The company LIO-METAL was founded in 2009, which was marked by economic instability, by the company’s CEO, Ion Luka. LIO-METAL products are used for residential and commercial buildings, as well as for construction projects, infrastructure and heavy industrial machinery and equipment.

“LIO-METAL was born out of a desire to see if I could achieve something on my own. It was not easy at all because we came into being right after the economic crisis of 2008 and there was always the danger of not getting paid for the goods sold or not being able to maintain the inventory due to extremely volatile prices. In addition, the task was to make ourselves known in this market and to convince customers that we can offer them the products they want, as well as the best service. In the beginning, there were months when I was sending hundreds of faxes a day to potential clients, so it was a lot of work.” — says Ion Luka, general manager of the company.

From trade in metal products to production

LIO-METAL started its activity as a company with 100% Romanian capital, the main activity of which was trade in metallurgical products. After 11 years, the company is one of the most important producers and distributors of metallurgical steel in Romania with a turnover of almost 11 million euros in 2021.

The journey so far has been full of challenges that required important changes at both the business and strategic levels to be able to meet the demands of customers and the ever-evolving market.

Thus, 2013 brought important changes to the development strategy of the LIO-METAL company. The sales force has been increased and the product portfolio has been diversified to meet the demands coming from new categories of customers as well as from partners. After diversifying its product portfolio, the company currently manufactures PVC fittings, special cold-formed metal profiles, welded pipes, metal clamps for Rigips, galvanized sheet or painted sheet or cold/hot rolled sheet. In addition, the number of suppliers has increased and the quality of services has improved significantly.

A serious change took place in 2018, when LIO-METAL decided that it was time to switch to the production of metal profiles and galvanized fittings and sheet metal in order to no longer be completely dependent on suppliers.

“We decided that we should come up with additional services for customers ourselves, services that depend only on us, not on suppliers. Therefore, we began to purchase our own production equipment and cooperate with the main producers of raw materials in the metallurgical industry. It was a big challenge because we had to learn in a relatively short time what production is and how to overcome the problems that this activity generates.” – said the general director of the company.

To be able to face new challenges, LIO-METAL has also invested in the acquisition of integrated software that ensures the efficiency of all activities, providing information related to all the company’s actions, as well as in modern and high-performance production equipment that will contribute to the increase in the production of metallurgical products .

“All these achievements became possible thanks to the help of our internal and external partners, who put their trust in us and transparently shared with us their wishes and expectations regarding our cooperation. Today, we have a portfolio of clients that covers many areas of activity: builders, distributors, warehouses, manufacturers of furniture, windows, accessories, metalware“, – says Ion Luka.

Partnership with the bank is a vector of accelerated development of the LIO-METAL company

The right partnership is one of the ingredients of LIO-METAL’s recipe for success, as the company relies on bank funds to invest in increasing production capacity.

“We received important support in the development of our business from partners who offered us working capital, respectively from credit organizations. The partnership started in 2019 with ING Bank offered us a certain and safe opportunity both in the field of investment and in the commercial field of expanding production capacity, increasing the portfolio of sold products and creating new jobs“, – declared Ion Luka.

Thus, LIO-METAL invested in increasing its production capacity by acquiring high-performance machines such as bending machines (equipment specialized in bending sheet metal used in the metalworking industry), lines of galvanized profiles for reinforcing PVC windows for plasterboard-type wall systems, presses and forms for making fittings for plasterboard system walls, a sheet metal cutting line, a line of narrow strips (rings).

The investment, supported by the company’s lending from ING Bank, contributed to good financial results in the next three years. LIO-METAL’s turnover in 2021 was almost 11 million euros, which is 92% more than in 2020, and the net profit was 1.9 million euros.

“During all these years, many projects have been carried out together with our clients, projects that have meant as many stages from which we have learned what we need to do to offer the best possible services and to make our future plans fruitful to the maximum. I would like to note that an important contribution to our success was made by suppliers of raw materials, represented by large metallurgical producers in Romania, as well as other European countries with long-standing traditions in this field.” – says the general director of the company.

Environmental friendliness, constant care of LIO-METAL

The policy of sustainable development is an important component of the future development strategy of LIO-METAL. The producer of metallurgical products offers optimal, sustainable growth based on concrete projects and actions that take into account the environment, as well as CSR policies.

“Our aim is to follow our strategy of sustainable growth and respect our values ​​and role in the industry in which we operate. We are working on new future projects regarding energy efficiency and the transformation of our operations into one based on the concept of sustainability. We want to join our partners, producers of raw materials, on the path under the collective name of Green Steel“, Ion Luka concluded.

The article is supported by ING Bank