Segmentation of target recipients of steel products for an investor initiating its operations in the local market

Turbulent environment and processes of markets opening in the global economy intensely affect the metallurgical sector and pace of change processes within this sector. Variable economic situation and scale of investment make that it is necessary to approach the option to enter new markets, even regional or local, very carefully and based on detailed analytical analysis. Analysis and evaluation of the option concerning positioning own product on well-established competitive market is a significant research and practical problem. Praxeology of assumptions of such a cognitive process is described in the paper. The paper characterizes study performed for the selected company engaged with production and distribution of steel, that attempts to enter Polish market, focusing on the Silesian Province, as regards its geographical operations. For the purposes of the study, a questionnaire was prepared, consisting of descriptive multiple choice questions of narrative type. The study was performed among target recipients of the services of potential investor. Primary purpose, both epistemological and formulated in the domain of research pragmatism, is the identification of business activity sectors, by indicating basic assortment groups and target areas of market penetration, based on defined expectations of potential recipients in the selected segment of steel products market. In the presented paper, authors also included the evaluation of conditions and competition criteria as well as the synthetic assessment of some discriminants of competitive standing on regional market of steel products together with stratification of competitive potential in the selected analytical categories.