Gerdau

For other uses, see Gerdau (disambiguation).

Gerdau S.A.

Company type	Sociedade Anônima
Traded as	B3: GGBR3, GGBR4 NYSE: GGB BMAD: XGGB
Industry	Steel
Founded	1901
Headquarters	Porto Alegre, Brazil
Key people	Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, (Chairman) André Gerdau Johannpeter, (CEO)
Products	Steel, flat steel products, long steel products, wire products, plates
Revenue	US$ 18.5 billion (2012)
Net income	US$ 730.1 million (2012)
Number of employees	47,200
Subsidiaries	Aços Villares Sidenor Gerdau Ameristeel SIDERPERU
Website	www.gerdau.com

Gerdau is the largest producer of long steel in the Americas, with steel mills in Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Peru, Spain, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. It also holds 40% stake in the Spanish company Sidenor and has a joint venture in India. Currently, Gerdau has an installed capacity of 26 million metric tons of steel per year and it offers steel for the civil construction, industry and agricultural sectors.

The Gerdau Group is one of the agents in the consolidation process of the global steel business. Gerdau is the world’s 14th largest steelmaker and the largest producer of long steel in the American continent. It has 337 industrial and commercial units in the 14 countries where it operates and it has more than 38 thousand employees. Its products, sold on five continents, serve the civil construction, industrial and agricultural sectors. Shares of Gerdau Group companies are traded on the stock exchanges of São Paulo, New York and Madrid and was delisted in Toronto.

History

Residence and company Estate Society João Gerdau, 1885

Always seeking new opportunities, João Gerdau moved again, this time to Porto Alegre, with his wife Alvine Gerdau and his three children, Hugo, Walter and Bertha. There he went into industry, buying the Pontas de Paris Nail Factory in 1901. In the 1930s, the Hugo Gerdau Nail Factory (successor of the Pontas de Paris Nail Factory) expanded production with the establishment of a second factory in the regional city of Passo Fundo.

Curt Johannpeter's entry into the Gerdau family marked the beginning of a brave new direction for the company. Born in Germany in 1899, Curt Johannpeter made his career in finance. In 1922 he began to work for the German Transatlantic Bank, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. In 1930 he became the branch inspector for Portugal, Spain and Latin America, and in the same year was introduced to the young Helda Gerdau during a trip to Brazil. They married and had four sons, Germano, Klaus, Jorge and Frederico.

In 1946, Johannpeter took the wheel of the Gerdau company and directed a critical phase in its expansion. Two years later, the Hugo Gerdau Nail Factory began its highly successful course as a steel-maker, with the Riograndense mill. Curt Johannpeter's period as director was crucial for the modernization and professionalization of Gerdau. He brought to the company the same values he cultivated in the family, showing that respect for people is an essential factor in the success of an organization.

Today

Gerdau's core business is to transform steel scrap and iron ore into steel products. It clients encompasses the civil construction, industrial and agricultural sectors. With over 45,000 employees, it has industrial operations in 14 countries, it is the largest recycler in Latin America and around the world it transforms, each year, millions of metric tons of scrap into steel, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable development in the regions where it operates. With more than 140,000 shareholders, the Company is listed on the stock exchanges of São Paulo, New York and Madrid.

Its operations are based on the integrated regional market mill concept by which raw materials are bought from nearby suppliers and products are primarily sold in the same region. This brand of by-product synergy led to the acquisition of Chaparral Steel in 2007, a company which has been noted for creating interchange between head management and workers and deliberately employs a maximum of 1000 people (the size of a village). Gerdau operates through three different processes:

• Mini mills;
• Integrated mills;
• Direct reduced iron plant.

Products and services

Gerdau produces long carbon steel, long special steel, flat steel and forged and cast parts. These products are used in different sectors, such as: industry, metallurgy, farming and livestock, civil construction,automotive industries, petrochemicals, the railway and naval sectors, in addition to orthodontic, medical and food areas. Gerdau is also the main supplier of specialty steel for the international automotive network.

It also offers services associated with the products that make its customers more competitive.

Board of directors

The Board of Directors monitors the implementation of its policies and is responsible for determination of the long-term strategy, choosing the Executive Board and designating the members of the Executive Committee, in addition to deciding matters relevant to the business and to operations. It has eight members, listed below:

• Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter: Chairman
• Germano H. Gerdau Johannpeter: Vice chairman
• Klaus Gerdau Johannpeter: Vice chairman
• Frederico C. Gerdau Johannpeter: Vice chairman
• Affonso Celso Pastore: Board member since 2002
• André Pinheiro de Lara Resende: Board member since 2002
• Oscar P. Bernardes Neto: Board member since 2002

Officers and Executive Committee

The Executive Committee (GEC) consists of the chief executive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO) and six vice presidents. They are responsible for general business operations, presentating plans to the Board of Directors, leading the proposal and application of approved strategies, promoting synergies and improving results by working directly with the Business Operations and Functional Processes.

• André Gerdau Johannpeter (Chief executive officer and president of the Gerdau Executive Committee)
• Claudio Gerdau Johannpeter (Chief operating officer)
• Alfredo Huallem (Executive vice president of the Long Steel Brazil Business Operation),
• Manoel Vitor de Medonça Filho (Executive vice president of the Açominas Business Operation),
• Marcio Ramos (Executive vice president of the Latin America Business Operation),
• Guilherme Gerdau Johannpeter (President, Gerdau Long Steel North America)
• Osvaldo Schirmer (Executive vice president of Finance and Investor Relations),
• Paulo Fernando Bins de Vasconcellos (Executive vice president of the Specialty Steel Business Operations).

Business operations

• Aceros Corsa (Associated company)
• Corporación Centro Americana del Acero
• Diaco (Associated company)
• Gerdau - Açominas
• Gerdau - Specialty Steel
• Gerdau – Long Steel Brazil
• Gerdau Ameristeel
• Gerdau Aza
• Gerdau Laisa
• Gerdau MacSteel
• Inca (Associated company)
• Gerdau India - Special Steels
• Sidenor
• Siderperu
• Sidertul
• Sipar Gerdau
• Sizuca

Assets

• 48 steel mills
• 21 downstream operations
• 94 fabricated reinforcing steel facilities
• 4 flat steel service centers
• 80 retail facilities
• 32 scrap collection and processing facilities
• 4 iron ore extraction areas
• 2 solid pig iron production units
• 2 private port terminals

Associated companies

• 10 steel mills
• 7 downstream operations
• 13 retail facilities

Joint ventures

• 2 steel mills
• 4 downstream operations
• 1 fabricated reinforcing steel facilities

Further reading

WERLANG, William. A Família de Johannes Heinrich Kaspar Gerdau: Um estudo de caso sobre a industrialização no sul do Brasil Dissertação de Mestrado defendida em 1999. MILA. UFSM

External links

• Gerdau Group homepage
• Gerdau Ameristeel
• History of Gerdau