One of the Americas leading names in long steel production and a major supplier of special steel, Gerdau celebrates its 110^th anniversary in 2011. The landmark year was also recognized as an opportunity to consolidate the image of the Gerdau brand for North America, which has always been an important market for the company.

 

Gerdau’s history began in 1901 as a small nail factory in Porto Alegre, Brazil, called Pontas de Paris. Today, the company has industrial operations in 14 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia, with an installed capacity exceeding 25 million tones of steel per year. Gerdau is also the largest recycler in Latin America and it transforms millions of tones of scrap into steel around the world every year.

 

As part of its anniversary celebration, Gerdau is introducing a brand and visual identity that positions the company for continued growth. The logo has undergone a subtle revitalization and become lighter and more modern. In addition, the long steel and special steel operations of Gerdau in North America (Gerdau Ameristeel and Gerdau Macsteel) will now be known as Gerdau.

 

As part of the global branding efforts, descriptors were developed to differentiate between the parent company and the business operations that will now be called Gerdau. The descriptor for the long steel operations in North America, previously Gerdau Ameristeel, will be Gerdau Long Steel North America. Gerdau Special Steel North America is the descriptor for the company’s special steel operations, previously known as Gerdau Mascsteel.

 

The anniversary and the brand change come at an exciting time for Gerdau, as the company recently announced plans to invest USD320million to expand its special bar quality steel production capacity in North America by 400,000 tonnes through 2014. Also, studies are being conducted to build a special steel mill with an installed capacity of between 700,000 and 800,000 tonnes.