mainly, three hill districts of Chattogram Division,
Bangladesh, had the potential of cashew cultivation. A total of 500,000 hectares of barren
land very much suitable for production were still uncultivated in these districts. US$1bn
could be earned per 200,000 hectares of land per year through cashew nut cultivation.
Moreover, cashew nut production was cost-effective. Cashew nut trees lived for
30–40 years and bore fruit after the third year. The government of Bangladesh was
undertaking several projects for boosting cashew cultivation. One such was a five-year
project of BDT 2.11bn named “Cashew nut, coffee research, development and expansion”
to increase the production land threefold by 2025 (The Financial Express, 2021). Research
works were going on to innovate new varieties, and free saplings were distributed to the
farmers under this project.
Additionally, the global cashew market was around US$15bn, with a projected growth rate
of 4.6% until 2025. However, locally produced cashews were small and had little demand in
the global market. Global demand could be met by importing raw cashews of improved
varieties and exporting those after processing. To cease a mentionable share of this market,
the government pledged to facilitate the cashew processors as much as it did the garment
exporters of the country (The Business Standard, 2020). The import duty was reduced from
90% to only 5% in 2021 to encourage firms to engage in the global cashew export business.
Therefore, besides producing cashews locally, BSRM could import raw cashews from
abroad and sell the finished product in local and foreign markets after some processing.

VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 7

 Belonging to a nut-loving family, Alihussain was highly passionate and hopeful about this
unique project of BSRM. “You know, my wife and I love to have cashew nuts, and we tasted
it from different parts of the world!” he exclaimed. Also, this project would go very much with
the company values for two reasons. One was to avoid industries with many existing
competitors. The other was to improve people’s lives as cashew nuts had high food value
with many vital nutrients. Once up, the project would also help the rural farmers through
training and compensation. With comparatively a smaller investment, Alihussain was eager
to test the taste of unrelated diversification for the first time in his company’s history.
Now, a question remained – “which one was possibly the best option for BSRM?” This
question can only be answered after evaluating each strategy’s pros and cons. After all,
choosing a workable growth strategy was never an easy task. Alihussain needed to
evaluate how each strategy would fit with the internal and external environment, whether
BSRM had the critical resources to employ, how much risk the proposed strategies would
involve and the time horizon of each strategy.

Road ahead
The “BSRM values” – sustainable growth, quality, reliability, trust, leadership, social
responsibility and customer satisfaction – were deeply rooted in the corporate DNA of the
BSRM group. They were not just a steelmaker; they considered themselves a builder of the
nation. Alihussain affirmed that those values were non-negotiable. Entering an overcrowded
business and dislodging some competitors was beyond their values. Their motto was to live
and let live. Moreover, since BSRM started manufacturing steel, Bangladesh had never
imported steel. The company intended to maintain the same legacy in all future growth
initiatives through innovative import substitute ventures to make the nation self-sufficient.
Alihussain reiterated:
As a third-generation company, there have always been some strategic decisions taken at
different times. Past decisions have helped the company reach where we are now with over USD
one billion in sales turnover. Now is the time to embark on another strategic journey, which will
define the company’s future.

Keywords:
Even after the intention to take this challenging path from steel to wire to cashew nut,
Corporate strategy,
Corporate growth, Alihussain was hopeful that his sustainable growth aspiration was none but achievable with
Strategic management proper strategic leadership.

Notes
1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri9H4rXI9CQ
2. $1 = BDT 85.
3. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgislcUBx8
4. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwlIypVEwZQ

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Absar, M. M. N., Srivastava, R., & Akhter, S. (2021a). Leadership through differentiation: Hero’s journey
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11(1), doi: 10.1108/EEMCS-08-2020-0318.
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Corresponding author
Mir Mohammed Nurul Absar can be contacted at: [email protected]

PAGE 10 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022

Exhibit 1. Financial position of BSRM Ltd. and BSRM Steels Ltd. in the year
20192020

Table E1
Financial position BSRM ltd. BSRM steels ltd.

Paid-up capital 2,360.68 3,759.53

Shareholders’ equity 23,581.64 21,368.54
Current liabilities 18,125.19 33,263.60
Non-current liabilities 5,343.79 9,975.91
Addition to fixed assets and CWIP 982.93 1,538.65
Reserve and surplus 20,718.5 17,610.5
NAV per share (in BDT) 99.89 56.84
Note: Amount in BDT million except net asset value (NAV); CWIP = Capital work in progress
Source: BSRM Annual Report, 2019–2020

Exhibit 2. Financial performance of BSRM Ltd. and BSRM Steels Ltd. in the year
20192020

Table E2
Financial performance BSRM ltd. BSRM steels ltd.

Revenue 45,722.36 38,681

Cost of goods sold 42,048.07 33,509
Gross profit 3,674.29 5,173
Selling and distribution expenses 1,223.32 1,112
Administrative expenses 419.39 506
Net finance cost 1,205.61 1,811
Income tax expenses 413.78 1,083
Profit after tax 921.84 742.28
EPS (in BDT) 3.90 1.97
Note: Amount in BDT million except earnings per share (EPS)
Source: BSRM Annual Report, 2019–2020

Exhibit 3. Per-capita steel consumption in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2019

Table E3
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021

Per-capita steel consumption 24 26 29 30 32 33.7 35 41 45 48 55

(in kilograms)
Source: EBL Securities Ltd. (2019), Habib (2021)

VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 11

 Exhibit 4. An overview of the steel industry of Bangladesh

Table E4
Key information Steel industry of Bangladesh

Combined installed manufacturing capacity/year 9m MT

Market demand/year 7.5m MT
Total number of producers 400
Market size BDT 450bn
Total employment 300,000
Growth rate 15%–20%
Per-capita steel consumption 55 kg
Source: Compiled by the authors

Exhibit 5. Percentage of steel usage by customers’ type

Table E5
Types of customers % of usage

Government 60
Households 25
Commercial/real estate 15
Source: New Vision (2020)

Exhibit 6. Market share of major steel brands of Bangladesh

Table E6
Name of the brands Market share (%)

BSRM 20
AKS 19
KSRM 8
GPH 7
Others 46
Source: New Vision (2020)

PAGE 12 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022

Exhibit 7. Aameir Alihussain, the Managing Director and CEO of BSRM group

Plate E1

VOL. 12 NO. 2 2022 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 13