Gerdau
Gerdau S. A. is a Brazilian steel company. After several acquisitions in the U.S. and Canada, the family-owned company is now the largest producer of long steel in the Americas, so suppliers of steel products, which are mainly required for the construction and agriculture. The melting of the 26 group are spread today divided equally between North and South America. The largest offices outside of Brazil consist in Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay. The annual production is about 18 million tons (2007 ), this corresponds approximately to the Thyssen Krupp Group production capacity. Consolidated revenue was equivalent to 11.15 billion euros in 2007. The company is registered on the New York Stock Exchange and listed on the Brazilian stock index IBOVESPA.
History
Johann Heinrich Kasper Gerdau, born in Hamburg, in 1869 emigrated to Brazil. There he first worked as a trader, then as a wholesale merchant. In 1900, when he had now taken the name " João ", he moved from Cachoeira do Sul Porto Alegre. In 1901 he bought the Nail Factory pontas de Paris. By the end of the 19th century was " pontas de Paris " one of the largest nail manufacturers in the world. The lack of raw materials after the second world war meant that Gerdau, initially to secure the nail production, started the actual steel production. The profit in 2005 amounted to 3.3 billion U.S. dollars.
In July 2007, Gerdau acquired the U.S. rival Chaparral Steel for 4.22 billion U.S. dollars.
Business
Gerdau S. A. represents the large majority of its steel production from iron and steel waste her ( 9 million tonnes per annum). These are processed in so-called mini mills. The rest of the steel production is covered by the processing of iron ore. The crude steel is processed directly to the final products.