Gerdau celebrated on May 17, 110 years of occupying the leading position in long steel production in the Americas, one of the largest providers of specialty steel in the world. On this date, the Company held with almost 45 000 employees in their respective countries, a path achievements, focusing on the quality of their products and services and excellence in management processes.
Gerdau's story began in 1901 with a small nail factory in Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), called Ponta de Paris. Currently, the Company has manufacturing facilities in 14 countries - in the American continents, Europe and Asia - with an installed capacity exceeding 25 million tons of steel per year. Gerdau is also the largest recycler in Latin America and the world, transforms annually millions of tons of scrap steel.
"More than a century, grow and diversify our business in the steel value chain, present in all the exercises useful and we always look for the efficiency of our operations and continued improvement of service to our customers. The pursuit of excellence and passion in everything you do, besides the strong commitment to the people and the environment is what makes up our corporate culture. Is that what drives Gerdau and we are delighted to be able to celebrate our first 110 years, "said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gerdau, André B. Gerdau Johannpeter.
As part of its anniversary celebration, Gerdau renew your logo, to a subtle change is simple and more modern. During those 110 years, the Gerdau logo has been amended five times. The first graphical representation of Gerdau logo was stamped with the figure of a nail, and was widely used in marketing materials in the 1940, 1950 and 1960. Then in 1970, created the first corporate logo Gerdau, in which the two letters G represented the spirit of cohesion and the desire to grow the company. This version of the logo was a slight modification in 1976. It was late 1980 that Gerdau further modified its logo, which was used until today.
A path with much success: Growth in Brazil and abroad
110 years ago, João Gerdau and his son Hugo started the basics of nail factory. From this, he built a successful business history, marked by the entrepreneurial attitude of the next generations of the family Johannpeter. Currently, the management of the company with members of the fourth and fifth generation of the family.
In 1946, Curt Johannpeter, son of Hugo, took over leadership of the company and led a decisive phase of business expansion: the start of production of steel. In 1948, it acquired Riograndense plant, also located in Porto Alegre, to ensure the supply of raw material. The new plant anticipated the concept of mini-mill, model based on the use of scrap and the regional market, which allowed more competitive operating costs.
The beginning of the expansion of Gerdau to other states in Brazil occurred in 1968 with the acquisition of Açonorte Plant, located in Pernambuco. In the following decade (1971), the Company entered the distribution segment of the steel, the source of Comercial Gerdau, now the largest steel distributor in Brazil. Then, construction began Cosigua Plant in Rio de Janeiro, and took over Guaíra Plant, a pioneer in steel production in the State of Paraná.
The first step to enter the international market took place in Uruguay, with the acquisition of Laisa in 1980. That movement continued with the purchase of Courtice Steel, located in the province of Ontario (Canada) in 1989. Over the following years, the expansion of business outside of Brazil led to the entry into the markets of Chile, Argentina, United States, Colombia, Spain, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and India.
For the next five years (2011-2015), according to what has already been announced, Gerdau to invest R $ 10,800 million to meet growing global demand for steel. Additionally, it began new technical studies for the installation of two new plants in Brazil, one in the North-East and one in the Midwest. Each of these businesses have an annual steel capacity from 500 to 700 000 tonnes to meet the civil construction and industry. In addition, we are studying the implementation of a new mill in southern Brazil, with installed capacity of 600 thousand tons per year. In America, meanwhile, is evaluating the construction of a new specialty steel plant with installed capacity between 700 and 800 thousand tons to meet the demands of the region.
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