Print this chapter
The Company
CSN
A milestone in Brazil’s industrialization process, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) was founded in 1941 and began commercial operations in 1946. Following privatization in 1993, it underwent a thorough restructuring process, with investments of more than US$ 4 billion, from which it emerged as one of the world’s leading steel manufacturers. Currently, its businesses are centered around five key elements: steel, mining, logistics, cement and energy. Its high financial returns are grounded in its domination of the entire steel production chain, ensuring one of the lowest production costs in the sector. Together with its diversified portfolio of high added-value flat steel products, this has led to one of the largest margins in the industry.
The Company’s main industrial unit, the Presidente Vargas Steelworks, in Volta Redonda, operates two blast furnaces with a combined production capacity of 5.6 million tonnes of crude steel per year. In 2008, the plant was working at full capacity for the first ten months, setting new operational records on several occasions. Even with the sudden collapse of the global economy in the final quarter, the Company opted to keep its blast running in order to maximize the results of the production cycle. Despite the unfavorable global scenario, the plant still managed to produce 5 million tonnes of crude steel.
The Company is the market leader in steel for important sectors of the Brazilian economy, including the construction, packaging, home appliance and OEM industries. In recent years, it has been increasing its share of the automotive segment by developing customized solutions to meet clients’ needs using the just-in-time system. In 2008, in the construction segment, the company launched CSN Steelcolors, a pre-painted steel with applications in architecture, visual communications and design sold by Inal, the Company’s flat steel distributor.
A CSN is the leading producer of the steel for the construction packging and home appliance industries
CSN maintains rolling mills and galvanizing lines in Brazil and abroad. CSN Paraná produces three types of coated steel with high added value: Galvalume (a galvanized steel coated with a zinc and aluminum alloy), pre-painted steel, and galvanized steel with a coating of pure zinc, mainly for the construction and domestic appliance segments. Galvasud, located in Porto Real (RJ), specializes in coated galvanized steel for the auto industry. Overseas, Lusosider, in Portugal, produces galvanized steel and tin plate, while CSN LLC, in the United States, supplies the local market with cold-rolled and galvanized steel.
The Presidente Vargas Steelworks is also Brazil’s sole producer of tin plate, used in the production of metal packaging. The Company has two subsidiaries in this segment – Companhia Metalic Nordeste, which produces twopiece cans for the carbonated beverage industry, and Companhia Metalúrgica Prada, the country’s largest manufacturer of steel packaging for the chemical and food industries.
Mining has received the lion’s share of investments in recent years, lifting CSN into a prominent position among the country’s leading mining firms. The Company has reserves of high-quality iron ore in the Casa de Pedra mine, in Congonhas (MG), which extracted 17 million tonnes last year, surpassing the previous annual record of 15 million tonnes. Casa de Pedra’s production capacity will be increased to 40 million tonnes in 2009 and subsequently to 50 million tonnes by 2012, thereby strengthening CSN’s position as an important player in the iron ore market.
Mining has receive the lion´s share of investiments recently, lifting CSN into a prominent position among the contry´s leading mining companies
Nacional Minérios SA (Namisa) is another important asset in this segment. It has its own mines and also sells ore acquired from third parties. In 2008, it received an injection of US$ 3.08 billion from the Japanese-Korean consortium Big Jump Energy Participações, comprising ITOCHU, JFE Steel, Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Kobe Steel, Nisshin Steel, and Posco, which acquired a 40% stake in the company, cementing a strategic partnership with Asia’s most important steel producers.
The company’s mining assets also include Mineração Bocaina, located in Arcos (MG), which produces dolomite and limestone, and Estanho de Rondônia SA - ERSA, which mines and casts tin.
Associated with the expansion of the mining business, logistics investments are concentrated in port and railway infrastructure. CSN operates a bulk solids terminal (Tecar) and a container terminal (Sepetiba Tecon), both in the port of Itaguaí (RJ). In 2008, Tecar exported 16 million tonnes of iron ore, almost three times the 6 million tonnes shipped in the previous year, while Tecon’s container operations increased by 19% in the same period, consolidating its position as na important general cargo terminal.
CSN also retains stakes in two railway companies: MRS Logística, which operates along the Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo – Minas Gerais corridor, and Transnordestina Logística, which operates in the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Alagoas. In partnership with the federal government, Transnordestina Logística is constructing the 1,728 km Nova Transnordestina railway, which will connect the cerrado region of the Northeast with the ports of Suape (PE) and Pecém (CE).
Listed on the Bovespa and the NYSE, CSN has aproximately 50,000 shareholders
In order to ensure self-sufficiency in electricity, CSN has a thermoelectric cogeneration plant in the Presidente Vargas Steelworks and also retains stakes in the Itá Hydroelectric Power plant, in Santa Catarina, and the Igarapava Hydroelectric Power plant, on the border of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.
On the new business front, CSN’s cement factory, located in the Presidente Vargas complex, will begin operations in 2009. producing CP III cement from blast-furnace slag and limestone from Mineração Bocaina.
The long steel plant will be concluded at the end of 2010 and will use off-spec slabs produced by the Presidente Vargas Steelworks.
With approximately 50,000 shareholders, CSN is listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The CSN Group companies employ a direct workforce of more than 15,000, who undergo continuous training in order to improve productivity and create shareholder value, thereby helping Brazil along the path of development.