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Gerdau Completes 20 Years in Special Steel Sector, Plans New Investments
05/02/2012 - During the past two decades, Gerdau has invested more than US$ 4 billion to acquire assets in Brazil, the United States, Spain, and India and in technological upgrading of its operations in the special steel business.
Gerdau now has 20 years of experience in the special steel business, its beginning in the sector coming with the acquisition of the Piratini mill in Charqueadas, Rio Grande do Sul, in 1992. In the past two decades, the company has invested more than US$ 4 billion to acquire assets in Brazil, the United States, Spain, and India and in technological upgrading of its operations in this segment.
Gerdau has research and development centers in special steels in Brazil (SP and RS), in the U.S., and Spain, where a project in nanotechnology applied to the special steel manufacturing process is taking place, the purpose of which is to supply the automotive industry.
Gerdau has a program under way in the U.S. to expand the mill in Monroe, Mich., which is expected to be completed by the second half of 2013. The initiative includes the installation of a new continuous casting system as well as a new reheating furnace of the walking beam type and four rolling stands. Gerdau's other special steel mills in the U.S. located in Fort Smith, Ark.; Jackson, Mich.; and St. Paul, Minn., will also receive investments to better serve customers of the automotive and industrial sectors.
To meet the demand from automakers in Brazil and to keep up with the expansion of the automotive and energy sector in the U.S., the company will make further investments in its Brazilian and American units. In Brazil, an expansion of the Pindamonhangaba (SP) mill is scheduled with the installation of a new special steel rolling mill along with a new continuous casting and a new reheating furnace for rolling. The annual installed capacity of the mill will grow from its current 700,000 tonnes of rolled products to 1.2 million tonnes. In the Mogi das Cruzes (SP) mill, the rolling capacity will be increased from 216,000 tonnes to 276,000 tonnes per year. Both investments are anticipated to start up by the end of 2012.
Gerdau will begin operations of a rolling mill for special steel in 2012 in India with an installed capacity of 300,000 tonnes and a sintering unit, in addition to continuing with the installation of a coke plant and carrying out projects in the area of power generation.
Gerdau is one of the leading producers of special steels in the world and the world's largest supplier of special long steel for the automotive industry. With over 45,000 employees, it has industrial operations in 14 countries—in the Americas, Europe, and Asia—which together represent an installed capacity of over 25 million tonnes of steel per year. It is the largest scrap recycler in Latin America.
