Value Enhancement in Refractory Bricks: Matex Auctions for Global Industrial Client

About the Client

The client is a large industrial enterprise operating in a high-temperature manufacturing environment where refractory bricks are a critical consumable for furnaces and kilns. These materials carry significant residual value when liquidated or optimised through competitive selling.

The organisation manages periodic disposal and sale of refractory bricks generated from maintenance cycles and plant upgrades. Given the material value and volume involved, the client required a transparent, compliant, and scalable mechanism to monetise these assets while ensuring fair market pricing and audit readiness.

Challenges

Before engaging ValueTek, the client faced multiple challenges in the selling process:

Limited price visibility due to dependency on negotiated or relationship-driven buyers
Restricted buyer participation, leading to sub-optimal realisation
Difficulty in validating whether the achieved price truly reflected prevailing market demand
Manual coordination with buyers across multiple lots, increasing operational effort and time
Lack of structured data and reporting for internal audit and management review

Solution

The client onboarded ValueTek’s digital auction platform to execute a structured, transparent sale of refractory bricks.

Key elements of the solution included:

Lot-wise digital auctioning across 158 lots to maximise participation and price discovery
Access to a pan-India, verified buyer network specialising in industrial and refractory materials
Real-time competitive bidding to eliminate price influence and informal negotiations
End-to-end execution support covering lot creation, bidder engagement, auction management, and post-auction coordination
System-generated reports providing complete traceability and audit-ready documentation

Impact

The ValueTek-enabled auction delivered strong, measurable outcomes for the client:

Total lots auctioned: 158
Average bidders per lot: 12
Bidded lot start value: ₹9.02 Crores
Final H1 value achieved: ₹10.51 Crores
Value enhancement: 16.58% above the starting value

Through transparent digital competition, the client unlocked ₹1.50 Crores in additional value while ensuring confidence in price discovery and compliance.

Future Roadmap

Encouraged by the successful outcome, the client plans to:

Expand the ValueTek model to other surplus and scrap categories
Adopt scheduled, recurring auctions to standardise disposal processes
Use auction data insights to support budgeting, benchmarking, and asset lifecycle decisions
Strengthen governance through consistent digital records and reporting

End-User Case Story

Post-auction, the buyer deployed the refractory bricks directly into ongoing maintenance and refurbishment activities. Clear lot specifications enabled faster technical approvals, while market-aligned pricing provided cost certainty. The structured digital auction reduced procurement lead time and ensured uninterrupted material availability converting surplus supply into immediate operational value.

Achieving 16.58% Value Enhancement in Refractory Bricks through Market-Aligned Digital Auctions

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