For the quarter ending 30 September, the steelmaker reported a net income of BRL145 million on sales of BRL9.5 billion. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a profit of BRL95 million on sales of BRL8.7. Overall, shipments rose 5.4% to 3.87 million metric tons. 

"The better economies in various countries are supporting recoveries in demand for steel from key industries, such as the automotive industry, which has been posting consistent growth in Gerdau's markets and solid exports from Brazil. The country has begun to show signs of a recovery in steel consumption, but the construction industry continues to register weak demand and a slow recovery,” said Gerdau chief executive André Gerdau Johannpeter.

In North America, shipments from its mills rose 18.4% to 1.62 million metric tons, which Gerdau attributed to growth in consumption and its own efforts to recover market share. The figure excludes shipments from its special steel mills. 

Those mills, in Brazil, the U.S. and India, shipped 525,000 metric tons, up 20% from the third quarter of 2016. The company said the increase is “due to the improvement in the automotive industry in all countries where Gerdau operates, coupled with the recovery in the U.S. oil and gas industry.”