A SUBSIDIARY of Linkful Holdings, Linkful Americas, is gearing up to capture a bigger slice of the United States steel market by upgrading its materials sources in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Linkful Americas has worked extensively with its sources to meet the demands of the US market. ''Russia is the end of the world,'' said chairman Juan De Dios Santucci. ''It's a very, very difficult place.'' The company has been helping CIS sources in modern packaging methods. While the steel industry was mainly focused on volume trading, the challenge lay in servicing clients, Mr Santucci said. He said a market such as the US was service oriented and considered packaging and delivery to be extremely important. Linkful Americas was incorporated a year ago to coincide with a surge in steel consumption. In this regard, Asian entrepreneurs had a bold, decisive attitude towards upgrading the steel industry, Mr Santucci said.